Without the enormously influential contribution of Jim Jarmusch, there would be no such thing as "independent film" -- at least not as we know it. With the groundbreaking release of Stranger Than Paradise in 1984, Jarmusch introduced a new generation of film fans to a new kind of art house film: black and white, aimless, introspective, and always undeniably cool. This week, the Criterion Collection releases Stranger Than Paradise, Night on Earth, and Permanent Vacation on DVD.
1. Stranger Than Paradise
Criterion Collection
Jim Jarmusch gave his seal approval to the two-disc Criterion Collection re-release of the independent classic Stranger Than Paradise (1984). Shot in black and white, with a story that moves at an inscrutably slow pace of the character's own making, the groundbreaking film captures the road trip of Willie (John Lurie), his sixteen year old Polish cousin (Eszter Balint) and pal Eddie (Richard Edson). They drive and smoke, they talk and they don't talk. Throughout, the soulful music of Screaming Jay Hawkins plays on cousin Eva's tape deck.
The DVD features a new, restored high-definition digital transfer, Jarmusch's first full-length feature Permanent Vacation (1980), a German television program about the making of the film, and more.
2. Night on Earth
Criterion Collection
Jim Jarmusch's Night on Earth tells five stories from cities on five different continents, all from the interior of a taxi cab. The international cast includes Gena Rowlands, Winona Ryder, Armin Mueller-Stahl, Beatrice Dalle, Rosie Perez, and Roberto Benigni. Funny and quirky, these small, connected tales explore alienation, angst and loneliness. Fans of Finnish filmmaker Aki Kaurismäki will be thrilled to recognize his regular actors in the Helsinki segment.
Criterion's special features include, once again, a Jarmusch approved restored high-definition digital transfer, a Q&A with Jarmusch answering questions from fans, and more.
3. The Wind That Shakes The Barley
IFC First Take
In Ken Loach's Irish war epic, Cillian Murphy plays Damien O'Donovan, an educated, likable young man with hopes and dreams and a crush on a beautiful girl named Sinead. Damien wants to be a doctor, but he joins the rising Irish Republic Army instead. Traveling with a small band of men, Damien engages in guerrilla warfare, committing atrocities he never thought possible -- but it doesn't earn him the gratitude of the people he is fighting for. The Wind That Shakes The Barley won the prestigious Palm d'Or at Cannes in 2006.
