JIM

JARMUSCH

WRITER, DIRECTOR & MUSIC FIEND

By Heather Andres

“For me, the music is always like the small rowboat I get into at the very

beginning of my process.” JJ

BIO

That’s where I saw things I had only read about and heard

about – films by many of the good Japanese directors, like

Imamura, Ozu, Mizoguchi. Also, films by European directors

like Bresson and Dreyer, and even American films, like the

retrospective of Samuel Fuller’s films, which I only knew from

seeing a few of them on television late at night. When I came

back from Paris, I was still writing, and my writing was

becoming more cinematic in certain ways, more visually

d e s c r i p t i v e .

—Jarmusch on the Cinémathèque Française, taken from an

interview with Lawrence Van Gelder of The New York Times,

O c t o b e r 2 1 , 1 9 8 4 .

Born James Roberto "Jim" Jarmusch in Akron, Ohio in 1953, to a journalist

mother and businessman father, Jim spent his young years wanting to be a

writer; more specifically, a poet. He earned a degree in English and American

literature at Columbia University. Writing fiction, he grew increasingly interested

in film as a means of expression. During his final year at Columbia, Jarmusch

moved to Paris, for what was initially a summer semester on an exchange

program but turned into ten months.

Returning from Paris

in 1976, Jarmusch

was broke and

working as a

musician in New

York City. He

applied to the Tisch

School of the Arts,

where he studied for

four years, before

working as

assistant director

on Lightning Over

Water (1980). He

went on to make his

first film, Permanent

Vacation (1982), for

roughly $15,000

FILMOGRAPHY

2013 Only Loves Left Alive

2009 The Limits of Control

2005 Broken Flowers

2003 Kava i cigarete

2002 Ten Minutes Older: The Trumpet (segment "Int. Trailer Night")

1999 Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai

1997 Year of the Horse (documentary)

1995 Coffee and Cigarettes III (short)

1995 Dead Man

1991 Night on Earth

1990 Red Hot and Blue (TV movie) (segment "It's All Right With Me")

1989 Mystery Train

1989 Coffee and Cigarettes II (short)

1986 Down by Law

1986 Coffee and Cigarettes (short)

1984 Stranger Than Paradise

1983 Stranger Than Paradise (short)

1980 Permanent Vacation

① Stationary camera

(deadpan).

② His films often involve

travelers as well as life

after midnight.

③ Show s and view s the

American landscape from a

non-commercial viewpoint

④ Often casts musicians as

actors in his films.

Info Courtesy of IMDB

TRADEMARKS

Above, with Tom Waits

Below, with Neil Young

PERMANENT VACATION (1980)

Shot on 16 mm film,

it has photograph-

like qualities, but as

an early attempt, does

have an amateurish

feel. A journey

through New York

among its outcast,

this marks the

beginning of a career

which follows a

distinct path down

the outer fringes of

society.

STRANGER THAN PARADISE (1984)

Jarmusch kicks off his

signature minimalist

deadpan humor, his

unique and exquisitely

present soundtrack,

and early signature

neo-noir style. The

original soundtrack

was done by jazz

musician, friend and

leading character of

the story, John Lurie.

What set this film apart was Jarmusch’s cast of non-professional actors.

Starring alongside Lurie was Richard Edson, the drummer from Sonic

Youth, and a Hungarian violinist, Eszter Balint. The film began as a 30

minute short, but was later expanded to full length.

http://www.criterion.com/films/252-stranger-than-paradise

DO

WN

B

Y LA

W (1986)

Tom Waits, John Lurie, and Roberto Benigni play cellmates

incarcerated for crimes they never committed. The film follows the

dynamic between them behind bars and throughout their escape.

Robby Müller's slow-moving camerawork beautifully captures the

Louisiana bayou and the architecture of New Orleans.

CO

FFE

E A

ND

C

IG

AR

ET

TE

S (2003)

A series

of short

vignettes

that take

place

whilst

sipping

coffee

and

smoking

cigarettes

. M

YS

TE

RY

T

RA

IN

(1

98

9)

Three stories, connected by Elvis.

NIG

HT

O

N E

AR

TH

(1

99

1)

The

separate

stories of

5 different

cab

drivers in

different

cities on

the same

night.

The only of Jim’s films that can

be categorized, it does so in the

most abstract way possible.

Technically, this is a western,

when really the whole thing may

just be a metaphor or visual

poetry.

William Blake (Johnny Depp)

sets out for the town of

Machine, passes through hostile

Indian territory and when he

arrives, is refused a job and

happens to kill a man. On the

run, he meets an odd Indian

named "Nobody" who prepares

him for his journey beyond.

A twangy, ethereal soundscape,

the score is done completely by

Neil Young. Magnificent

soundtrack, once again.

DEAD MAN (1995)

Forest Whitaker plays

a man called Ghost

Dog, a hit man who

models himself after

the ancient samurai.

This is considered to

be Jarmusch’s most

commercial film, The

soundtrack entirely

comprised of hiphop

by The Wu –Tang Clan.

GHOST DOG: THE WAY OF THE SAMURAI (1999)

Music: Don's neighbour, Winston(Jeffrey Wright) burns a CD forhim to listen to on his travels.Mainly jazz by Ethiopian musicianMulatu Astatke, it is singularlyinappropriate both for Don and forthe American landscapes overwhich it plays. Like everythingelse in the film, it just is.

BROKEN FLOWERS (2005)

Don Johnston (Bill Murray) is

dumped by his girlfriend and

receives an anonymous letter

informing him that he has a

son who may be looking for

him. The situation causes

Don to examine his

relationships with women

instead of moving on to the

next one, and he sets out on

a journey, in search of old

flames with clues.

Isaach De Bankoléplays a man on a secret mission. As De Bankolé travels through a surreal reality by train, in Spain, he encounters a cast that includes Tilda Swinton, Alex Descas, Gael GarcíaBernal, John Hurt, and Bill Murray.

“I’m not calculating, so the ideawas to make a film where I wasopen to finding connections andlayers even as we went along. SoI started this project with a 25-page prose story that I wrote, andI said “I’m not going to write aconventional script. I’m going tostart from here and just startbuilding things.” So for me, asalways, I kind of start collectingdetails and then piece themtogether along the way.” JJ

THE LIMITS OF CONTROL (2009)

“Only Lovers Left Alive is an

unconventional love story

between a man and a woman,

Adam and Eve. (My script was

partially inspired by the last book

published by Mark Twain: The

Diaries of Adam and Eve —

though no direct reference to the

book is made other than the

character’s names.) These two

lovers are archetypal outsiders,

classic bohemians, extremely

intelligent and sophisticated —

yet still in full possession of their

animal instincts. They have

traveled the world and

experienced many remarkable

things, always inhabiting the

shadowed margins of society.

And, like their own love story,

their particular perspective on

human history spans centuries —

because they happen to be

vampires.” JJ

ONLY LOVERS LEFT ALIVE (2013)

Tilda Swinton and Tom Hiddleston

(Adam and Eve) are permeated with

music, science, history, the fate of

the world and each other in this

gorgeously addictive romance.

AD

AM

A

ND

E

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YL O V

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L E F

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SOURCES

http://www.jim-jarmusch.net/

http://www.avclub.com/article/jim-jarmusch-27753

interview By Scott Tobias from A.V. Club

http://filmfactory.ba/faculty/JimJarmusch.html

http://www.jim-jarmusch.net/bio/

http://www.infoplease.com/biography/var/jimjarmusch.html

http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000464/?ref_=nv_sr_1