77 of my favourites), an exquisite noir film about a lonesome assassin. The similarities with Le Samurai can be found in the opening and ending scene, as well in the heroes’ special relationship with birds. Tons of references from many other directors and films are detected in this particular one, such as Kurosawa and Leone. After Dead Man, Jarmusch continues to find interest in warriors coming from different cultures. Ghost Dog is a mysterious hitman who ritualistically follows the ancient code of the samurai. The uniqueness of this film lays on the fact that it is a collection of disparate elements: a stoic and emotionless, but yet likable hitman and a blend of the samurai and the gangster culture. Ghost Dog is a phantom wandering in invisibility and trying to communicate with the most unconventional ways. He sends and receives messages using pigeons, because it is vital for his job. He has only one friend, because it is impossible to live without human touch, but even he does not speak English. The whole essence of the film is communication, or maybe the lack of it. Jarmusch was always persistent in the theme of languages and how different languages interact. Here, another notion is introduced: the identity and how it is represented by language. What is identity? Ghost Dog does not have one, he is a chameleon. Unlike most of the people who define who they are, by who they are not, he blends in, keeping his double identity, both ghost and a dog. Coffee and Cigarettes captures chitchat talks, while an elite of movie and music stars (such as Bill Murray, Alfred Molina, Steve Buscemi, Iggy Pop, Tom Waits and The White Stripes) are smoking and having coffee. I suggest you to watch
Absinthe Cafe
this movie on a Sunday morning while performing this ritual of addiction. And if you are not prone to nicotine and caffeine it still doesn’t matter because Jarmusch simply lets his protagonists having meaningless discussions in order to fill the cinematic time. There is no plot, just plain laziness (and sometimes awkwardness) on behalf of the actors, which makes this movie the compendium of his intellectual humour. One his lightest, funniest and easy flowing masterpieces. Broken Flowers is a film about a man who receives an anonymous letter from an ex-lover, informing him that he has a 19 year old son. Don Johnston (Bill Murray) a fanatic bachelor, with a unique way to deal with the situations, finally decides to visit five women of his past, searching for his lost son. He encounters four different types of women (the fifth one is dead) and each one of them represents the stages of life and the relationship between the two sexes, from the first heartbeat to death. Once again, we find the motif of the lonely character, beginning an existential quest, in this case collecting his broken flowers. The director points out: “Don wants something. I think the film is about yearning, and I don’t know where that came from. Yearning for something that you are missing, and not necessarily being able to define what it is you are missing.” This film is dedicated to Jean Eustache. Jarmusch admitted that he was an inspiration on a certain level but not a direct one. Eustache’s film “The Mother and the Whore is one of the most beautiful films about male/female miscommunication, and there’s an element of that in our film”. While writing the script, Jarmusch
was inspired by Bill Murray and the movie is basically an one-man-show. Using gestures and funny faces, Bill Murray adds a tragicomic tone to the character. And let’s move on to his most enigmatic piece of work... Limits of Control... Allow me to say that it strongly reminds me of David Lynch’s last films. Incomprehensible in a manner that the plot does not really matter. A man with no identity is asked to carry out an unspecified mission. The pieces of the riddle are unfolded (or not) by meeting the most random and strangest people around Spain. Matchboxes with eatable messages are changing hands, leading the protagonist from one weirdo to another. At some point the viewer stops caring about the mission and the secret messages. He is too busy being ecstatic with the photography and the frames; he is carried away from the directorial skills and the character. Nothing more to add here. Jim Jarmusch can create masterpieces using images only, which is, more or less, the essence of cinema. After watching his movies I cannot help thinking that something vital is missing. Many people share this point of view. His minimalistic style creates an absence or a sense that something is unfulfilled. Is it the hole in our daily, urban routine? Is it the perpetual human inability to establish connection and build bridges? I believe that the loss of any kind of meaningful communication made Jarmsch adopt an elliptic cinematography, an off-season and dark montage. He is not easy flowing. But you have to know what to expect from him...
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