Mystery Train

Stranger Than Paradise was the first Jim Jarmusch movie I ever saw, and no Jarmusch movie I've seen since has compared. They've all been awesome in their own ways, but for some reason they can't even compete with Stranger Than Paradise. Mystery Train is really enjoyable in its own right, but is not nearly as fabulous as Down by Law or Dead Man. That said, I would highly recommend it. I loved the way Memphis was shot, and I especially loved the very last shot of the movie, where the train carries everybody away through a jungle of kudzu. The South would not be the South without kudzu.

I also found the Nicoletta Braschi really charming, and I liked her story. It had such a sad undercurrent (you see her at the beginning of her story signing off for a coffin at the airport), but managed to be really funny, then touching again when she does something at the end of her story that reveals who died. Braschi was also in Down by Law and you probably saw her in Life is Beautiful (she's married to Roberto Benigni, a Jarmusch regular).

I was least interested in Joe Strummer's story--it was supposed to be the outright comedy in the movie, but I only found it funny occasionally, and the moments that were supposed to feel sad, empty, and touching in that Jarmuschian way left a lot to be desired. I feel like Buscemi was kind of wasted here. That said, I thought Joe Strummer was a perfect Jarmusch character--hip, kind of goofy, kind of retro. It makes perfect sense for him to be in a Jarmusch movie.

The BEST THING EVER. Hands down. Is Screamin' Jay Hawkins. Man oh man were the scenes between him and the bellhop hilarious. They barely did anything the entire movie but sit at that desk together, but they were so unbelievably funny. I loved that Jarmusch cut to them all the time, even when they weren't doing anything. It gave the movie even more structure (and one thing I love about Jarmusch is how beautifully structured his movies are, how clean and precise) and it was obviously done because Jarmusch is such a fan. Sometimes singers can't act and are put in movies anyway, just because the director's a fan, but Jarmusch is discriminating: Joe Strummer really can act, in a lumbering sort of way, and Hawkins doesn't even HAVE to act. All he has to do is sit there and look tired or surprised, and he's incredibly funny. He's got a great filmic presence. That's not to brush aside Cinqué Lee, little brother of Spike Lee, who is pretty adorable as the bellhop. He and Hawkins work wonderfully against each other.

The story that surprised me the most, however, was "Far from Yokohama." Two Japanese teenagers, obsessed with rockabilly and Elvis Presley, come to Memphis, barely speak a lick of English, and spend a lot of time in their hotel room not relating to each other. I thought the writing here was just beautiful--very few words spoke volumes about their relationship, their alienation from each other, and their strange affection for Memphis, a place where they are so obviously dis-placed and could never fit. Their story was somehow quite sad and touching, much like that of the Italian displaced in Memphis for a night.

The last reason why I would recommend Mystery Train is the atmosphere, the sense of place. It's got some of the most depressing shots of Memphis, so depressing it'll make you want to take a road trip there right afterwards, listening to Carl Perkins and Roy Orbison along the way. The shots alone might not have accomplished that, but Jarmusch is aware of how much the soundtrack creates atmosphere. Jarmusch regular John Lurie did the soundtrack and it was lovely, as per usual. I always love the soundtracks of Jarmusch movies, because they lend so much emotional weight to what would otherwise be underwhelming scenes of emptiness. Melancholy, spaced-out rockabilly underscores long takes of the various displaced characters walking through the empty, overgrown, faded streets of Memphis.