Stranger Than Paradise (1984)

I don't have all the words right now but this film is a work of art.

I cannot think of one single thing that I would change about this film. The acting is incomparable, the directing deft, and the writing poignantly brilliant.

It’s not bad or unwatchable but despite the amplitude of the spectacle, the end result is underwhelming.

what a terribly boring film. I'm sorry but this is absolutely not deserving of best picture and will be forgotten quickly. Entertaining and engaging cinema? No. Nothing performances with flat faces and mistaking silence for subtlety.

Apparently, this film is a little bit boring to some people.No fascinating scene,So gorgeous actress.However, after watching it,something remains in my mind.What is it?I think it is a non narrative thing,so I can't convey how I feel.The reason it attracts me so much is just because this situation is similar to me.I am a college student,and once I have a extra money, I definitely use it so fast.It is true of every students all over the world.What stops my action is only smart and good looking girl's whisper.

As usual, Jim Jarmush does not communicate anything. Nothing at all. Not a laugh, not a smile, not an emotion, not an impression, not a feeling. Nothing. I can't even say it is boring: something is boring, this is nothing. I can't say I did not like it: I can not like something, I can't say I did not like nothing. And this is nothing. If I were sleeping during the movie, nothing changed in my life, my thoughts, emotions. Nothing. Absolutely, definitely nothing. It is not the worst movie I have ever seen, because Coffe & Cigarettes and Down by Law are even worse. Difficult to believe, but they are. Who is the director of these other two? The same for this? Strange coincidence ...

My circle of friends has been saying "I am de vinner..." since we first saw this film in the '80s."Stranger than Paradise" was Jarmusch's first film, based on a short film, and I've been a fan ever since.John Lurie is Willie, who has been living in New York City and thinks he's really got it going on in his drab apartment and TV dinners. He is surprised -- and not very happy -- when his cousin Eva shows up from Hungary for a visit. He doesn't want anything to do with the Hungarian language or the old country.Willie is pretty hostile in the beginning, but he and his friend Eddie (Richard Edson) take her along with them (though they continually try to ditch her) on their big road trip, which starts at Aunt Lotte's (Cecillia Stark) house in Cleveland. There they play cards with Aunt Lotte declaring herself "de vinner." Then it's on to Florida, and here's where the story develops a couple of neat twists.This film was made for $90,000 and is considered incredibly successful as it earned something like 20+ times its budget. The photography is stark in black and white and the locations finally elicit an hysterical observation from Eva."Stranger than Paradise" has quirky comedy and a quirky outlook, typical of Jarmusch. There's an underlying feeling of quiet loneliness throughout as the three misfits look, but don't seem to know what they're looking for. The film is set in the '80s, both Willie and Eva don't dress like it, and seem to fit in well with Aunt Lotte's old-fashioned European decor.Though Jarmusch's characters are often a little wacky, you can't help but like them or empathize with them. The story and characters of "Stranger Than Paradise" are oddly unforgettable as Eva looks at America and thinks, so what? And given what she sees, you can't blame her.

This cool to distraction cult favorite introduced art house audiences to the minimalism of writer director Jim Jarmusch, who in his breakthrough feature walks a fine line between tedium and hilarity. Mix the two together and the result is a unique if lukewarm comedy exploring American culture at its lowest common denominator, resembling a lonely little travelogue of cheap motel rooms and TV dinners. The trio of unlikely protagonists: a listless New York City non-entity (Lounge Lizards saxophonist John Lurie), his dimwitted but amiable friend, and a demure Hungarian cousin, detour from the Big Apple to Cleveland to Florida, but while the landscapes never change the film is not as pointless as it appears. The rigid construction, with each self-contained scene blacking out before the next, adds up (curiously) to something more than the sum of its loosely fitted parts, and once adjusted to the halting pace viewers will discover an offbeat alternative to conventional storytelling techniques.