The long takes... give the actors the time and space they need to let their personalities shine through.
And the film has plenty of laughs. I think it´s one of the funniest movies I´ve ever seen, though I don´t recall laughing out loud on a first viewing. "Stranger than Paradise" creates a world that invites you to return again and again, to discover a previously unseen pleasure or even just to revisit some of your favorite people and places. Now that I "know" Eva so well, I can´t stop from breaking up every time she cranks up Screamin´ Jay Hawkins´ "I Put A Spell On You" and takes a long, slow walk down the oddly deserted streets of the Big Apple. And Willie and Eva´s conversation about American TV dinners gets funnier every time I see it.
So that's all? You bet, and it´s more than enough.
Video
The film is presented in its original 1.78:1 aspect ratio. The anamorphic, progressive transfer is crisp, sharp, and at the highest standard that Criterion has established. Fantastic.
Audio
The DVD is presented in Dolby Digital Mono. Optional English subtitles support the English audio.
Extras
Unfortunately, there is no commentary track offered on this 2-disc set, but this omission is more than compensated for by the real gem on Disc 2: "Permanent Vacation" (1980), Jim Jarmusch´s first film. He shot "Permanent Vacation" while he was a student at NYU, but didn´t graduate because he had made a feature film when his thesis project was only to make a short film. "Permanent Vacation" is essentially a character study, or rather a character observation, of Allie Parker, an aimless dreamer and drifter who bears a striking resemblance to its lead actor Chris Parker, then a friend of Jarmusch´s. Allie has tuned in and dropped out, with an emphasis on the dropped out part, and spends most of his time wandering around ever so vaguely searching for some meaning in life, and also digging on Charlie Parker (no relation). "Permanent Vacation" is not a masterpiece by any means, and has all the soft edges of a debut film, but it´s still mesmerizing in its own thudding, monotonous way. Tom DiCillo also filmed this one.
"Kino ´84: Jim Jarmusch" is a 1984 documentary (41 min.) shot by Martina Müller for German TV. The documentary consists mostly of clips from Jarmusch´s first two films, and interviews with him and the cast and crew members. I enjoyed this one quite a bit. Jarmusch has always looked and sounded the same; it´s kind of creepy.
"Some Days in January" (1984) is a short (14 min.)silent Super-8 film shot by Tom Jarmusch, showing some on-the-set footage of the filmmakers at work.
The insert booklet features Jarmusch´s "Notes on Stranger than Paradise," released with the press kit for the film in 1984. It influenced quite a few of the film´s reviews. The booklet also includes essays on "Stranger Than Paradise" by Geoff Andrew and J. Hoberman, and on "Permanent Vacation" by Luc Sante.
Film Value
Not everyone loved "Stranger than Paradise" when it came out. One rather hostile French critic observed that Jarmusch was 33 years old at the time, the same age when Jesus was crucified, and wished fondly for the safe fate to befall the filmmaker. To think George Lucas used to whine about how mean Pauline Kael was!
However, the film was a smash hit in its New York engagement (though hardly anywhere else) and became a critical darling in short order. Jarmusch´s career was launched, and he found himself at Cannes with his next film "Down By Law" (1986). Though never a financial success ("Broken Flowers" $13.7 million domestic nearly equaled the total gross of all of Jarmusch´s previous films) Jarmusch became one of the defining figures of American independent film, at least until Quentin Tarantino came along and helped blur the lines between indie and studio filmmaking in the 90s.
"Stranger Than Paradise" is achingly funny, incisively bittersweet, and truly one of the great American films of the past quarter century.
So that's all? You bet, and it´s more than enough.
Video
The film is presented in its original 1.78:1 aspect ratio. The anamorphic, progressive transfer is crisp, sharp, and at the highest standard that Criterion has established. Fantastic.
Audio
The DVD is presented in Dolby Digital Mono. Optional English subtitles support the English audio.
Extras
Unfortunately, there is no commentary track offered on this 2-disc set, but this omission is more than compensated for by the real gem on Disc 2: "Permanent Vacation" (1980), Jim Jarmusch´s first film. He shot "Permanent Vacation" while he was a student at NYU, but didn´t graduate because he had made a feature film when his thesis project was only to make a short film. "Permanent Vacation" is essentially a character study, or rather a character observation, of Allie Parker, an aimless dreamer and drifter who bears a striking resemblance to its lead actor Chris Parker, then a friend of Jarmusch´s. Allie has tuned in and dropped out, with an emphasis on the dropped out part, and spends most of his time wandering around ever so vaguely searching for some meaning in life, and also digging on Charlie Parker (no relation). "Permanent Vacation" is not a masterpiece by any means, and has all the soft edges of a debut film, but it´s still mesmerizing in its own thudding, monotonous way. Tom DiCillo also filmed this one.
"Kino ´84: Jim Jarmusch" is a 1984 documentary (41 min.) shot by Martina Müller for German TV. The documentary consists mostly of clips from Jarmusch´s first two films, and interviews with him and the cast and crew members. I enjoyed this one quite a bit. Jarmusch has always looked and sounded the same; it´s kind of creepy.
"Some Days in January" (1984) is a short (14 min.)silent Super-8 film shot by Tom Jarmusch, showing some on-the-set footage of the filmmakers at work.
The insert booklet features Jarmusch´s "Notes on Stranger than Paradise," released with the press kit for the film in 1984. It influenced quite a few of the film´s reviews. The booklet also includes essays on "Stranger Than Paradise" by Geoff Andrew and J. Hoberman, and on "Permanent Vacation" by Luc Sante.
Film Value
Not everyone loved "Stranger than Paradise" when it came out. One rather hostile French critic observed that Jarmusch was 33 years old at the time, the same age when Jesus was crucified, and wished fondly for the safe fate to befall the filmmaker. To think George Lucas used to whine about how mean Pauline Kael was!
However, the film was a smash hit in its New York engagement (though hardly anywhere else) and became a critical darling in short order. Jarmusch´s career was launched, and he found himself at Cannes with his next film "Down By Law" (1986). Though never a financial success ("Broken Flowers" $13.7 million domestic nearly equaled the total gross of all of Jarmusch´s previous films) Jarmusch became one of the defining figures of American independent film, at least until Quentin Tarantino came along and helped blur the lines between indie and studio filmmaking in the 90s.
"Stranger Than Paradise" is achingly funny, incisively bittersweet, and truly one of the great American films of the past quarter century.
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