Film Review

By Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat

Night on Earth
Directed by Jim Jarmusch
Criterion Collection 05/92 DVD/VHS Feature Film
R - language, sensuality

Night on Earth is another thoroughly distinctive and compelling film by writer and director Jim Jarmusch (Mystery Train). On one winter night, we witness the human condition via encounters between taxi drivers and their passengers in five different cities. Class differences are explored in Los Angeles where a casting agent (Gina Rowlands) pressures a cabbie (Winona Ryder). Family problems are aired in a New York segment starring Giancarlo Esposito, Armin Mueller-Stahl, and Rosie Perez. In Paris, an African driver experiences discomfort and mystery in the presence of a beautiful blind woman. A wild cab driver confesses his sins to a priest in Rome, and in Helsinki, three inebriated men share their lives with a cab driver who has problems of his own. Nights on Earth is a great concept well executed.

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Special DVD features include a commentary by Frederick Elmes, director of photography, and an interview with director Jim Jarmusch.

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by Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat