One of the best films i have seen

Watch something else. There are very few redeeming qualities to this film.

Blistering performances.

The film's masterful storytelling did its job. The message was clear. No need to overdo.

Jim Jarmusch is one of those filmmakers whose films never make the big bucks at the box office, neither does he or his actors win big awards at big ceremonies, nor is he very well known among the masses. But there is a big section of cinema lovers who admire films that are different and distinct from the usual mainstream products that you get at the theaters, and they absolutely love his films, idolise him and get inspired by his work. I belong to the latter category. 'Down By Law' is one of my favourite films of all time. Stranger than Paradise was the first film that made Jarmusch popular in the critics' circles and the film festivals. This film like his others has his distinct style all over it and is a joy to watch.Jarmusch is one of the masters of deadpan comedies. In a very characteristic way, Stranger Than Paradise is a quiet, brooding film where nothing big of mind-blowing magnitude happens. Characters are all very down to earth, casual individuals who get on with their lives without making a big fuss. The flat storyline involves Eva, a Hungarian girl who comes to America and would have stayed with her Aunt Lotte, but due to her illness is forced to stay with her cousin Willie in his apartment in New York. Willie is an archetypal hipster. He has made a conscious effort to relinquish his Hungarian background and identity and accepted the American way of life because he thinks that's cool, he is not social, he spends all of his time in his small, cosy apartment, he eats junk food, plays cards and has no desire to explore the world. When Eva arrives, we can clearly see a wall between the two characters due to their contrasting views of the world, culture and even just plain routines and habits. Although they both find it difficult to adjust to each others' ways, Willie gradually becomes fond of Eva and starts to accept her, while Eva who initially wanted to be friendly with Willie gradually drifts apart due to his demeanour. When Eva leaves to stay with her Aunt, Willie genuinely ends up feeling lonely and becomes quite sceptical about the prospect of having to go back to his lonely life. Eddie is a friend of Willie who acts as a form of a bridge between Willie and Eva. He actually got on with Eva better than Willie. 1 year after Eva's departure, both Willie and Eddie completely fed up and bored with their uneventful lives decide to head to Cleveland where Eva was staying with her aunt. Now a standard film would have shown how Eva makes Willie have a different outlook on the world and change his attitude towards his own life and it would have become a very predictable Hollywood coming of age comedy film. But Jarmusch is anything but standard and predictable. What follows after that is utterly profound and enlightening, but even then it never loses its casual, deadpan style.The central theme of the film I think is the achievement of happiness or fulfillment. People tend to imagine this ideal state that they want to be in and this ideal, heavenly life in paradise that they want to live which leaves them with feelings of dissatisfaction and depression. They tend to chase this life and this dream which they chase throughout their lives, but even when they achieve it, it turns out to be not much different to the lives that they were already leading, just shinier with more material belongings and so there is really no point in chasing anything and genuine fulfillment can't be found. So the film in a way delves a bit in elements of Nihilism. Jarmusch like many other filmmaking auteurs manages to find some optimism in the midst of this pessimism and ends on an optimistic note rather than fashioning and artificially manufacturing a happy ending out of nowhere just for the sake of it.The cinematography of this film reminded me so heavily of French New Wave films of the 1950s and 1960s, specially Godard's 'Masculin Féminin'. There is very little editing. Jarmusch uses these long shots and allows the camera to stay still and focus on the characters. It is extremely understated and the whole film depends and revolves around the mood that Jarmusch creates. This film can be aptly described as a moody, hypnotic comedy. Very little happens on screen, but everything gets revealed through little glances that the actors use and soft, short lines spoken by characters and the visuals. The acting by the three major actors namely John Lurie, Eszter Balint and Richard Edson (who reminded me of Robert de Niro as Johnny Boy in 'Mean Streets') is understated, nuanced, but very effective for a film of this style. Stranger Than Paradise is certainly not a film for everyone. People who expect fast paced films where a lot of things happen will feel infinitely disappointed with this. But I love directors who make no compromise with their films and stay true to their art and style. Stranger Than Paradise is a deep and meaningful film that demands patience and attention from the viewers. It had a huge impact on the American Independent Film scene and for this it deserves even more praise, specially considering that it got released at a time during which Americans could see nothing other than Star Wars, Indiana Jones and other big budget studio bonanzas. It gave promise and hope to budding filmmakers in America that they could also make films of a different variety and not give in to the pressures of the studios and the Box Office.

The other night I caught Jim Jarmusch's Stranger Than Paradise (1984), a low-key story about a young woman who comes to the United States from Hungary, her boho cousin, and her cousin's friend. This is an undemanding, entertaining little film that relies most heavily on its actors' fine performances.Willie (jazz musician John Lurie) is a hipster, at least as much of one as 1984 had to offer. He lives in a tiny, tiny apartment in New York, and he's expecting his cousin Eva (Eszter Balint, recently seen in a story arc on Louie) to arrive from Hungary and spend the night before heading to Ohio to live with their aunt. But poor Aunt Dottie (Cecillia Stark) will be in the hospital for the next fortnight, so Eva necessarily crashes with Willie. Willie's miffed that his blossoming (untrue) social life will take a hit with Eva around, and he treats his cousin with some scorn, like an unwanted puppy. Soon, Willie's friend Eddie (Richard Edson) shows up, and he's a kinder, gentler (if submissive) version of Willie.In the second act, Eva has left for Ohio, but after a year the guys miss her and, after winning some money in a fixed poker game, head out to visit. But, bored (again) with Ohio, they head to Florida with Eva for some deserved rest and relaxation.One of the most intriguing aspects of this superficially uncomplex film is the way the trio's interrelationships develop. Willie becomes more tolerant of Eva, to the point where he's willing to drive from New York to Ohio to visit. And as time progresses, Willie and Eddie are more on even ground with each other (Eddie becomes more assertive).This isn't a movie about nothing, but it's a close approximation. Lurie and Balint mesh well together. Balint's Eva is neither a shrinking violet (being new to the country and all) nor a pugnacious harridan. She's smarter than she looks - and certainly wiser than Willie and Eddie. But the other two aren't one dimensional, either, as Jarmusch's efficient script allows each to grow and to communicate so much by saying so little.Stranger Than Paradise is a beautiful little movie, filmed in black and white to better illustrate the inevitable hopelessness the characters endure. It's one of those cases in which less is truly more, as Jarmusch's immersive atmosphere lightly complements the strong acting from the three leads.

Long lingering conversations, shots held for much longer than is necessary, and a plot that really goes nowhere: Stranger Than Paradise has all of the hallmarks to make it an art-house auteur classic, but don't mistake Jarmusch's flair for pretension. In fact the lingering shots and stunted conversations found in this film are anything but pretentious, rather they are the core of realism in cinema.We film lovers have long been trained in what to expect from a movie: dialogue has a natural sounding progression that moves us from plot point A to plot point B, characters have motivations that make sense, and stories go forward with an easy momentum. Stranger Than Paradise, contrary to these established modes of film making, just lets events, characters, and dialogue unfold in a manner much more similar to the real world than most other films. Conversations are not directed and shots are not carefully constructed and edited, rather the viewer feels like a fly on the wall as this collection of bored characters try to find something (anything) to talk about.The plot revolves (like many of Jarmusch's movies) around a cast of outsiders drifting aimlessly through life. Willie (John Lurie) is a bored New Yorker with a gambling habit, Eva (Ezter Balint) is his Hungarian immigrant cousin, and Eddie (Richard Edson) is their hopelessly optimistic tag-along friend, and our story follows these three as they travel through their dull lives making an issue out of everything.The actual plot, however, takes a backseat the real goings on in this film. The boredom and pointlessness is not meant to entertain in any usual way, but rather to force the viewer into a mode of existential thinking. These characters are not searching for entertainment or action (although they think they are), they are simply searching for themselves all over America. "What does it mean to be an American?" Jarmusch is asking of us, and furthermore, "what does it mean to simply 'be'?"Stranger Than Paradise provides no answers to these questions, but it does give a deep insight into the issues at hand. Like every single shot the characters fade in, exist for a time, and then fade out. Nothing is achieved, nothing is accomplished, thing just are. And that is where the beauty of the movie lies; in its simple act of existing.I suppose that some might find the whole thing pointless, and I would agree to an extent, but those who dismiss this film for its pointlessness are in for a very heated argument indeed. It's true that this is not the movie you want to throw in the player when you are looking forward to an evening of mindless entertainment with friends, but that doesn't lessen the movie's impact at all. It is a commitment to lock yourself into the film and really work your way through the melange of useless conversation and dead-pan editing, but I would say that it is well worth the effort. There is just so much to be gained from watching this film with an open mind and taking in the sheer beauty of its bared souls.

Willie is a pre-slacker-era slacker living in New York City. His cousin Eva from Hungary visits him for several days, and then goes to Cleveland to stay with their Aunt Lotte. One year later, Willie and his friend Eddie take a road trip to Cleveland to visit Eva and Aunt Lotte.While this is not my favorite Jim Jarmusch film (and I do think he is an exceptionally skilled director), I have to recognize for what it is -- the birth of modern independent film. The success Jarmusch achieved here indirectly lead to Richard Linklater, Kevin Smith and countless others.Some scenes, particularly those at the beach, even evoke Ingmar Bergman, something I find hard to believe was intentional. But the lifeless scenes among what should be a happy moment call out Bergman's name, and perhaps Swedish film in general.Screamin' Jay Hawkins has a song featured quite prominently here, and I see it as a precursor to Jarmusch's association with Tom Waits. Although Hawkins and Waits may have never met (I have no idea), I do think a fondness or one inevitably leads to the other.