Jim Jarmusch struck again

Down by Law  (1986) Directed by Jim Jarmusch

PRETENTIOUS!  Sing it with me (to the Micky Mouse Club theme song)  P-R-E  T-E-N IO-Uuuu-S
As those words were wafting through my head I was thinking about when the horror would end, what had I gotten myself into?  I kept looking at the clock, hoping I'd make it through to the end.  I wanted to see my mother again.  Thankfully the movie got better, much better. 

Three guys get set-up and taken to prison in New Orleans and when in prison they bond over their troubles.  The set up to the prison took FOREVER and is what many people often hate about cinema: moody, "edgy" black and white, and jazz music.  It was a noir without out any of the enduring qualities.   For some reason when they got to the prison I found myself interested.  The shadows didn't seem as self serving, the actors shined brighter, and Criterion's selecting this movie as one to get gussied up made more sense although I'm not sure why this movie deserved the 5 star treatment. 

Tom Waits is great as a dj.  He is a hip jazz cat and pulls it off with great realism.  The pimp charecter is decent enough although I think the black and white film helped their acting quite a bit, and Roberto Begnigni is lively (remember him? he won an Oscar a few years back and was crazily running up and down the aisles with the biggest grin ever recorded).  By the time the movie ends, they've all acted their pants off and I cared what happened to each of them.  That's a long way from wishing for death in a scant 100 minutes.

All the credit goes to Jarmusch. In the hands of another director, this could have and probably would have sucked giant balls but Jarmusch is an autuer.  He has an eye and a style all his own.  I've seen many of his movies and they are all conversation, scene centered, minimalist movies.  Jarmusch makes the charecters' plight real by taking them through the swamps and 9th Ward of New Orleans.  His directing and the camera work spare no detail.  It is gritty and raw and in some ways, over the top just like my favorite noirs from the 1950's.  If you're a cinephile, you'll probably like this, if you aren't, beware.