Stranger Than Paradise

Must entertainment be a distraction from reality? Can entertainment be found in reality? These are the questions posed by Stranger Than Paradise (1984), written and directed by Jim Jarmusch. The movie begins in a claustrophobic apartment in New York City, where Willie (John Lurie), a small-time gambler seemingly annoyed by existence itself, finds out his cousin Eva (Eszter Balint) has to stay with him for ten days. His family is from Hungary, and his real name is Bela, a fact Willie has presumably spent a long time trying to forget.

Eva is a cute, clever and aware girl with a mischievous undertone. Willie, like the movie itself, goes to great pains to make sure that it’s understood that life in America is as miserable as he is. Just when Willie and Eva start getting used to each other (“It’s really too formal to say you want to vacuum the floor…” “Oh, what do you say?” “Well you say, um, ‘I want to choke the alligator...’”), the ten days come to an end and Eva goes to stay with Aunt Lotte (Cecillia Stark) in Cleveland.

Willie and Eddie (Richard Edson), probably his only friend although Willie might not even concede that much, grift some money and decide to borrow a car and, for lack of a better place to go, drive to Cleveland. There, they find Eva restlessly working at a burger joint. It turns out Cleveland sucks as much as New York City (“While we’re in Cleveland, Willie, why don’t we see the Cavaliers?” “Oh, they have a terrible team.”). Willie, Eddie and Eva take off to Florida (“Florida? It’s beautiful…They got pelicans down there and flamingos- all those weird birds.” “You been there?” “No…”).

While the boys spend their days at the racetrack, all Eva sees of Florida is a cramped motel (“This looks familiar.”). Then Eva lucks into what, to echo the satirical tone of this movie, is probably one of the more likely ways to get rich in this country. The movie ends as Willie’s worst nightmare is about to come true….

The cinematography and dialogue are both outstanding, not for any technical wizardry but for their stark believability. The clever humor is rooted deep in interpersonal verbal and non-verbal communication. Especially poignant is the scene where Willie and Eddie sit between Eva and her date Billy (Danny Rosen) as they watch a kung-fu movie. They seem to find the movie they are watching a bore, daring us to think the same about the movie they are in. Speaking of which, I’m going to have to go get the Criterion Collection DVD, as it has a bonus disc containing Permanent Vacation, Jarmusch’s first movie.