Jim Jarmusch

 ♦  ◊  ♦   Down By Law  ↓ (1986)

It all happens in New Orleans. DJ Zack and pimp Jack are sent to prison for being too laid-back to avoid being framed for crimes they didn’t commit. They end up sharing a cell with eccentric Italian optimist Roberto, whose limited command of the English language is both entertaining and infuriating . . . Jack (John Lurie) and Zack (Tom Waits) can’t stand each other’s guts, and Roberto Benigni does his best to get on with them. A good English learner he is, always stuck to his notebook…

♦  ‘Jockey Full Of Bourbon’ [Tom Waits]  ↓  (Soundtrack)

Introducing Zack and Jack in their ‘nests’ in New Orleans. 

Edna Million in a drop dead suit
Dutch pink pink on a downtown train
Two dollar pistol but the gun won’t shoot
I’m in the corner in the pouring rain
16 men on a deadman’s chest
And I’ve been drinking from a broken cup
2 pairs of pants and a mother vest
I’m full of bourbon; I can’t stand up.

Hey little bird, fly away home – Your house is on fire; your children are alone…

Schiffer broke a bottle on Morgan’s head
And I’ve been stepping on the devil’s tail
Across the stripes of full moon’s head
Through the bars of a Cuban jail
Bloody fingers on a purple knife
A flamingo drinking from a cocktail glass
I’m on the lawn with someone else’s wife
Admire the view from up on top of the mast

Hey little bird, fly away home – Your house is on fire; your children are alone …

Yellow sheets in Hong Kong bed
Stazybo horn and a Singerland ride
To the carnival is what she said
A hundred dollars makes it dark inside.

»… Take me now… Oh, she don’t know»
–  Is a sad and beautiful world.
– Huh? Yeah, it’s a sad and beautiful world, pal. That’s a good one.
»Yeah, yeah…» Ah, buzz off, pal.
– Thank you. Buzz offa to you too.
– No, buzz off.
– Ah, buzz off. Ah, buzz off. Buzz off. Buzz off. Buzz off.
Is, uh, is a sad and beautiful world. Buzz off. Buzz… off.
Good evening. Buzz off to everybody.
Oh, thank you. Buzz off to you too.
Oh, uh, it’s a pleasure. Thank you…

•→Locked together in a prison cell, they tell each other why they got arrested⇐

«…una bella finestra…»   ↓

. . .  Get in there, huh?
He don’t even speak no English. Homicidal son of a bitch, says he’s Italian.
– And why don’t you take a flying fuck?
If looks can kill, I am dead now.
I ‘ham’ Roberto. Roberto. Call me Bob. The same.
No good here… for me.
Is, uh… Is… Excuse me… Excuse me… Excuse me.
‘Not enough room to swing a cat.’ Cat. The animal.
– Excuse me, Jack…
– Zack!
– Zack. I have the ‘hicc-outs.’ Do you have some cigarette?
– No.    No!
– No. I understand. Thank you.
– Do you have, uh, Zack, some cigarette?
– I’m Jack. Get it straight.
– Yes. Got it straight… But do you have some cigarette?
– Cigarettes won’t help with hiccups; not in this country.
– Me, yes, uh, c-c-cigarette help me… with the… when I have the ‘hicc-outs‘.
– Don’t ask me again.
– Thank you… Do you have, uh, mm…
– J-Jack… Jack, do you have some fire?
– No.
– Excuse me, Jack, do… Zack!
– Zack!
– I’m Zack. He’s Jack. I’m Zack.
– Zack.
– Do you have some fire?
– No. Matches aren’t allowed here. Do you understand?
– Yes. Yes, I see. I see…

Do you like Walt Whitman? Yes, I like Walt Whitman very much. »Leaves of Glass.»
– What?
Nothing. I said, »Do you like Walt Whitman?»
– Walt Whitman?
Yes. I like Walt Whitman very much. Very good, the ‘‘Leaves of Glass.»
[ . . . ] »Leaves of Glass.» Walt Whitman.

. . .  Bob? Bob?
– Yes?
– What the hell are you doin’?
– I make ‘hay’ window.
– Huh?
– That’s good, Bob.
– Excuse me. Do you say in English,
»I look ‘hat‘ the window,»or do you say in English,
»I look ‘hout‘ the window»?
– Well, in this case, Bob, I’m afraid you gotta say, »I look at the window.»

– So, uh, Za… Jack. Jack, why-why are you put in this place?
– I don’t know, Bob. It was, like, voodoo or something, you know?
I was framed. I’m completely innocent. You understand?
– Yes. You are innocent man. I understand.
– Yeah.
– And you, my friend, Zack, why are you put in this prison?
– I was set up, Bob. Just like Jack.
– Mm.
I ‘ham’ an innocent man.
– I see. You too are an innocent man.
– So, Bob, for why are you in this prison put?
– Me? I killed »hay» man.
– You killed a man, huh? What’d you do that for, Bob?
The guy didn’t like Walt Whitman?
– I never asked this man if he liked Walt Whitman.
– Come on, Bob. Why’d you kill a man?
– I, uh… We-We was, uh, playing-a card. No? Table.
I have no money, but I am a cheater. Yeah? Very good.
But I don’t know… I don’t know why they… they notice after a while
I-I-I-I am a cheater. It’s strange, really. I’m a good cheater.
They notice, and I run, run away, and they run back me, yes.
In another room with the billiard, pool… the pool, no? There.
And, uh, and, uh… But I was very fast, very speedy.
And they for stop me, take a ball… take ball… many ball.
Very ‘closed.’ Ta! Ta! Ta!
And I… You… You throw ball against me, I throw ball against you, no?
I take one ball… a number eight. Very good ball. Black ball.
Ta! Tum! Ta! In the ground. First stroke. Ha!
Dead. Very big man. On the ground. First stroke.
. . .
But I ‘ham’ no criminal. I ‘ham’ a good egg. I am a good egg. Jesus.
Yes. I ‘ham’ a good egg. Yes. We are. We are a good egg…

 ¤          ¤          ¤          ¤          ¤  

¤  Jim Jarmusch‘s anthology of …

… 5 different cab drivers in 5 cities →

∇   Here’s the night in New York ↓ ‘Night On Earth’

¤  ¤

¤  Mystery Train   [clip]

Three sketches, all  connected by a Memphis hotel and the spirit of Elvis Presley      

Starring:

Youki Kudoh; Masatoshi Nagase; Screamin’ Jay Hawkins; Cinqué Lee; Nicoletta Braschi; Elizabeth Bracco; Rick Aviles; Joe Strummer; Steve Buscemi; Tom Waits.

– Room 27. And don’t forget to, uh, help ‘em with the luggage . . .

… Ah! Yes, hello! Thank you! Please wait.
– Yeah, sure. You’re welcome.
– Please. This plum from Japan. Please.
– From Japan?
– Yes. This plum from Japan.
– Thank you.
– Thank you.

… Well, I don’t think you should eat that thing.
– Yeah, you’re probably right.
– You gonna eat it?
– No. I ain’t gonna eat that thing.
– Hey. That’s my plum!

E.P.  ↓  ‘Mystery Train’

Train arrive, sixteen coaches long – Train arrive, sixteen coaches long
Well that long black train got my baby and gone

Train train, comin’ ‘round, ‘round the bend
Train train, comin’ ‘round the bend
Well it took my baby, but it never will again (no, not again)

Train train, comin’ down, down the line – Train train, comin’ down the line
Well it’s bringin’ my baby, ‘cause she’s mine all, all mine
(She’s mine, all, all mine)

¤  Dead Man Theme (Neil Young’s soundtrack) ⇐ [‘Dead Man Walking’_1995]

– Johnny Depp (spoken):

The ancient tradition that the world will be consumed in fire at the end of six thousand years is true.  

As I have heard from hell.

The whole creation will be consumed, and appear infinite and holy,

where as it now seems finite and corrupt.

This will come to pass by an improvement of sensual enjoyment. 

If the doors of perception were cleansed, everything would appear to man as it is,

infinite.

¤  Coffee and Cigarettes  ↓  [2003]

 Tom Waits & Iggy Pop meet up somewhere in California. They discuss roadside surgery, smoking, ‘Abbot & Costello’ and other subjects over some coffee and cigarettes.

– Hey.

– Hey, Tom.

– All right.

– I’m glad you could make it. You are here.

You know, you can call me Jim. I mean, you know, my friends call me Jim,

or Jimmy, or lggy, or Jiggy. Call me lggy.

-Okay, all right, whichever way you go.

– I’ll go either way, Jim or lggy… You call me lggy.

-Look, I’m sorry I’m late, Jim.

Boy, four-car pileup. I delivered a baby this morning at about 9:00.

I was saving lives, I was out there on the highway, it was…

You know, there’s nothing worse than roadside surgery.

You don’t have your own tools, and it’s just… It’s murder.

I performed a tracheotomy with a ballpoint pen and…

I’ve been busy.

-Wait a minute. You’re a doctor?

-Yeah, I’m a doctor. Music and medicine, really. It’s really been my thing.

It’s combining the two and living in that place where they overlap.

A lot of people say it shows up in the music. I don’t know. I mean, it’s…

-Well, okay. Yeah, I can see that.

-Yeah, okay. I think the organization and the whole thing…

– The humanity, I guess.

– Yeah.

– The humanity of the thing. The regard.

– Yeah, the regard.

– I guess it’s a big day for you, then.

– It is. It was a medical morning.

– Everybody’s all right?

– Everybody’s fine.

-You’ve been here awhile, I see.

-I’ve been here. Drinking a little coffee.

– Yeah, I see.

– I ordered you some.

-You ordered for me?

-I mean, is it cool? Is that cool?

-Yeah, okay. Coffee, yeah.

– I could go for a coffee.

– Okay, man.

-Come on, have some coffee.

Okay, coffee it is.

-Are those your cigarettes?

-No, they were just sitting here when I got here.

– You don’t smoke, do you?

– No. I gave it up.

– Not for me, either.

– Boy, enough of that.

That was enough, 25 big ones.

-Finished.

– Got the energy now. Since I quit, I mean, just everything…

Yeah, you’re focused. Zeroed in. Bang, you know?

– Me, too.

I feel sorry for suckers still puffing away, you know?

– No willpower.

– No willpower. Pacifier.

-Silly.

-You know, the beauty of quitting is, now that I’ve quit…

I can have one. Because I’ve quit. I mean, it’s just like jewelry.

You know, it’s not really… I don’t even inhale.

You want to join me in one?

-Well, yeah, since I quit. Okay.

– Now that you’ve quit, you can have one.

– Sure, yeah. I can do that. All right.

Boy, thank you.

-Yeah, you know what I mean? Now that we’ve quit…

-Cigarettes and coffee, man. That’s a combination. Can’t beat it.

-We’re really the coffee-and-cigarettes generation, when you think about it.

You know what I mean? In the ’40s, it was the pie-and-coffee generation.

-Like Abbott and Costello on TV, man. They always wanted pie and coffee.

-Yeah, like Abbott and Costello. They were always ordering pie and coffee.

«Have some coffee.»  «Have some pie and coffee.» «What are you waiting for?»

-You hang out here a lot?

-Yeah… This is my hangout.

-I just wondered, ‘cause I didn’t see anything of yours on the jukebox.

-If you don’t like it here, we could go down to Taco Bell or something.

Maybe that’s more your style.

-What are you saying, man? You’re saying I’m a Taco Bell kind of guy?

-No. I mean, if you don’t like it here. You said you don’t like it here.

– No, I didn’t say that.

-We could go to the International House of Pancakes.

Maybe that’s more up your alley. I don’t know.

-I didn’t say that. I don’t wanna go to the International House of Pancakes.

I’m comfortable.

-Coffee is good, though, at IHOP.

-You like the coffee down there at IHOP?

-I drink the coffee at IHOP. I like the coffee. You don’t like it?

-Yeah, man. I like the IHOP coffee.

Classy brew.

– Yeah, that’s good coffee.

Yeah, that’s good coffee at the IHOP.

-I almost forgot. Listen. I worked with this drummer the other day in LA.

And this guy, man, his name is Giant Robo. He was clanging and banging really hard.

Man, I thought of you. Maybe you want to… This is somebody,

I think you ought to check him out.

-You mean,you think I need a professional drummer?

I’m not good enough? What are you talking about?

-No, but I’m just… You know, it’s a musician.

I thought… I just wanted to tell you about this guy. It’d be great, man.

It’s hard and industrial, and he’s beating, and I just thought, «Wow.»

-What are you trying to tell me? I need a drummer?

I could use a drummer? The drumming on my records sucks?

What are you saying?

-Forget it, man.

You know what? I think I really got to get going.

– You got to go?

-Maybe another cup? Maybe another cigarette…

-Boy, I’d like to. No. I really gotta go. I mean…

My wife, she’s alone in a motel.

-Maybe we could call her up, come on down here.

Have a cup of coffee and a couple of cigarettes.

-She doesn’t smoke. You know, it’s the willpower.

– I see.

– I don’t want to start her.

-No, you don’t want to get her started.

– This is our little thing here.

– Yeah, right.

But we can just sort of… We can just keep zipping along, you know.

I’ll be thinking of you.

Gotta go.

– I guess so.

– See you soon.

– Yeah, okay. I wish you could stay a little longer.

– We were just starting to get going here.

– Gotta go.

Okay, Jim.

– Next time.

– Okay, next time.

– You take care.

– You take care, too.

•  Another scene from ‘Coffee & Cigarettes’  ↓  STRANGE TO MEET YOU

– Yeah, hello. You’re Steve?

-Steven. Hi.

– Sit down.

– Roberto?

– I’m all wound up.

– Yeah.

You’re wound up? I’m wound up, too.

– Yes.

– All wound up.

– What are you drinking? Coffee?

– Coffee, yes.

– Very good for me. For you?

– I love coffee.

– You love it, too?

– I love it.

– Steve.

– Steven.

I love coffee.

– What do you do?

-You know, I just relax, sit around, maybe have a cigarette.

Cigarettes and coffee I think go together good.

-You think you drink too much of it?

-No. Coffee is good for health. I like to drink before I go to sleep.

I drink a lot of coffee before I go to sleep so I can dream faster.

I can dream like when they put a camera on the Indy 500…

when they put a camera in the car, and it’s just whipping by like that.

Dream after dream after dream after dream.

People ask me the next day, «What did you dream about?»

I say, «I don’t have time. I don’t have time to tell you this.»

– Do you smoke?

– Only when I drink coffee.

-Do you know my mother?

– Do I know your mother?

– Yeah.

-I don’t know. I don’t think so.

– Coffee. They should freeze it, you know?

– Yes. Fill an ice-cube tray with coffee and put sticks in it, for kids.

So they can start when they’re kids, when they’re playing and stuff.

Like a Popsicle. A caffeine Popsicle.

-Very good. I don’t understand nothing. Yes.

– Can you hear me?

– What?

-Can you hear me? It’s very loud over here.

-You having trouble hearing me? Maybe we should switch.

-Yes, thank you very much. I’d like to switch… Good here.

– Good?

– I kind of liked it better over there.

– You go…

– Do you mind?

-Yes, me, too. I prefer, yes.

Steve, yes.

– When do you leave?

– The United States?

-No, here.

-I have to leave soon, actually. I have a dentist appointment.

But I don’t want to go. I don’t like the dentist… I gotta go, I guess.

– Yes.

– I haven’t gone in a while.

-Good. You don’t go?

– I should go, but I don’t feel like going.

– No? Steve, I am free, very free.

-You wanna go for me?

-Thank you very much.

– You wanna go to the dentist?

– Yes, I can go for you.

-Great.

– Here’s the address.

– Good.

Good. Very good.

– The name of the guy.

– Yeah, 4:

– Steven, thank you very much.

– No problem.

– You don’t mind?

– No, thank you. Dentist appointment, very good.

I have to go. I am sorry, Steve. Steve, I have to go to the dentist. I am late.

Thank you, excuse me. Sorry.

– Take it easy, don’t be late.

– Nice to meet you.

– Nice to meet you, too, in a way.

÷  ÷  ÷

♦→  Only lovers left alive  ⇐  [2013]

Set against the romantic desolation of Detroit and Tangier, an underground musician, deeply depressed by the direction of human activities, reunites with his resilient and enigmatic lover. Their love story has already endured several centuries at least, but their debauched idyll is soon disrupted by her wild and uncontrollable younger sister.

∇  Paterson  ⇓  [2016]

“Paterson,” the story of a poet and his poems, is set in Paterson, New Jersey, and its protagonist is a bus driver named Paterson, who is played by Adam Driver. Paterson the driver writes poetry; he thinks poetry while walking to and from the depot, he writes in his notebook (his so-called secret notebook) at the wheel of his bus while waiting for his shift to begin; he writes during his lunch hour while sitting on a bench beside his favorite place, the Great Falls of the Passaic River, with his copy of Frank O’Hara’s “Lunch Poems” beside his lunchbox; he writes at his cramped desk in his basement, surrounded by building supplies and hardware.

This Is Just To Say

I have eaten
the plums
that were in
the icebox

and which
you were probably
saving
for breakfast

Forgive me
they were delicious
so sweet
and so cold

William Carlos Williams, 1883 – 1963

∇ The Dead don´t Lie  ⇓  [2019]

The peaceful town of Centerville finds itself battling a zombie horde as the dead start rising from their graves.