Review of Mystery Train (1989) by Chucho E. Q — 17 Sep 2009

Deep in my heart, I always knew Jim Jarmusch was meant to be my ultimate influence when it comes to filmmaking, as he single-handedly influenced almost every single indie filmmaker in the last two decades, including most of my favorite directors. Maybe that's why I'm always so afraid of seeing his movies, what if I don't find myself influenced or at least attracted to them? I've been very careful about when and how I watch his films. I saw Stranger than paradise and I liked it a lot, but I didn't feel it as close to my heart as I thought I would. I will see it again someday, hoping this time it speaks to me in a more personal way.

I had to choose carefully which Jarmusch movie I was going to see after the first tone, Down by Law maybe? What about Permanent Vacation or Night on Earth? The decision was made for me when the Cineteca Nacional released a program called Rock & Film: Mystery Train was the lucky one.

I was sadly disappointed by all the negative, awfully lame reviews I've found all over the internet but, thankfully, I hadn't actually seen or read anything about the film before today's screening so, in a way, I was a virgin. And, boy! What an experience it was!

From start to finish, I realized every single movie that came after Jarmusch's was just a mere -sometimes clueless- attempt to evoke his idea of beauty, rhythm, loneliness, minimalism, gesture economy, character development, use of music, sense of humor, odd friendships/relationships: the essence of his genius. A friend of mine who watched the movie with me actually said afterwards: "This just ruined Pulp Fiction for me." I wouldn't go that far but it definitely opened my eyes to new possibilities, and made me as happy and joyful as a Jarmusch movie should make you. The details of everyday life suddenly looked brighter and funnier with every step I took after the credits rolled: I was hooked. Next stop: Down by Law and Dead Man.

I read somewhere a review saying the characters were not interesting enough, and another one saying the second part of the story is complete non-sense and the third one is just lame. I keep reliving the movie in my head, unable to understand which "uninteresting" or "lame" scenes and characters those people saw! Every single character is beautifully developed through unrelated dialogues (the characters express their feelings and thoughts by not expressing them), looks and silences, usually broken by Elvis himself. Every single second of silence makes more noise than all the dialogue put together. As for the second segment being "non-sense", I found it to be the most emotionally gripping and sad. Nicoletta Braschi (who I usually relate to crappy, annoying Roberto Benigni movies) digs deep in her soul through a subtle, almost inexistent performance, portraying a woman whose husband died, wandering alone through Memphis, surrendering to the mischievousness of others, who scam her every step of the way. She's lost, hopeless and doesn't know how to react to every single thing surrounding her yet, at the end of the day, she finds solace inside the same rundown hotel as the other characters, a dark, old, falling-to-pieces limbo that keeps the souls of its inhabitants locked up for one night only, changing their lives not with big explosions, but with small decisions that create big waves in their relationships.

You can read deeply into every frame of the movie or you just can sit down, relax and laugh (a lot, trust me), as Jarmusch's movies usually have space for both interpretations. This is 100%, pure Jarmusch, from start to finish, and an excellent start for neophytes like myself.

This is the movie that came before every other movie, and that's a fact.