Stranger Than Paradise (1984)

Director:

Jim Jarmusch

Writer:

Jim Jarmusch (written by)

Release Date:

9 November 1984 (West Germany)

Genre:

Comedy | Drama

Plot:

This is about a self-styled New York hipster (John Lurie of the Lounge Lizards) who is paid a suprise...

Plot Keywords:

Irony | Beer | Vacuum Cleaner | Slacker | Very Little Dialogue

Awards:

8 wins & 2 nominations

Cast

John Lurie	...	Willie
Eszter Balint	...	Eva
Richard Edson	...	Eddie
Cecillia Stark	...	Aunt Lotte
Danny Rosen	...	Billy
Rammellzee	...	Man With Money
Tom DiCillo	...	Airline Agent
Richard Boes	...	Factory Worker
Rockets Redglare	...	Poker player
Harvey Perr	...	Poker player
Brian J. Burchill	...	Poker player
Sara Driver	...	Girl with Hat
Paul Sloane	...	Motel Owner

Runtime:

89 min

Country:

USA | West Germany

Language:

English | Hungarian

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Australia:M | Finland:S | South Korea:15 | Sweden:Btl | UK:15 | USA:R | West Germany:12

Filming Locations:

Cleveland, Ohio, USA

Company:

Cinesthesia Productions

Trivia:

Started out as a 30-minute short subject film (shot in 1982) and was later expanded into a 3-part feature. The first section, "The New World," takes place in New York, the second, "One Year Later," in Cleveland, and the last, "Paradise," in Florida.

Goofs:

Continuity: In the last cut, shot inside the vehicle on the way to Cleveland, camera on Willie, the vehicle they are riding in is no longer the 1965 Dodge Coronet, but a Ford Econoline van.

Quotes:

Willie: You're sure you don't want a TV dinner?
Eva: Yes. I'm not hungry. Why is it called TV dinner?
Willie: Um... You're supposed to eat it while you watch TV. Television.
Eva: I know what a TV is. Where does that meat come from?
Willie: What do you mean?
Eva: What does that meat come from?
Willie: I guess it comes from a cow.
Eva: From a cow? It doesn't even look like meat.
Willie: Eva, stop bugging me, will you? You know, this is the way we eat in America. I got my meat, I got my potatoes, I got my vegetables, I got my dessert, and I don't even have to wash the dishes.

Movie Connections:

Features Planète sauvage, La (1973)

Soundtrack:

I Put a Spell on You

Beautiful uncomfortableness

"Stranger than Paradise" (1984): Jim Jarmusch's first film. Often listed as a "comedy" – and yes, I suppose there ARE a few oddly funny moments – for the most part I find it an intensely bleak film, empty of almost all life but for a few lone cruiser characters who are detached from everyone else. The photography is astoundingly beautiful black & white. They are almost shot as individual stills with minor movements in them, and divided by blatant black divisions, which one can think of as the black pages of an old photo album. The velvety rich blacks, grays, and whites, plus the composed "still" scenes, cause me to think Jarmusch was trained as a static, 2-D artist first. Just a guess. This film is NOT about acting, which is limited at best, but doesn't really need much. We observe an alienated set of scenarios which are only enhanced by the stiff, awkward exchanges and pauses of the characters, and the lack of movement in the camera work. Ambient sound adds to the gritty reality of emptiness. Funny or not, this is a low-key, lost-souls story of detachment and aimlessness.