Night on Earth

Plot synopsis:
=== Los Angeles ===
As evening falls, tomboy cabby Corky (Winona Ryder) picks up Hollywood executive Victoria Snelling (Gena Rowlands) from the airport, and as Corky drives, Victoria tries to conduct business over the phone. Despite their extreme differences socially, the two develop a certain connection. Sometime during the ride Victoria, who is evidently a talent scout or casting director, discovers that Corky would be ideal for a part in a movie she is casting, but Corky rejects the offer, as she has plans to become a mechanic.
=== New York ===
Helmut Grokenberger (Armin Mueller-Stahl), an East German immigrant who was once a clown in his home country, now works in New York as a taxi driver. He picks up a passenger named YoYo (Giancarlo Esposito), a streetwise young man, and attempts to drive him to Brooklyn. Helmut has difficulty driving with an automatic transmission, so he allows YoYo to drive. On their way, they pick up YoYo's sister-in-law Angela (Rosie Perez). The story revolves around Helmut's attempts to understand and become a part of the culture of New York City.
=== Paris ===
A blind woman (Béatrice Dalle) goes for a ride at night with a driver (Isaach De Bankolé) from the Ivory Coast. They both take some verbal jabs at each other during the ride. The driver asks his passenger what it's like to be blind and she attempts to explain to him, but their cultural differences and differences of life experience make things difficult. After he drops off his blind passenger, he feels fascinated by her and gazes in her direction. This inattention to driving causes him to crash into another car, whose driver angrily accuses him of being blind. An ironic twist at the end of the segment turns upon a French pun near the beginning of it: When the driver states his nationality as "Ivoirien," some other Africans mock him with the punning phrase "Il voit rien" (he can't see anything).
=== Rome ===
In the early morning hours, an eccentric cabbie (Roberto Benigni) picks up a priest (Paolo Bonacelli). As he drives, he starts to confess his sins. Much to the priest's discomfort, he goes into great detail about how he discovered his sexuality first with a pumpkin and then with a sheep, then details a love affair he had with his brother's wife. The already-ailing priest is shocked by the confession, and has a fatal heart attack.
=== Helsinki ===
After an evening spent drinking heavily, three workers (Kari Väänänen, Sakari Kuosmanen, and Tomi Salmela), one of whom has just been fired from his job, climb into a cab to return home. On the way, the workers talk about the terrible situation their now-unconscious friend is in, by being out of work and having to face a divorce and a pregnant daughter. The driver, Mika (Matti Pellonpää), then tells them all the saddest story they have ever heard. The workers are terribly moved and depressed by the story, and even become unsympathetic toward their drunken, laid-off companion. As they arrive home, the sun is beginning to rise.

Tags: comedy, humor, psychedelic, storytelling

Review:
A stylish Hollywood casting agent mounts a cab in L.A., in New York it's a hapless poor man trying to get home, in Paris we encounter a blind woman, in Rome a priest and in Helsinki a bunch of drunks will tell their story.
Stories are told, because each episode is an encounter with the respective cabbie, who all have a life and a past of their own.Wynona Ryder's performance of the 20-year-old, chain-smoking taxi driver does not work very well and also makes for the least interesting story.
Before Rome we visit Paris with the most mysterious, yet most catching segment, a curious story about the afore-mentioned blind woman and a black cab driver, who - we can't be sure - might be going blind himself (he's very short-sighted and therefore has problems with driving his taxi) and has a lot of questions to ask.
People leave their places and go about their lives - the world moves on, none of the stories has an ending, life for each of the characters (except one) will continue.What's so great about this movie is that it tells such different stories with such different characters who all have different pasts and intentions, each accommodating the place of action (even visually - in L.A. even the buildings appear to be candy-flavored, while in Helsinki the city is cold, drab, yet hopeful) and it all comes together to this huge picture, which reminds us that we are all different but all live on the same planet and know similar things about life, death and everything in-between.
National Geographic has nothing over Jarmusch's photographic talent.All segments are well written and tie in with the respective cities that are the back drop of the film: LA, NY, Paris, Rome and Helsinki.
Jim Jarmusch, a director who never neglects to find the time for the little moments, glances, exchanges in dialog, that bring out the better (or lesser) in people, puts his skills to full force in Night on Earth.
The film is actually 5 short films of around twenty minutes, each one a taxi journey, taking place at the exact same moment in 5 cities across the world, from LA to Helsinki, via New York, Paris and Rome.Without ruining the surprises contained (its unexpectedness is one of its delights) the film covers numerous emotions.
I started to love this movie, and I was well prepared for the Paris episode, which is, in my opinion the best, the most satisfying of them.I found the story of the Roberto Benigni episode rather stupid, but his talent in exaggerating (so he did this even seven years before 1999's Oscar ceremony!) made up for it.Then, the huge contrast: The liveliest episode is followed by the dreariest.
The first of five segments (in L.A.) deals with Winona Ryder (in a broad, self-conscious performance) as a cab driver who picks up Gena Rowlands, who wants to put her in a movie.
What Jarmusch is going for is to contrast the social classes -- he has an obvious, unfunny line where Ryder's character says she's never been to the executive terminal at the airport before -- but what's really interesting is seeing, since Jarmusch is usually a male-oriented director, how he handles women (one a tomboy, one in a position of power).It's obvious that the little idea of a movie about four taxi cab drivers is just a thin story that gives Jarmusch an excuse to work with certain actors, like Rowlands, whose late, great husband he adores.
He goes for cultural miscommunication in the New York story (which is the film's most tender and brotherly), the warring cultures within a city, where a black man (Giancarlo Esposito) who can't land a cab fights with his Puerto Rican girlfriend while being badly driven around by former circus clown (Armin Mueller-Stahl, in a goofy, charming performance).
Roberto Benigni is excellent as the offbeat cab driver who likes the company of pumpkins and sheep, and his funny segment is juxtaposed quite beautifully with the more heartfelt and raw finale.
My favourite segment, however, is the equally funny New York section starring Giancarlo Esposito, which is basically a culture clash between a working-class New Yorker and a foreign immigrant's first night driving a taxi.
During one night, taxi drivers in Los Angeles, New York, Paris, Rome and Helsinki interact with their passengers while driving them to their destination.
But even in its best moments, "Night on Earth" is slight, some performers more pleasing than others — a difficulty when some segments are damaged by particular characters.The first vignette, set in Los Angeles, stars Winona Ryder as the cab driver, Corky, Gena Rowlands as the passenger, Victoria.
This segment, though dampened by Ryder's unconvincing portrayal of a grungy youth with small dreams, makes an impression thanks to the always lovely Rowlands, who makes what could be an unlikable character affectionate, motherly even.The second, stationed in New York and headed by Armin Mueller-Stahl, Giancarlo Esposito, and Rosie Perez, is the second most annoying of the segments: driver Stahl, a German immigrant, hardly knows how to drive, so his customer Esposito takes over the wheel and loudmouths his way through awkward silences.
The segment works so well because of the rapport between Dalle and Bankolé — whereas the other shorts attempt to have the characters find a mutual understanding between each other, Dalle and Bankolé's mutual curiosity/disdain bears an odd sexual tension, fascinating just enough to leave us potentially wanting more but backing off when considering just how well it works.I won't go far into the fourth sequence (set in Rome), which is jaw-droppingly irritating as comedian Roberto Benigni delivers a mile-a-minute performance as a cab driver who just won't shut up.
While I appreciate Jim Jarmusch's enviable ability to turn realism into sardonic astuteness, "Night on Earth" feels more like a filmmaking exercise than an actual film.
The stories range from flat-out hilarious to surprisingly moving, taking place in Los Angeles, New York City, Paris, Rome and Helsinki.
The worst segment by far is the Rome one, where Roberto Benigni plays a sunglasses-at-night kind of driver who loves to talk.
You get a glimpse of the dark side of the aura if you follow De Niro's Travis Bickle in "Taxi Driver", and for the rest feel free to join independent film-maker Jim Jarmusch on five rides through L.A., New York, Paris, Rome and Helsinki and see what the night has to offer.Writer/director Jarmusch celebrates the synchrony of events happening in various cabs all over the globe, where drama, fun and tragedy all take place at the same time while the earth takes another turn around its axis.
As I said, I'd like to make a reference to the taxi drivers: the first one, played splendidly by Winona Ryder is a compulsive smoker who looks and acts like a boy and cares about nothing else than her work and becoming a mechanic; the second one, played by a phenomenal Almin Mueller Stahl, is a man who is apparently driving a car for the first time; the others include Roberto Benigni (and I think with that you can imagine the character), a black driver played by Isaach De Bankolé and a driver named Mika played by Matti Pellonpaa.
There are excellent performances from great talents like Rosie Perez and Wynona Ryder, and a wonderful early glimpse of Roberto Benigni as the very explicit Italian taxi cabdriver in a scene that is absolutely hilarious.
Jim Jarmusch does a great job with vignettes, as we've seen in "Mystery Train" and "Coffee and Cigarettes." Here he unites the world with the same incident -- someone taking a cab -- but different experiences in different cultures.Gena Rowlands is a casting agent landing in LA and being picked up by an offbeat taxi driver (Winona Ryder); Armin Muller-Stahl is an ex-German clown driving a cab in New York who picks up Giancarlo Esposito (who ends up driving) and later Rosie Perez; Isaach DeBankole is a taxi driver in Paris who throws three idiots out of his cab and picks up a blind girl (Beatrice Dalle); Roberto Begnini is a taxi driver in Rome who confesses all kinds of sex acts to the bishop he's driving (Paolo Bonacelli); and Matti Pelonpaa is a cab driver in Helsinki who tells his sad story to his passengers.Each vignette is wonderful and indicative of the country in which the characters reside.
Mind you, the first-rate cast is fantastic, with Gena Rowlands and Rosie Perez making quite an impression (although Winona Ryder flounders in a distracting performance as a foul-mouthed, chain-smoking cab driver who dreams of becoming a mechanic), but the episodic nature of the movie neuters and neutralizes all.
At the same time, in five world metropolises (LA, NY, Paris, Rome and Helsinki), five taxi drivers have unusual night rides, through which we get to know various life stories.
In what is possibly one of the most accomplished and ambitious films among Jim Jarmusch's quite extensive work, we are presented with five occasionally entertaining, humorous and moving stories which take place in five taxis, each driving through their respective cities at night.
This is probably one of most notorious difficulties the film suffers from, as, for instance, the story starring Roberto Benigni most likely entirely differs from the mood of the previous ones and the last story; personally, this story was the one I liked the least, although it was entertaining, if maybe a little bit absurd at times.
Jim Jarmusch's experiment is a succession of 5 "short" films, all taking place in a taxi, at night - hence the title - in various cities.
She feels that Ryder would be perfect for it so Ryder must make that decision.The second ride is in New York City with a German immigrant who picks up Yo Yo and his sister in law, Rosie Perez and they show him the highlights of Brooklyn.Number three is in Paris with a blind French passenger being driven by an African driver.
Jim Jarmusch's film Night on Earth is a series of taxi cab encounters, each of which is set in one of five major cities around the world.
In Los Angeles, harried Victoria Snelling (Rowlands) thinks her sweary, tomboy driver Corky (Ryder, not so much chain-smoking as absorbing whole cigarette packets through osmosis) would be perfect for the film she's casting - only Corky turns her down.Over in New York, an East German clown-turned-cabbie (Mueller-Stahl) who doesn't know how to drive, teaches sceptical YoYo (Esposito) the virtue of patience.
Meanwhile, in Paris, two outsiders - Béatrice Dalle's sharp-tongued blind girl and her sullen driver (De Bankolé), a victim of racial prejudice from the Ivory Coast, reach an understanding.That same night, in Rome, Benigni's cabbie talks his holy passenger to death while making his confession, and, in Helsinki, a laid-off industrial worker and his colleagues (Väänänen, Kuosmanen and Salmela) meet a taxi driver (Pellonpää) with rather more to be depressed about.
And there's little delights to be found tucked away within these red-eyed meditations; not least Tom Waits' clanking score - evoking the ghosts of New Orleans and Kurt Weill via Captain Beefheart.Night On Earth isn't Jarmusch's best movie - despite some good turns from the cast, it's too uneven, and the weaker segments (Los Angeles, New York) could have been excised without any loss of quality or coherence.
As you probably know, the film takes place in five taxi cabs in five different cities on the same night.
The Helsinki segment seems to end the film on a sad note but in my opinion, it actually says more: Although we sympathize with the two "talking" passengers since they sympathize with the taxi driver, it is again these two who are inconsiderate to their friend.
And yet, with his incredible insight into the human soul and what makes it tick, Jarmusch makes every one of his characters come to full life  even though there are no internal monologues, no revealing close-ups; Jarmusch creates his characters solely through their behavior; and he understands people so well, that in doing so he completely transcends the boundaries of language, culture and nationality.Like Jarmusch's previous film, 'Mystery Train', 'Night On Earth' gives us several different stories about different characters from different backgrounds.
This time, though, there is not the slightest connection between the stories, except a thematic one: we are shown five stories taking place in taxi cabs in five different major cities around the world.The first story takes place in Los Angeles, and in it is a twenty year old (but she looks seventeen at most!) Winona Ryder, fresh from her break in Beetle Juice and Edward Scissorhands, who plays a young, perky, smart-ass, chain-smoking taxi driver and gives one of the most brilliant performances of her career; opposite her is another terrific actress, Gena Rowlands, as an uptight, busy Hollywood agent.In the second story, taking place in New York, black Brooklyn native YoYo (Giancarlo Esposito) has a hard time getting a cab in Manhattan, and is finally picked up by Helmut, clown-turned-taxi driver, Eastern German immigrant on his first day at the job (and his first day on an automatic, as well).The third story is located in Paris, in which Isaac De Bankole (the unforgettable Raymond the ice cream man from 'Ghost Dog') plays a taxi driver who's having a bad day, as he picks up a blind woman (Beatrice Dalle) who doesn't make him feel much better.The fourth story, taking place in Rome, is practically full-out Italian comedy, with Jarmusch's old friend Roberto Benigni plays a bizarre taxi driver who's giving a bishop (or is he?) a hard time for his money.Finally, in the fifth story, located in Helsinki, the wonderful Matti Pellonpaa plays Mika, a cheery yet melancholy driver, who picks up three young drunkards and shows to them the true nature of pain.Each one of these stories has a very distinct and unique atmosphere, ranging from comedy to drama, and revealing, often, the different mentalities of the different countries; the humanity, though, runs all the way through.
But it is Roberto Benigni as the late-working driver who picks up a fare long into the night in Rome that separates this movie for me.
5 nights in 5 cities; Paris has Beatrice Dalle playing a blind person - nice juxtaposition of character considering previous roles, NY where the passenger takes the wheel is great as is Rome where Roberto Benigni makes his second appearance in a Jim J film.
I think that the true beauty of this film is that it takes five characters, five taxi drivers, little different than any other people you'd be likely to meet (with the possible exception of Begnini's character and his sheep), and it shapes their experience into a coherent story, at times humorous, at times touching.
Anyway, this is a collection of five short stories filmed at night in  five cities, Los Angeles, New York, Paris, Rome, and Helsinki.
In general the short scene playing in NY out of the movie "Night on Earth" with Jim Jarmusch as the director and Armin Müller-Stahl as the leading part offers an interesting point of view about the differences between locals and immigrants that is illustrated in a humorous and ironic way.
This is a really terrific film that takes place in five cabs in five cities: L.A., New York, Paris, Rome, and Helsinki.
Night on earth contains 5 stories which is happen the thing in a taxi but 5 different cities (L.A.,N.Y.,ROME,PARIS AND HELSINKI) at the same time which means you can enjoy 5 films just in one film.The story in N.Y.
Indie filmmaker guru Jim Jarmusch's gimmicky yet originally witty 24 hour look at one international theme: taxi drivers and their fares in Los Angeles, New York City, Paris, Rome and Helsinki.
This is not one of Jim Jarmusch's best movies and this is just like Coffee and Cigaretts in which some of the short stories are good and others are not.
The genius of Jarmusch strkes again,but for all five segments just two worthwhile at all,the first one in LA Winona and Rowland is a peace of crap,the second one in New York lifted the degree but still low standard for a Jarmusch's level,in Paris is great really,all french people on bad temper as always and forever,the night in Rome is the best one,Benigni and the priest in some kind of christian confession is outrageous funny,dirty sins are too much for the religious man who had a heart attack,the last one is enough funny only!!!Resume:First watch: 1999 / How many: 2 / Source: Cable-TV-DVD / Rating: 7.5.
The other story that i loved is the one that takes place in New York with "Helmut" is very funny and i think that Jarmusch want that: funny and great stories with a message like the message in the one that takes place in Paris, whit the blind girl and the taxi driver.
Playing on a theme similar to the one in director Jim Jarmusch's "Mystery Train", "Night on Earth" portrays the relationships between cabbies and their fares in five different cities all at the same time.
They take place in Los Angeles, New York, Paris, Rome and Helsinki.The way the movie is filmed is unambitious, the camera is placed in the taxi, the driver in the front seat (to the right of the screen), the passenger in the back seat (to the left of the screen).
The movie shows five different taxi cab drivers in one night all over the world: Los Angeles, New York, Paris, Rome and Helsinki.LOS ANGELES: Maybe my least favorite but Winona Ryder is fantastic and very cute in this clip.
Interesting and different film about five separate taxi rides in five major cities around the world on the same night.
The film is a successful look not only at the heart of the cities themselves, it is a study of characters and of short term relationships.Shot in Los Angeles, New York, Paris, Rome and Helsinki, each segment is about twenty-five minutes long and features a different theme each time.