Stranger than Paradise/Night on Earth

Director- Jim Jarmusch

Cast- John Lurie, Estzer Balint, Winona Ryder, Gena Rowlands
 

Country of Origin – USA

Distributor - Criterion

Number of discs – 1/1

Reviewed by - Scott MacDonald

Date- 4/30/2019

       When I first met my wife about 18 years ago, she was a huge fan of the work of Jim Jarmusch. When we had started talking, and becoming friends she would lend me her DVD copy of the director's classic indie "Stranger than Paradise", I didn't want to disappoint her, but at the time I found it boring. However, like the best films it stuck in my head, and eventually I had to see it again. The second viewing hit me hard, and turned it into a firm favorite. 

    Stranger than Paradise follows the exploits of Willie (John Lurie) and Eddie (Richard Edson) 2 New York Hipsters whose hobbies seem to be hanging out, and various types of gambling.  One day Willie gets a phone call from his Aunt Lotte, that his Hungarian cousin Eva (Eszter Balint) is coming to America to live with her, but because of an issue Eva must stay with Willie for a week before going to Cleveland.
 

    At first the pair are annoyed by one another, but over the course of the the week they become friendly, and Willie appears to miss her after she's gone. The story picks up a while later, Willie and Eddie win a game of poker, take the earnings, and visit Eva in Cleveland. Eva is now working at a fast food restaurant, and hasn't quite adapted to life in Cleveland. The 3 decide to split Cleveland after a few days and drive down to Florida for a sunny vacation.

    Stranger than Paradise is one of the first truly great masterpieces of the American Independent Cinema movement of the 80's. It's shot in stark black and white with the camera simply placed for each shot. In many ways Stranger than Paradise feels like a lo-fi Ozu film due to Jarmusch's minimalist direction.  The film is slowly paced, which offers a slight hypnotic effect. This would be an excellent film to catch on TV at 3 am, and just let the mood and feel of the piece just wash over you.

       Night on Earth is a "night" film, in that the whole thing takes over the course of one night. I absolutely adore films like this, such as Scorsese's vastly underrated After Hours, and thus had to see this.  The film follows 5 different sets of people, in 5 different international cities (L.A., New York City, Rome, Paris, Helsinki), as they each get into a cab to go somewhere whether it's Gena Rowlands getting into Winona Ryder's cab to go home, or Betty Blue's Beatrice Dalle playing a blind woman who gets into the cab of an immigrant from Ivory Coast.

    Each of the 5 stories have a similar nocturnal atmosphere that makes this one great for late night viewing. The shorts also have some overlapping similarities to give them continuity with one another.  However, Jarmusch does a lot to make each one its own distinct entity, similar to what he would do with the Coffee and Cigarettes compilation feature. The film is wonderfully directed by Jarmusch, and might be his best looking feature up until this point. The performances across the board are excellent, but when your cast ranges from Winona Ryder to Roberto Benigni this is not hard to pull off. The 5 segments are for the most part great, but some of them like the segment with Benigni in Rome is slightly less successful, but still quite entertaining.

    The Criterion Collection brings Stranger than Paradise and Night on Earth to Blu-ray with a 1:78:1 1080p AVC encoded transfer that brings both films to gorgeous HD in the best way possible, detail is excellent, black levels are deep, inky, and crisp, and colors pop for Night on Earth. Stranger than Paradise has a gorgeous filmlike transfer with excellent contrast and depth.

     Night on Earth has DTS-HD MA 2.0 track in English, while Stranger than Paradise has an LPCM 1.0 Mono track in English. Both sound great and brings the films to excellent HD audio life. Extras for Night on Earth include a Q & A with Jarmusch, an interview about the film on Belgian TV from 1992, and a select scene commentary by DP Frederick Elmes, plus a booklet of liner notes.  Stranger than Paradise includes a commentary by Jarmusch and Edson, Jarmusch's first feature Permanent Vacation, a silent documentary by Tom Jarmusch, documentaries, interviews, and more.  Both Blu-ray's offer outstanding audio-visual upgrades, and an excellent extras slate. If you are a fan of Jarmusch or American Independent Cinema, these are a must buy.