Life's a Gas: Jarmusch on Zen and the Art of Black Comedy

Rating: Null/10 (4 April 2006)

The second wave of graduates from New York University's film program yielded the likes of the Cohen brothers and Spike Lee, independent virtuosos well versed in the history of cinema. This immense knowledge of the medium's stylistic repertoire gave way to a synergy of past avant gardes, mutating into a new dialect of film that would be eventually accepted by mainstream audiences. Then there's Jim Jarmusch. A punk with a camera, concerned more with the expression of realism then the limits of narrative. Jamusch's affinity for visual simplicity lead to his unmistakable cinematography, series of still shots closely framed to his actors. The sound and story elements of his movies also follow this pattern, while straightforward, engaging the viewer with a complex versatility of the non-chalant. Jim Jarmusch's films bleed the sense that he himself doesn't care whether or not you love them, its not up to him to explain his genius, but genius it is all the same. Deadman is a perfect film, and a befitting masterwork for the apprentice of the western pioneer Nicholas Ray. While his style can be exhausted upon watching his films back to back, it is an originality unequaled in his approach and in the movie's thematics. While Jarmusch's films hearken back to french cinema of the 50's and 60's, they completely break away from their foundations and Coffee and Cigarettes is the perfect example of the difference between great films derived of previous auteur's and true creativity that resembles past conventions. It looks like Shadows or Don't look back, it focuses upon open-ended conversations between a small cast of characters, the movement of the film's pace relies almost solely upon the performances of his actors, and it focuses upon the realistic relationships established by the characters/surroundings. Yet, it feels vastly different then the humble beginnings of the independent film. Jarmusch is the master of making the audience assimilate the humor, profoundness, and the idea of life's unequivocal nature of matter-of-factness. Each character represents the foreigner in all of us, how we are aware of ourselves, but still unsure of our place within our surroundings. We are ourselves flummoxed by our own sensibilities, even when just sharing a smoke and a cup of black coffee with another stranger who wears the same shoes. And like every good punk rocker, Jarmusch is self-indulgent and pretentious, but never does he try to hide these imperfections, his aim is true. 100% genuine New York cool, abstracted to perfection, like Basquiat and Warhol before him.