Representative of his style going forward. His style takes some getting used to – I see it as sort of anti-narrative.
Mystery Train and Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai are my two favorites.
Excellent film. It captured the post moment perfectly. A whole generation felt inspired by it.
the first of his many masterpieces. i love the visit to lake erie, and the great shot of nothingness that accompanies it.
Really like everything Jarmusch has done. Stranger Than Paradise is my favorite of his early work. Richard Edson, John Lurie and Screamin’ Jay Hawkins w. I Put a Spell on You. Wow. On the dvd of Down By Law, JJ gives a commentary on his views of the auteur theory. Very interesting. He was a student of Nicholas Ray and a friend of Sam Fuller. And one of the Sons of Lee Marvin.
One of my favourite films of my short cinephile career.
The concept behind the film especially rings true to me and it does not hurt that the film is very funny at times and shot impeccably.
Pure dope. Hip as hell. It felt so immediate and authentic, lived in, in a way which, unfortunately, is not so true of his later work. I love the bit early on where Lurie and Edson discuss the racing sheet and the horses are named after Ozu films.
I really like it, but it depresses me. It’s pretty funny too.
i was compelled to watch it straight through. it was enjoyable, but finally, didn’t mean much (to me).
i also liked Ghost Dog much better, which forced me to read “Rashomon”, “Hagakure: The Way of the Samurai”, and to watch the film, Rashomon.
Stylistically, one of the things I really liked was the use of all long takes — no cut-ins for close-ups, no over-the-shoulder shots. EVERY scene played out in one take, even though there was camera movement and subject movement. Those “oners,” as they’re called in Hollywood, along with the black-outs between every scene inspired many a film student back in the day.
piss of crap
I agree with Diogo
I still believe it is fantastic.
the movie is so overated that people consider the movie a good movie even before watching it
if a guy like me whitout any fame decided to make a thing exactly the same has stranger than paradise and jim jarmusch was dead and he never had done nothing (including stranger than paradise), my stranger than paradise will be considered crap
this is art, the crititcs comand and decide
Diogo, that’s complete nonsense and you know it. I love the film because the film speaks to me. Not because the critics praise it, not because it’s made by Jarmusch, but because it really rings true to me (and is also very funny). Call the film bad if you must, or say that you don’t like it, but don’t ever say that the people who like it are deluding themselves because if a film speaks to someone then good for them regardless of what film it is.
It’s a masterpiece. And to again quote one of my favorite lines from any article, “America doesn’t have that many great auteurs that it can afford to let Jarmusch slip through the cracks.”
Fantastic film, yeah.
it’s overrated. Jamursch dumbed down the art film for a whole generation. don’t get me wrong, i love the guy, at least sometimes, but i can’t stand his 80’s work, apart from Down By Law.
To me Stranger than Paradise is a good student film, and nothing more. I understand that accusation is levelled at most low budget indie ‘art’ films from that period, and even now, but it literally does feel like that way to me. Have no idea what Frank is talking about when it comes to long shots. They didn’t impress me at all. Not at all. Maybe they would have if i was 20 in the 80’s and had no real knowledge about foreign cinema, but i wasn’t, so they don’t. Perhaps that is harsh, and taste is taste, but i’ve never understand the fuss about this one.
it’s better than Permanent Vacation though. that’s for sure. but that wouldn’t be hard.
i agree with joks
I only agree in that “Permanent Vacation” wasn’t interesting at all. But hey, if you don’t like “Stranger” then you just don’t like it, and that’s that. You do like “Down by Law”, so it’s certainly not Jarmusch’s aesthetic that rubs you the wrong way. For whatever reason, “Stranger” just didn’t connect with you.
For me, I have it ranked right behind “Dead Man” in his body of work. Masterpiece status. “Down by Law” is somewhat middle-level Jarmusch to me (which doesn’t mean I think it’s a bad film). I don’t like it nearly as much as “Night on Earth” or “Ghost Dog” or “Coffee and Cigarettes.” It’s packed in there somewhere alongside “Mystery Train.”
“I only agree in that “Permanent Vacation” wasn’t interesting at all. But hey, if you don’t like “Stranger” then you just don’t like it, and that’s that. You do like “Down by Law”, so it’s certainly not Jarmusch’s aesthetic that rubs you the wrong way. For whatever reason, “Stranger” just didn’t connect with you.”
Pretty much. I’ll give it another chance eventually. I do like him, as i said before, so it’s not like there is a bias interfering with my assessment.
“For me, I have it ranked right behind “Dead Man” in his body of work. Masterpiece status.”
Dead Man is far and away his best as far as i’m concerned. It was also the first i saw on the big screen too.
“Down by Law” is somewhat middle-level Jarmusch to me (which doesn’t mean I think it’s a bad film). I don’t like it nearly as much as “Night on Earth” or “Ghost Dog” or “Coffee and Cigarettes.” It’s packed in there somewhere alongside “Mystery Train.”Same. I think he improved in the 90’s personally. ‘Night On Earth’ gets across his idea of living in a ‘global village’, so to speak, better than Mystery Train, and connects on a much deeper level. Mystery Train just feels like tomfoolery to me. It’s entertaining and well crafted like most of his films but it just doesn’t hit me after the Japanese story.
‘Ghost Dog’ is pretty good too, but i always felt he was trying a little too hard with it, like he desperately wanted a crossover hit or something.
I also like ‘Broken Flowers’, and can’t make up my mind about ‘The Limits Of Control’, which is his most poorly received movie ever i think. at least since becoming a name.
I’m a terrible Jarmusch fan. I still haven’t seen either “Broken Flowers” or “Limits of Control.” At the rate this is going I’ll also miss his next film too.
^^well, Broken Flowers was a hit, so that’s ok, but Limits Of Control man, that desperately needed fan support!!! :-)
i think jarmusch (is a cuel-cool guy) should make a filme abou shiny mudkips
I think you should do reviews for imdb.com
how ironic sarmiento
I disagree that if it was made by someone else it would be considered shit. Now “Inland Empire” by David Lynch would’ve been trashed if anyone else made it, but Stranger Than Paradise is a great movie.
It’s really minimalistic while still creating an effectively lonely atmosphere. Jim Jarmusch did it right the first time, and I don’t think he’s been able to match Stranger Than Paradise ever since out of what I’ve seen. But I’ve only seen four of his films so far and the most latest was Night on Earth.
“I disagree that if it was made by someone else it would be considered shit.”
I disagree too, because it was the film that got him noticed! To claim that people only like it because it’s Jamusch denies the very obvious fact that Jim built his reputation on that film. Even if many didn’t see it until after the release of ‘Down By Law’, it still doesn’t alter the general reception in the 80’s, which was overwhelmingly positive.
Still, i get that whole ‘loney/existential’ type vibe Jim is going for, i just don’t think it works.
I liked it a lot – deadpan absurdist comedy.
Loved Aunt Lotte, and WEHT Eszter Balint?
Dalton R.
What are your thoughts or views on Jarmusch’s Stranger Than Paradise?