Stranger Than Paradise

Jim Jarmusch's Stranger Than Paradise is something else. Considered one of the best indie films and known for launching a wave of independent cinema in the 1980s that included Spike Lee's She's Gotta Have It, I was destined to love it. I've seen Jarmusch's Broken Flowers, a great movie featuring Bill Murray searching for a son he never knew he had. Stranger is similar in that the plot is minimal and the characters are ordinary people. By ordinary people, I mean the influence of Italian neorealist film is palpable. I really do need to see more of his movies.

Stranger has such a minimal plot so the story focuses on the characters themselves and their monotonous life in New York City, Cleveland, and a Florida suburb. Eddie (played by former Sonic Youth drummer Richard Edson, who also played Vito in Lee's Do the Right Thing) initially believed Cleveland would be a beautiful city but once there, they see a run-down working class neighborhood with little excitement and the blinding monotony of Lake Erie, which should've been a sight to behold. I also appreciated the black and white colors, which enhanced the dark mood and "buminess" of Willie, Eddie, and the cities these low-life hipsters visit.

I also like how the film was shot. The cameras really don't move so it feels like the actors are stepping onto a stage. The way the story takes place was also fascinating since there was little plot. Everything takes place in ordinary rooms and what could've been interesting scenes for the plot are not shot. For example, when Willie and Eddie go to the dog races and horse races, the film focuses on Eva, who is left in the motel room doing nothing. A final thing I liked was the appearance of hip-hop legend Rammellzee as a drug dealer.