Jim Jarmusch

[Phil Meloy]

it seems like he has just cultivated some rich old friends with his new york wearing black smoking cigarettes drinking coffee friends with tom waits etc persona and can get them to give him money to make whatever crap he wants to

One of Jarmush's earliest backers was in fact Wim Wenders who gave Jarmusch a supply of film stock left over from one of his own projects to use in the making of Stranger than Paradise. The film subsequently won the Camera d'Or award at the 1984 Cannes Film Festival and went on to become regarded as one of the most influential movies of the 1980s.

Edited November 8, 2005 by Phil Meloy

[fent99]

i saw "broken flowers" and i thought it sucked.

jarmusch is all style and no substance.

it seems like he has just cultivated some rich old friends with his new york wearing black smoking cigarettes drinking coffee friends with tom waits etc persona and can get them to give him money to make whatever crap he wants to and they feel like they are part of some fictional new york hip art scene which disappeared with the mudd club.

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I remember having seen Stranger than Paradise and Down by Law in college and one of my then girlfriend's tutors going on about Jim Jarmusch and what a brilliant director he was.

I thought my girl really liked this guy and to take him down a peg or two I ripped into the films with pretty much your arguments and that they were style over substance, scripts on one side of A4 etc.

To cut a long story short I was a bit of a jerk and won no points with my girl (or her tutor!)

Strangely I've learned to love these films and the ones since despite their mannered style. Not sure there's much there sometimes but there's something I like...

[Man with the Golden Arm]

where else but "Stranger Than Paradise" would one find anyone who would make a pilgrimage to lake Eerie?

[Phil Meloy]

I believe that when Jim Jarmusch won the Camera d'Or award at the 1984 Cannes Film Festival the prize itself was an actual camera worth $25,000. On his return to the States he had to leave it with US Customs for several months until he could come up with the $2000 customs duty imposed on it.

[BFrank]

Most of his films are character studies rather than plot-driven vehicles. I don't think he's making statements about the human condition or the fate of man, here. You could call that "style over substance" I suppose, but that would be independant of the quality of the films.

[couw]

Most of his films are character studies rather than plot-driven vehicles. I don't think he's making statements about the human condition or the fate of man, here. You could call that "style over substance" I suppose, but that would be independant of the quality of the films.

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I knew it must be something dialectic like that.

[BruceH]

I liked Stranger Than Paradise when it came out, liked Down By Law more, then had mixed feelings about Mystery Train. Kind of lost touch with his career after that, though a friend whose filmgoing opinions I respect very much recommended Dead Man. Still haven't seen it though, but I will, one of these days/years. After all, it has the last cinematic appearance of Robert Mitchum. Both my wife and I had some notion of seeing Dead Flowers, but never got around to it.

Edited November 8, 2005 by BruceH

[Mr. Gone]

i saw "broken flowers" and i thought it sucked.

jarmusch is all style and no substance.

it seems like he has just cultivated some rich old friends with his new york wearing black smoking cigarettes drinking coffee friends with tom waits etc persona and can get them to give him money to make whatever crap he wants to and they feel like they are part of some fictional new york hip art scene which disappeared with the mudd club.

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I saw your post and I thought it's all lower case. Can anyone confirm this?

[Guest akanalog]

i saw "broken flowers" and i thought it sucked.

jarmusch is all style and no substance.

it seems like he has just cultivated some rich old friends with his new york wearing black smoking cigarettes drinking coffee friends with tom waits etc persona and can get them to give him money to make whatever crap he wants to and they feel like they are part of some fictional new york hip art scene which disappeared with the mudd club.

←

I remember having seen Stranger than Paradise and Down by Law in college and one of my then girlfriend's tutors going on about Jim Jarmusch and what a brilliant director he was.

I thought my girl really liked this guy and to take him down a peg or two I ripped into the films with pretty much your arguments and that they were style over substance, scripts on one side of A4 etc.

To cut a long story short I was a bit of a jerk and won no points with my girl (or her tutor!)

Strangely I've learned to love these films and the ones since despite their mannered style. Not sure there's much there sometimes but there's something I like...

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i saw broken flowers with my girlfriend and she also thought it sucked.

i had to write a paper on mystery train in college.

[Guest akanalog]

i did like dead man.

[Mr. Gone]

Just in case someone's interested and can't get useful web search results: search for "the OTHER Kaurismäki".

[7/4]

Just in case someone's interested and can't get useful web search results: search for "the OTHER Kaurismäki".

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Those caps are important!

Dead Man is a great film. Masterpiece? I'll have some time to think about this and rewatch some films.

[mike s.]

I've seen most of his films when they came out and at the time I thought they were great - particularly the first one - Stranger than Paradise.

But recently I was watching one of the films (might have Mystery Train) again and, I dunno, I got totally bored halfway through. I thought to myself, why am I watching this? Other than there being some trendy 'rock star' types attempting to act, there is virtually no plot development, no character development, nothing ever happens - in fact, watching paint dry is more exciting. Even the soundtrack for Dead Man - western sounding electric guitar wanking - had been done better years ago by Ry Cooder for Paris, Texas.

Today I would describe Stranger than Paradise as a 'cute' film rather than great. I just see Jarmusch as being another pretentious 'artiste' who has found an appropriate audience.

I guess my tastes have changed over the years; either that or I'm not as gullible as I once was.

[mikeweil]

But recently I was watching one of the films (might have Mystery Train) again and, I dunno, I got totally bored halfway through.

Same here ..... as far as Mystery Train is concerned.

Edited November 9, 2005 by mikeweil

[mikeweil]

the missing link ya'll need to see is the OTHER kurismaki brother & the documentary "tigrero," w/ramones t-shirt jj & cigar chomping Sam Fuller in the deep deep deep of Brasil. e-fucking-ssential as they might say  in finnish, brazilian, choctaw, esperanto (take your pick).

Yeah, the similarity to Kaurismäki is obvious - I think Jarmusch even acted in one of his films. Check the site I linked above, it lists his credits as actor.

[BruceH]

Today I would describe Stranger than Paradise as a 'cute' film rather than great. I just see Jarmusch as being another pretentious 'artiste' who has found an appropriate audience.

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It's been so long since I've seen any of his films that I might well agree with you, at this point.

[mikeweil]

I bought the DVD of Broken Flowers last week - yes it's a very nice film, Bill Murray being a perfect choice.

I ordered the box as well - will get me some DVDs of my favourite directors' movies as long as they're available.

Edited May 20, 2009 by mikeweil

[Alexander]

Best cast EVER.

[mikeweil]

BTW - those of you who have seen Broken Flowers, what do you think of the music used?

Most of it is by Ethopian Mulatu Astatqe:

[AllenLowe]

strange coincidence Mike - I just picked up that CD about 2 months ago. Good stuff.

[rockefeller center]

Had to walk out of Jarmusch's "The Limits of Control" tonight. One of the worst movies I've ever seen.

Edited July 9, 2009 by rockefeller center