Still good after all these years
Author: Eric Rose from Sydney, Australia
3 December 2005
I just finished watching Stranger Than Paradise on DVD - the first time I'd seen it since its year of release. I'd always recalled the film with fondness, although I could never remember why I liked it. Several years after seeing the movie I came across the John Lurie soundtrack and bought it without stopping to listen, and been slightly taken aback by it. The haunting pieces were more emotionally esoteric than I expected, and it took some time for the album to grow on me.
Seeing the movie again, I understand why. The only piece of popular music in the film is Screamin' Jay Hawkin's "I Put a Spell on You" and, although I had forgotten that it was there, I guess that I had expected the soundtrack to be more like those of mainstream movies and have songs and such-like. I think that Lurie's music is perfect in situ and, as I've said, the soundtrack has also grown on me as standalone pieces.
The movie itself is a masterpiece. The black and white images present a starkness and a clarity that heightens the alienation of self in a land that was supposed to be the new hope for immigrants from a decaying old world. Instead we see Eva walking through a deserted ghost world of New York where the graffiti says "Yankee go home". America is only a dream, a collective vision of a better world; paradise somewhere on earth.
As Willie and Eddie journey west after winning some money, we see that the supposedly beautiful city of Cleveland is cold and desolate with a frozen lake. The further trip to Florida ends in the middle of nowhere next to a bleak and windswept ocean. Paradise is still somewhere out of reach. I think that's why the movie appeals to me. It shows that the America of popular mythology - the home of the brave, land of the free, protector of the downtrodden, guardian of democracy in the free world - is merely a construct.
Too many people these days believe in the child's fantasy of America being some paradise that Iraq and Afghanistan should emulate. Jarmusch reminds us that it is people who give meaning to a symbol, not the other way around. He allows for the ability of people to make their own meanings and evolve beyond the stagnation of popular culture.
At a time I originally saw this movie I had recently left home and got my first job, moving from the country to the city, and maybe to some extent I identified with Eva - moving from Budapest to America. It was also my first taste of grownup film, if I recall correctly, and confirmed me with a lifelong fascination with the cinema. I have a lot to thank Jim Jarmusch for.
I first saw this film in the theater in 1984, so this is the first time I've seen it since then. I remember at the time telling people what an amazing film it was, deliberately non-commercial and, while the plot is not really about much, it has a rhythm and clarity that was so unlike films at the time. Shot in black and white, the film consists of a number of "snapshot scenes", there is a slight pause between scenes in which the screen goes black, a very effective method of telling this deceptively simple story.
Basically, its the story of Eva (Eszter Balint), who has to stop over on her way to Cleveland to live with her Aunt Lotte, emigrating from Hungary. She has to stay at her cousin Willie's apartment in New York for ten days. Willie is played with remarkable restraint by John Lurie, who at the time was the epitome of cool since he fronted the jazz band The Loungs Lizards. Willie and his friend Eddie (Richard Edson, also very good) decide to drive to Cleveland a year after Eva visited to see Eva and Aunt Lotte.
What follows is a few bizarre coincidences, after Eva, Willie and Eddie decide to drive to Florida. That the story is told so soberly and with remarkable continuity made people at the time and since hail writer/director Jarmusch as an important voice in cinema, a distinction he still holds. A few observations about the film: The film to me seems like it could be influenced by Japanese master Ozu. The simple layout of the film, the camera angles etc are somewhat of an homage to the great filmmaker.
Also, the soundtrack, which was composed by Lurie, is extremely effective in sustaining the mood of the film. This film is not for everyone, it is a stark, simple but utterly compelling independent minded film. This film is not for casual film fans. Actually, I think this film should be part of the curriculum of any film class. If you can come close to equaling Jarmusch's sense of both the absurd and reality, you could turn out to be as much of an auteur as he is considered.
Author: Joel25 from Melbourne
11 August 2008
*** This review may contain spoilers ***
Like Permanent Vacation, this film establishes Jarmusch as standing for something alternative to the conventions of mainstream American cinema. It is altogether a more mature collaboration than Permanent Vacation, a stronger indication of important artistic sensibilities, and perhaps exhibits a more solid bond between aim and execution. It is where the boat moored after Permanent Vacation, so it is out of the same universe, the same general headspace, but in a different country, a new world.
I'll recount a part of the story, because I liked it.
Willie lives in Purgatory, somewhere in New York. He comes from Hungary, but suppresses his European heritage under a facade of hip film-noir Americanism. His cousin, Eva (the femme fatale if we see it as noir), who has just arrived in America from Budapest, blows into his life like bad news from an Aunt Lotte in Cleveland. Willie is forced to 'babysit' Eva while his aunt stays in hospital for 10 days. He is aggrieved by this disruption to his life, even though TV dinners, games of solitaire, and long sleeps are about the only things to disrupt.
Willie's small, dour apartment holes them up for the duration like the prison in Down By Law. Their time together is uneventful in the large, but very frank in revealing the slow time ordinariness and emotional seclusion of Willie's life. He bans Eva from speaking in Hungarian even though he knows the language, he forbids her from answering his phone, prohibits her from going anywhere with him, presumably because it would contradict the barricade of his cool, noirish, self-image, and impatiently attempts to educate her in Americanisms he barely understands himself.
Their only interruption from themselves or each other is a visit from Willie's gambling buddy, Eddie, whose warm and polite attempts to include Eva in their adventures outside are upset by his deference to Willie's personality. When it comes time for Eva to leave for Cleveland, Willie has acted upon a bud of affection but can only express it in jaded terms. He insists Eva wear a dress he bought for her, even though she doesn't like it, because she should dress like an American when she is in America.
This is where the first part ends, or nearly. On the street, after Eva and Willie have exchanged goodbyes, Eddie finds Eva abandoning the dress that Willie bought as a gift. Eddie does not mention this to Willie, presumably because he does not want to hurt his feelings. It is all unspoken. Willie and Eddie sit and drink beer, both reflect on Eva's visit without speaking.
Originally, the film ends here. It was shot using leftover film from Wim Wenders' The State of Things. A year or two later, the group decided to extend the film or finish it. I won't go into the next 2/3. Suffice to say, after hustling some money in a poker game a year later, Willie and Eddie decide to visit Eva in Cleveland. Perhaps Willie realised he was missing something and Eddie did hide a profound sense of loneliness.
Stranger Than Paradise is shot in a way that subverts mainstream notions of entertainment and engagement. It is an action film, but its definition of action is subtle and internal, left to the sensitivities of the watcher to engage with. The weather is a strong and active force, negotiating the lives of the characters like another character. This, I guess, has something to do with Ozu, mentioned by Eddie in his reference to Tokyo Story as the horse to back while he reads Willie the odds.
Jarmusch has been strongly influenced by and is educated in World cinema, establishing him as a kind of outsider at home, just like the characters. The film with its surface deadpan, hangs back from the perspectives of its characters in a kind of suspended relativism, which is throughout all of Jarmusch's work. The emotional depth is neither affirmed or denied. There is no absolute position.
John Lurie (he played Willie and composed the music) composed sparse and sensitive strings to comment on his character, which serves to further the gap between the film's stance and its subject. This general stance does not endorse Willie's peevish superficiality nor does it extrapolate it into misfortune. It suggests a more natural, but didactic approach. A film noir protagonist's end always reflects on their preceding actions.
Watch it if you haven't, watch it again if you have, or don't watch it. But it would surely fit any worthwhile definition of a 'good' film.
Author: haasxaar from United Kingdom
26 March 2006
*** This review may contain spoilers ***
This film is slow, without an apparent point, and without any obvious substance. It follows a Lounge Lizard, of Hungarian descent, his cousin from Hungary and his layabout friend as they cheat at cards, drink beer, travel to Cleveland and lose all their money. Sounds uninteresting, drab and utterly boring, right? Wrong! Jarmusch is one of the most creative and inventive directors of his generation, this film is just a confirmation of his talent, his mysterious way, and convention defying cheek.
The purpose of this film stems from its quiet, slow and melodic pace. It does not condescend, its far too tacit for that. The very meaning it follows is how the mundane is sometimes meaningful, that life is not made interesting my artificial barriers of wealth, culture and heritage but by attitude and personality. Several sequences are long, without any apparent message - and they are, if you don't look at the film as a whole and not as a set-piece extravaganza.
Jarmusch's dry humour is omnipresent as always. The action scant, and without real artistic intention. The script very minimal and characters seemingly worthless. The beauty of this film, as in life is in, as a cliché so often says, in the hidden, small details that really convey power and depth. Therefore when viewing this film, do not expect anything, just expect nothing and you won't be disappointed. Trust me.
Author: Ziya90 from Türkiye
5 December 2009
Before I watched this movie, I had not expected that it would be one of my favorite movies. I don't remember ANOTHER movie which is about two boys and a girl that spend many time, but never fall in love with each other. You know that almost all the movies have such a content do this, friendship always turns into love, one of them fall in love with the other.
In the movie, although the man with hat is interested in the girl, he cannot tell her the fact, it is a platonic love, because Stranger than Paradise is very realistic, may be the most realistic one within its sub genre, so the world in the movie is not different than the world we live. She may not like him, she may want to be alone or just things go wrong. Stranger than Paradise is not like a movie, it is like a documentary about real people and their real lives.
In addition, there is not any flaw in direction. All snowy images are reposeful, there is a real surprise at the end. It is like a modern Bande a part. Honestly, I like Stranger than Paradise more than Bande a part. Bande a part is from Godard, yes, but this movie is really extraordinary.
Author: txmoran72 from Portland, OR.
11 October 2001
If you reckon yourself an independent film buff, Stranger Than Paradise needs to be a movie you've seen before you can rank yourself as, at least, a semi-pro indie buff. The realness of these characters is amazing. The dialogue is unmatched, and by being down-to-earth, you feel for these characters as if you know them. The simplistic (genius) camera work in this film deserves a lot more recognition than it gets. But keeping this film out of recognition's way is how the independent people like it. So watch it, love it, and keep it to yourself!
Author: from United States
24 June 2005
When I first watched this movie, it had a strong impact on me. I was left with the comforting notion that there are people who share my outlook. I am referring to Jarmusch, of course - not the characters in this movie.
Feeling understood while watching such a depressing film obviously says much about me. But this is exactly what I've found to be the case when it comes to this movie: People who are generally thought of as "optimists" and "fun-loving", chipper folks, seem to have a very difficult time sitting through this movie. In fact, it appears to outrage them. It has angered friends of mine, who strongly reject to what Jarmusch is stating or insinuating with this film.
If you have ever felt alienated and lost, check out this movie. Its bleak outlook cheered me up.
Author: Serge Fenenko from Utrecht, The Netherlands
22 January 2003
If you have ever felt a complete stranger in a foreign country or just felt lonely (and sure you did), you'll love the film. Stranger Than Paradise is one of my Jarmusch favorites (at par with Down by Law).
Two melancholic characters, played or better said – lived – by John Lurie and Richard Edson, seem to be happy to just go with the flow without any particular purpose. But arrival of the Hungarian cousin creates purpose in their lives and makes the film very exciting. There are plenty of hilarious moments in this, in my view, very sad movie about being an outsider and feeling lonely.
10 of 10 for Jim Jarmusch, John Lurie and cameraman Tom DiCillo.
When I first saw this movie, I was so completely blown away by its simplistic, poetic beauty. It remains to this day one of my all time favorite films. Jim Jarmusch's creativity and unpretentiousness is at its absolute raw finest. Though not much really happens, the characters draw you in with their absolute unassuming grace. This movie reminds me a little bit of Wim Wender's "Paris Texas". Sometimes you just can't putyour finger on what makes something so special. This movie is sort oflike that, in that you just have to see for yourself the genius behind this work. People with attention deficit disorder may not get the beauty, but for all you true lovers of film,I highly recommend this one. Oh, and by the way, Richard Edson is too cool for words.
Relaxed pace, black and white, great fun at times. Aunt Lotte makes me lmao. She uses almost no gestures and speaks without articulating. I am half Hungarian myself and she reminds me of my own grandmother and all those old aunts in the small villages out on the countryside in Hungary. Some other scenes are also hysterical funny, though they are not many enough for this film to be called merely a comedy. It's funny, but it's also more than just a comedy.
Anyway, this movie is about two fellas in NY that do nothing but watch TV, smoke, play cards and bet on horses. In other words: they waste a lot of time instead of getting a job. This film shows the backsides of the new world. It's pessimistic but at the same time entertaining. At one occasion Eddie says Cleveland looks just like NY, with it's slushy and industrial areas. Is there a slight touch of social criticism? Regarding the acting, the dialogues fall extremely natural. It's realistic and well played.
4 / 5
