Permanent Vacation (1980)

User Rating:

6.1/10   

Director:

Jim Jarmusch

Writer:

Jim Jarmusch (written by)

Release Date:

26 July 1986 (Japan)

Genre:

Drama

Plot:

A young slacker wanders New York City searching for some meaning in life and encounters many idiosyncratic characters.

Plot Keywords:

Slacker | Manhattan | New York City | Mental Patient | Tribeca

Awards:

1 win

Cast

Richard Boes	...	War vet
Ruth Bolton	...	Mother
Sara Driver	...	Nurse
María Duval	...	Latin girl
Frankie Faison	...	Man in lobby
Jane Fire	...	Nurse
Suzanne Fletcher	...	Girl in car
Leila Gastil	...	Leila
Chris Hameon	...	French traveller
John Lurie	...	Sax player
Eric Mitchell	...	Car fence
Chris Parker	...	Allie
Lisa Rosen	...	Popcorn girl
Felice Rosser	...	Woman by mailbox
Evelyn Smith	...	Patient
Charlie Spademan	...	Patient

Runtime:

75 min | Argentina:80 min (Buenos Aires Festival Internacional de Cine Independiente)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Australia:PG | Argentina:Atp | Sweden:Btl | Finland:S | Hong Kong:I | Switzerland:16

Filming Locations:

New York City, New York, USA

Company:

Cinesthesia Productions

Trivia:

The book Allie gives Leila is "Maldoror and Poems" by Lautreamont (Penguin Classics 1978), one of the earliest surrealist stories.

Goofs:

Continuity: The reflection of Leila sitting in the chair shows the the back of the chair near to the mirror, when all other shots have it the other side of Leila.

Quotes:

Leila: Where have you been? I haven't seen you since Thursday.
Allie: Walking, just walking around. I can't seem to sleep at night, not in this city.
Leila: Doesn't seem like you sleep at all.
Allie: Well, I have my dreams while I'm awake.

Movie Connections:

References Il buono, il brutto, il cattivo. (1966)

Soundtrack:

Up There in Orbit

as tedious as it is beautifully filmed, without form and very much the student film

Jim Jarmusch is a filmmaker I'll always admire and will see anything he puts out. Perhaps though my expectations of his student film, Permanent Vacation, were a little high as I thought this could be the link to Stranger Than Paradise as Who's That Knocking and Mean Streets were perfectly connected for Scorsese. This is not the case, at least from what I got from the film. It's an exercise in the mundane and plot less, a tale of a vagabond type character who may or may not be nuts, who has an insane mother, and usually just loafs around the more deconstructed and decaying parts of lower Manhattan. There are some chances for it becoming more interesting than it does, and it's really because it's a case of a filmmaker finding his footing and not getting there yet.

A few bits are noteworthy in the kind of fascination that comes with watching Jarmusch's characters- like when Allie (Chris Parker) dances to the jazz record in his apartment, or the very random scene on the island. And there's a grin for a bit part for John Lurie. But there almost comes a point where the randomness becomes too diverting, and the script and (obvious) amateurs don't help matters. A monologue in a movie theater- which another commenter said was beautiful- is rambling and loses its point even as Jarmusch sorta goes back to it. Part of that scene is interesting, but it's before the monologue with the Nicholas Ray movie. Parker as an actor has that cool, quiet swagger that would be found in Stranger Than Paradise, but he also can't carry the dialog that well (particularly in the odd voice-overs).

The end of the film caps it off as he just decides to leave New York City for good on a ship. This might have a little more resonance if what led up to it had one feeling much more for Parker than distance. Permanent Vacation is like a condensed, rough, patch-work example of everything that is wrong and sometimes right with Jarmusch's work, like an early demo from some rocker who hasn't quite got the gist of everything from his inspirations. What's right with the work is that it's very well shot, particularly for an ultra low-budget drama, co-DP'd by later talent Tom DiCillo. In the end, I almost found that the film was like a Godard work, though the ones really from the 80s as opposed to those of the 60s. It's got an artist's eye and the occasional touch of grace, but it's also a jumble of a sketchpad of what's really in the filmmaker's gifts. It is unique in that you can tell who made it, that it's not another write-off of a future hack. That it doesn't really spell the promise of Jarmusch's other 80's classics is harder to figure.