(Winner of the Palm Dog Award to Nellie (posthumous) at the 2016 Cannes Film Festival)
Written and directed by Jim Jarmusch, Paterson is the story of the week in the life of a bus driver who writes poetry to let his day go by. The film is a simple story of a man and his simple life as he lives in a small town in New Jersey as writes about what he sees. Starring Adam Driver, Golshifteh Farahani, Cliff “Method Man” Smith, Chasten Harmon, William Jackson Harper. Masatoshi Nagase, and Barry Shabaka Henley. Paterson is an extraordinarily rich film from Jim Jarmusch.
The film is the story of a bus driver from Paterson, New Jersey who drives the same route every day in the course of a week as he has a routine that he does in his job and in his life while he writes poetry about his surroundings and the things he sees in his life. It’s a film with a simple premise as it follows the week in the life of the titular character (Adam Driver) as he also has a wife named Laura (Golshifteh Farahani) who dreams of becoming a country singer and opening her own cupcake store. Jim Jarmusch’s screenplay is largely told in the span of seven days as it follows Paterson driving the same bus route every day as he listens to the different passengers he has and then returns home to see what Laura has done in creating curtains, clothing, and such and then would walk their English bulldog Marvin (Nellie) on the way to a local bar where he chats with its bartender Doc (Barry Shabaka Henley).
During these days at work, he would see different set of twins as well as see a couple argue every once in a while at Doc’s bar as it play into his life that he would write about in his poetry as the poems are written by Ron Padgett which also references the work of William Carlos William who wrote a book of poems after the city. While Paterson is a good poet, he’s reluctant in having them published as he prefers to keep it to himself to emphasize his lack of ambition and just settle for what he has while being supportive of Laura’s many dreams.
Jarmusch’s direction doesn’t bear a lot of visual styles other than emphasizing on repetitious compositions to play into Paterson’s day-to-day routine in the course of a week. Shot on location in Paterson, New Jersey which is a character in the film in the many different street corners as well as the waterfalls including the Great Falls of the Passaic River where Paterson would often eat lunch and write poetry during his lunch break. While Jarmusch would use some wide shots of the entire city and its locations, much of the direction involves him using close-ups and medium shots to play into the intimacy of the bus that Paterson drives as well as the scenes at his home with Laura and the scenes at the bar. Still, Jarmusch’s approach to repetition as the path where Paterson walks to the bus station as he passes by old and abandoned factories along the way as well as the path he would walk Marvin to the bar show his simple routine as there’s something different that happens every once in a while. Even as the weekend approaches where Laura would receive a guitar that she wanted to learn to be a country singer as well as a bake sale that is happening on that Saturday.
While Paterson’s lack of ambitions of having his poems published do emphasize the need to keep his work for himself as he would meet a 10-year old girl who also wrote a poem as she would keep it in a secret notebook. It also showcases the power of poetry when it has someone writing for himself such as a moment late in the film where Paterson meets a Japanese tourist (Masatoshi Nagase) who is at the town due to his interest in poetry and the town itself. Though Paterson may write about ordinary things about what he sees, hears, or remembers, he uses poetry as a way to feel alive rather than express it publicly for vanity. Overall, Jarmusch crafts a tender yet intoxicating film about the week in the life of a poetic bus driver in Paterson, New Jersey.
Cinematographer Frederick Elmes does excellent work with the film’s cinematography as it is largely straightforward to play into the natural look of the city in the day and night including the low-key lights for the scenes at the bar. Editor Affonso Goncalves does brilliant work with the editing with its stylish usage of jump-cuts, superimposed dissolves for the poetry scenes, and some transitional fade-outs. Production designer Mark Friedberg, with set decorator Lydia Marks and art director Kim Jennings, does fantastic work with the interiors of the bar as well as some of the creations that Laura made in the curtains at the home she shares with Paterson.
Costume designer Catherine George does amazing work with the clothes that Laura wears that is very stylish with its emphasis on black-and-white while maintaining a more casual look for the rest of the characters in the film. Sound designer Robert Hein does superb work with the sound in capturing the way a bus would sound when it is turned on as well as other low-key yet sparse textures in many of the film’s location. The film’s music by Carter Logan, Jim Jarmusch, and Squrl is terrific for its ambient-based score that appears in a few scenes to play into Paterson’s sense of wonderment while the rest of the music soundtrack appears largely in scenes in the bar or on location as it include cuts by Teddy Pendergrass, Reuben Wilson, Killer Mike, Pouran, Tammy Wynette, Lester Young, Gary Carter, Bad Medicine, and Jerry Brightman.
The casting by Ellen Lewis and Meghan Rafferty is wonderful as it feature some notable small roles from Jared Gilman and Kara Hayward as a couple of students talking about anarchy on the bus, Sterling Jerins as a young poet that Paterson meets on his way home from work, Chasten Harmon and William Jackson Harper in their respective roles as Marie and Everett as this bickering couple who frequent at the bar, Rizwan Manji as a co-worker of Paterson in Donny, and Cliff “Method Man” Smith as himself working on a rhyme. Masatoshi Nagase is superb as the Japanese tourist that Paterson meets late in the film who shares his love of poetry as well as the work of William Carlos William. Barry Shabaka Henley is excellent as the bartender Doc as a man who loves to play chess and chat with Paterson about their town and the many wonders of their small town.
Golshifteh Farahani is incredible as Laura as a lively woman with big dreams of being a country singer, making cupcakes, and all sorts of things as someone who is supportive of Paterson’s poetry while wanting to ensure they have a good and thriving life. Finally, there’s Adam Driver in a sensational performance as the titular character as bus driver who drives many people around the town of Paterson as he spends a bit of time writing poetry as well as observe all that is around as it’s a quiet yet endearing performance from Driver.
Paterson is a phenomenal film from Jim Jarmusch that features great performances from Adam Driver and Golshifteh Farahani. Along with its low-key approach to storytelling, poetic tone, naturalistic visuals, and a soothing score. It’s a film that showcases a week in the life of an ordinary man who proves to be just as fascinating as everyone else around him though prefers to keep it quiet. In the end, Paterson is a spectacular film from Jim Jarmusch.
Jim Jarmusch Films: Permanent Vacation - Stranger Than Paradise - Down by Law - Mystery Train - Night on Earth - Dead Man - Year of the Horse - Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai - Coffee and Cigarettes - Broken Flowers - The Limits of Control - Only Lovers Left Alive - (Gimme Danger) – The Auteurs #27: Jim Jarmusch
© thevoid99 2018
Based on the novel by Atiq Rahimi, The Patience Stone is the story of a woman telling a story to her comatose and wounded husband during a war in a Muslim country. Directed by Rahimi and screenplay by Rahimi and Jean-Claude Carriere, the film is a look into a woman trying to tell her own life story to her husband whom she felt had neglected her as she finally gets to speak to him in his comatose state. Starring Golshifteh Farahani, Hamid Djavadan, Massi Mrowat, and Hassina Burgan. The Patience Stone is a riveting and mesmerizing film from Atiq Rahimi.
Set a war-torn Muslim country where a soldier is in a comatose state due to a bullet in his neck, the film is about the soldier’s wife who is tending to him while he is in a vegetative state as she talks about aspects of her life including her frustrations, revelations, and dreams to a man who didn’t treat her very well. It’s a film that follows this woman who doesn’t have many people to turn to with the exception of an aunt who would care for her two daughters during the war as she tends to her husband. The film’s screenplay by novelist Atiq Rahimi and Jean-Claude Carriere largely emphasizes on this woman (Golshifteh Farahani) to reveal a lot to her comatose husband (Hamid Djavadan) while would only step out to see her aunt (Hassina Burgan) who tells her the story of a patience stone where the woman uses her husband as a patience stone to reveal everything and hopefully be released from all of that suffering. Even as she would try to hide his body from militia whom he was fighting against as well as wonder why his brothers had abandoned him during the war.
Rahimi’s direction is quite engaging not just for some of the compositions that are created but also for its intimacy as it is shot on very few locations in and around Afghanistan. While there are some wide shots in the film including a key shot of a battle raging on above the roofs of several houses in the small and rural town near the mountains. Rahimi prefers to use close-ups and medium shots to give the film a somewhat theatrical tone as much of the action takes place at the home of the couple as well as the aunt’s home. There are also some flashback sequences as it relates to the woman recalling her childhood and her wedding day even though the man never showed up. Some of Rahimi’s compositions in scenes where the woman tells the story to her husband would sometimes have her in the foreground and him in the background or vice versa as it play into what she is telling him. Even as she ponders if these ten years of marriage where she didn’t have much to say to him is really worth it. Overall, Rahimi creates an eerie yet entrancing film about a woman telling her own story to her comatose husband during a war.
Cinematographer Thierry Arbogast does excellent work with the film’s cinematography from its usage of natural lights for some of the daytime/nighttime interiors as well as some of the exterior scenes. Editor Herve de Luze does brilliant work with the editing as it uses some unique transitional fade-outs and other stylized cuts to help play into the film’s slow yet methodical rhythm. Production designer Erwin Prib and art director Delphine De Casanove do fantastic work with the set design from the look of the home the couple lives in as well as the place where the aunt lives at.
Costume designer Malek Jahan Khazai does nice work with the costumes as it’s mostly casual from the yellow veil that the woman wears outside to the more stylish but conservative clothes that she wears inside the house. Sound designer Noemi Hampel does superb work with the sound in capturing the sounds of rockets and bombs flying in the air or the smaller moments in some of the sets. The film’s music by Max Richter is wonderful for its mixture of orchestral, ambient, and traditional Middle Eastern music while music supervisor Matthieu Sibony would provide a soundtrack that consists of music from that world.
The film’s incredible ensemble include some notable small roles from Malak Djaham Khazal as a neighbor, Mohamed Al Maghraoui as the local mullah, Hiba Lharrak and Aya Abida as the woman’s daughters, and Massi Mrowat as a young militia who would meet the woman unaware of her real role in the world. Hassina Burgan is wonderful as the woman’s aunt who works part time as a prostitute yet knows a lot about the world while Hamid Djavadan is superb as the comatose husband who is often in a vegetative state as he is silent throughout listening to his wife. Finally, there’s Golshifteh Farahani in a phenomenal performance as the woman who is trying to take care of her husband as she copes with the years of neglect and cruelty she would tell him so much about herself as it’s a very graceful and touching performance from Farahani who is a major highlight of the film.
The Patience Stone is a remarkable film from Atiq Rahimi that features a sensational performance from Golshifteh Farahani. It’s a film that showcases what a woman in a war-torn Muslim has to do to cope with the chaos of war as well as the role of women in that world where they don’t have much to say. In the end, The Patience Stone is an incredible film from Atiq Rahimi.
© thevoid99 2017
Based on the graphic novel by Marjane Satrapi, Poulet aux prunes (Chicken with Plums) is the story about the final days of a violinist as he recalls his life and the love that he lost. Written for the screen and directed by Marjane Satrapi and Vincent Parronaud, the film is a look into the life of a musician whose passion for music has him being conflicted with the realities of his own life as he continually thinks about the woman he loved and lost. Starring Mathieu Almaric, Edouard Baer, Maria de Medeiros, Golshifteh Farahani, Eric Caravaca, Chiara Mastroianni, Jamel Debbouze, and Isabella Rossellini. Poulet aux prunes is a ravishing yet heartfelt film from Marjane Satrapi and Vincent Parronaud.
The film is this visually-imaginative tale about the life of Nasser Ali Khan (Mathieu Almaric) in the eight final days of his life as he is a man eager to find the right violin to replace the one his wife Faranguisse (Maria de Medeiros) had destroyed out of anger. After some trials and tribulations where he traveled all the way to find the right one, it becomes clear that his journey had been unfulfilling as he spends these last eight days wanting to die and thinking about his life. Notably as he thinks about the love of his life in Iran (Golshifteh Farahani) whom he had fallen in love with when he was a young man but circumstances kept them apart forcing him to channel his pain through his playing where they wouldn’t see each other for more than 20 years.
The screenplay by Marjane Satrapi and Vincent Parronaud takes Satrapi’s story about this man who is really her uncle as he had led a life that was quite adventurous but also troubled due to the heartbreak he endures as well as how his life turned out. Yet, the narrative isn’t told in a conventional manner as it sort of moves back-and-forth to those eight final days to the life that Nasser Ali had as a child to an adult. The material about Nasser Ali’s life is also told in an unconventional manner by showing parts of his life in a non-linear manner as it relates to his relationship with his mother (Isabella Rossellini) and his younger brother Abdi (Eric Caravaca). There’s also moments in the story where Nasser Ali thinks about his children when they become adults where his daughter Lili (Chiara Mastroianni) would endure her own troubles while his son Cyrus (Christian Friedel) conforms to the mediocre life in America. Though Nasser Ali wasn’t the perfect father, he was at least there for his kids as it would involve their more uptight mother.
The film’s direction is definitely full of imagination in the way they recreate 1958 Tehran and the years before that as it has a wonderful sense of style where a lot of its dramatic moments are straightforward but are filled with very mesmerizing shots. Some of the more stranger moments involves lots of bizarre visual effects and makeup work to play up the sense of fantasy that Nasser Ali had lived in as it includes moments of death and other strange sequences. Some of which involved animated sequences where it plays to the story about Azrael, the Angel of Death (Edouard Baer) during a meeting with Nasser Ali. There are also moments where reality clashes with surrealism in a scene where Nasser Ali meets a strange man about the ideas of death. It all plays into this journey of loss as the overall result is a fascinating yet enchanting tale in the life of a man by Marjane Satrapi and Vincent Parronaud.
Cinematographer Christopher Beaucarne does amazing work with the film‘s colorful photography from the look of 1958 Tehran with some of its lighting schemes to the more entrancing shading for some of the film’s interior scenes. Editor Stephane Roche does brilliant work with the editing in creating some montages to play up Nasser Ali‘s love life with Iran to some of the more comical moments involving the life of the adult Cyrus. Production designer Udo Kramer and set decorator Bernhard Henrich do fantastic work with the set pieces from the look of 1958 Tehran and some of the strange set pieces involving Nasser Ali’s life and his family.
Costume designer Madeline Fontaine does wonderful work with the period costumes from the suits that Nasser Ali wears to the colorful dresses of the women in Nasser Ali‘s life. Makeup supervisor Nathalie Tissier does terrific work with some of the makeup from the look of Azrael to the look of Iran in the years of her life. Visual effects supervisor Damien Stumpf does excellent work with some of the backdrops of Tehran of the times to some of the stranger moments to play up the idea of soul and faith. Sound designer Yves Renard and sound editor David Vranken do superb work with the sound to create some sound effects to the intimate moments involving his family. The film’s music by Olivier Bernet is exquisite for its mixture of classical music to more traditional Iranian music to play up the sense of melancholia in the film while music supervisor Elisse Luguren provides some of the classical pieces that Nasser Ali plays.
The casting by Anja Dihrberg does phenomenal work with the ensemble as it features appearances from Mathis Bour and Enna Balland in their respective roles as the young Cyrus and Lili, Julia Goldstern as the adult Cyrus’ wife, Chiara Mastroianni as the mysterious adult Lili, Christian Friedel as the dim-witted adult version of Cyrus, Serge Avedikian as Iran’s father, and Isabella Rossellini in a wonderful performance as Nasser Ali’s mother. Jamel Debbouze is excellent in a dual performance as an antiques dealer and a mysterious homeless man while Edouard Baer is terrific as the very chilling Azrael. Eric Caravaca is superb as Nasser Ali’s younger brother Abdi who always care for him while dealing with the decision he’s making in his life.
Maria de Medeiros is brilliant as Nasser Ali’s very proper but uptight wife Faranguisse as a woman who doesn’t understand what it’s like to be with an artist while being unaware of how much pain he has endured in his life. Golshifteh Farahani is fantastic as Iran as a woman who falls for Nasser Ali only to be forced to leave him as she would also endure the kind of pain of what she loses. Finally, there’s Mathieu Almaric in a remarkable performance as Nasser Ali Khan as a man who is a gifted violinist that is adored by everyone but hides the pain of his loss as he becomes more lost in his final days as he looks back as it’s one of Almaric’s finest performances.
Poulet aux prunes is a dazzling and imaginative film from Marjane Satrapi and Vincent Parronaud that features a brilliant performance from Mathieu Almaric. It’s a film that is filled with amazing images and a heartfelt story about the life of a musician that is told with an element of fantasy and drama. Especially as it carries something very personal as it is about Satrapi’s uncle. In the end, Poulet aux prunes is a sensational film from Marjane Satrapi and Vincent Parronaud.
Marjane Satrapi Films: Persepolis - The Voices (2014 film) - (Gang of the Jota) - (Radioactive (2019 film)
© thevoid99 2013
