Stranger Than Paradise (1984)

User Rating:

7.5/10   

Director:

Jim Jarmusch

Writer:

Jim Jarmusch (written by)

Release Date:

9 November 1984 (West Germany)

Genre:

Comedy | Drama

Plot:

This is about a self-styled New York hipster (John Lurie of the Lounge Lizards) who is paid a suprise...

Plot Keywords:

Road | New York City | Florida | Hungarian | Slacker

Awards:

8 wins & 2 nominations

Cast

John Lurie	...	Willie
Eszter Balint	...	Eva
Richard Edson	...	Eddie
Cecillia Stark	...	Aunt Lotte
Danny Rosen	...	Billy
Rammellzee	...	Man With Money
Tom DiCillo	...	Airline Agent
Richard Boes	...	Factory Worker
Rockets Redglare	...	Poker player
Harvey Perr	...	Poker player
Brian J. Burchill	...	Poker player
Sara Driver	...	Girl with Hat
Paul Sloane	...	Motel Owner

Directed by
Jim Jarmusch

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Jim Jarmusch		written by

Produced by
Sara Driver	....	producer
Otto Grokenberger	....	executive producer

Original Music by
John Lurie

Cinematography by
Tom DiCillo

Film Editing by
Jim Jarmusch
Melody London

Production Design by
Matt Buchwald
Guido Chiesa
Sam Edwards
Tom Jarmusch
Una McClure
Louis Tancredi
Stephen Torton

Production Management
Sara Driver	....	production manager

Sound Department
John Auerbach	....	sound editor
Jack Cooley	....	sound re-recording mixer
Ollie Cotton	....	sound recording engineer
Greg Curry	....	sound
Drew Kunin	....	production sound mixer
Melody London	....	sound editor

Camera and Electrical Department
Paul Gibson	....	assistant camera
James Hayman	....	assistant camera
Frank Prinzi	....	gaffer
Frank Prinzi	....	grip
Li-Shin Yu	....	assistant camera

Editorial Department
Tim Brennan	....	negative matcher

Music Department
Jill Jaffe	....	musician: viola (The Paradise Quartet ) (as Jill B. Jaffe)
Eugene J. Moye	....	musician: cello (The Paradise Quartet ) (as Eugene Moye)
Mary Rowell	....	musician: violin (The Paradise Quartet ) (as Mary L. Rowell)
Kay Stern	....	musician: violin (The Paradise Quartet )

Other crew
Sam Edwards	....	production assistant
Suzanne Fletcher	....	title designer

Thanks
Paul Bartel	....	special thanks

Production Companies

• Cinesthesia Productions
• Grokenberger Film Produktion
• Zweites Deutsches Fernsehen (ZDF)

Distributors

• Samuel Goldwyn Company, The (1984) (USA) (theatrical)
• Svenska Filminstitutet (SFI) (1984) (Sweden) (theatrical)
• Forum Distribution (1985) (France) (all media)
• CBS/Fox (1986) (USA) (VHS)
• Key Video (1986) (USA) (VHS)
• Kinowelt Home Entertainment (2003) (Germany) (DVD)
• A-Film Home Entertainment (2004) (Netherlands) (DVD)
• Asociace Ceských Filmových Klubu (ACFK) (2005) (Czech Republic) (theatrical)
• Madman Entertainment (2005) (Australia) (all media)
• Madman Entertainment (2005) (New Zealand) (all media)
• King Record Co. (2006) (Japan) (DVD)
• Criterion Collection, The (2007) (USA) (DVD)
• Artificial Eye (UK)
• Criterion Collection, The (USA) (laserdisc)
• MGM Home Entertainment (USA) (DVD)

Other Companies

• Cynosure Films  title shoot
• Paradise Quartet  music performed by (as The Paradise Quartet)

Runtime:

89 min

Country:

USA | West Germany

Language:

English | Hungarian

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Australia:M | Finland:S | South Korea:15 | Sweden:Btl | UK:15 | USA:R | West Germany:12

Filming Locations:

Cleveland, Ohio, USA

Company:

Cinesthesia Productions

Trivia:

Started out as a 30-minute short subject film (shot in 1982) and was later expanded into a 3-part feature. The first section, "The New World," takes place in New York, the second, "One Year Later," in Cleveland, and the last, "Paradise," in Florida.

Goofs:

Continuity: In the last cut, shot inside the vehicle on the way to Cleveland, camera on Willie, the vehicle they are riding in is no longer the 1965 Dodge Coronet, but a Ford Econoline van.

Quotes:

Eva: I'm choking the alligator.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Abouna (2002)

Soundtrack:

I Put a Spell on You

Beautiful uncomfortableness

"Stranger than Paradise" (1984): Jim Jarmusch's first film. Often listed as a "comedy" – and yes, I suppose there ARE a few oddly funny moments – for the most part I find it an intensely bleak film, empty of almost all life but for a few lone cruiser characters who are detached from everyone else. The photography is astoundingly beautiful black & white. They are almost shot as individual stills with minor movements in them, and divided by blatant black divisions, which one can think of as the black pages of an old photo album. The velvety rich blacks, grays, and whites, plus the composed "still" scenes, cause me to think Jarmusch was trained as a static, 2-D artist first. Just a guess. This film is NOT about acting, which is limited at best, but doesn't really need much. We observe an alienated set of scenarios which are only enhanced by the stiff, awkward exchanges and pauses of the characters, and the lack of movement in the camera work. Ambient sound adds to the gritty reality of emptiness. Funny or not, this is a low-key, lost-souls story of detachment and aimlessness.