Review of Stranger Than Paradise (1984) by Jesse F — 22 Sep 2007
There has never been, and never will be, a film like "Stranger Than Paradise." Part of what I consider Jim Jarmusch's great films (including "Down By Law" and "Night on Earth"), this minimalist portrait of Americanized Hungarians is a set of uninterrupted vignettes, separated by black screen.
In essence, it's about hipster slacker Willie, his pal Eddie, and his cousin Eva, and their travels across America and how they view and embody the American culture and dream. What truly makes the film is how nothing truly changes in these characters, and neither do the landscapes that they stalk.
No matter where they go, they always end up in the dreary semi-urban, run-down neighborhoods of New York, Cleveland, and Florida. The three of them, over the course of about a year, eventually separate, each headed towards a different land, and yet it's these lands that we never see.
In the end of it all, what truly makes the film stick is how the characters feel so stuck in time, wearing virtually the same clothes and acting the same way throughout their lives. And the cherry on this sundae is that director Jarmusch embodied that particular sameness in time: it took him four years to complete this set of 67 shots.
This review of Stranger Than Paradise (1984) was written by Jesse F on 22 Sep 2007.
Stranger Than Paradise has generally received very positive reviews.
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