Night on Earth (film)
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| Night on Earth | |
|---|---|
 Film poster for Night on Earth |
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| Directed by | Jim Jarmusch |
| Produced by | Jim Jarmusch |
| Written by | Jim Jarmusch |
| Starring | Winona Ryder Béatrice Dalle Roberto Benigni |
| Music by | Tom Waits |
| Cinematography | Frederick Elmes |
| Editing by | Jay Rabinowitz |
| Distributed by | Fine Line Features |
| Release date(s) | 1991 |
| Running time | 129 min. |
| Country | USA |
| Language | English Italian French Finnish |
| IMDb profile | |
Night on Earth is a 1991 film written and directed by Jim Jarmusch.
It is a collection of five vignettes - the term Slice of Life Story would also be appropriate - concerning the temporary bond formed between taxi driver and passenger in five different cities: Los Angeles, New York, Paris, Rome, and Helsinki. The movie begins with the Los Angeles-based snapshot and moves from city to city as the clock turns during the late hours of the night. Jarmusch wrote the screenplay for Night on Earth in about eight days, and the decision to film in certain cities was based on the actors with whom he wanted to work at the time.[1]. The Night on Earth soundtrack is by Tom Waits.
Contents |
[edit] Plot
[edit] Los Angeles
Corky (Winona Ryder) picks up Hollywood executive Victoria Snelling (Gena Rowlands) from the airport, and as Corky drives, Victoria conducts business over the phone. Sometime during the ride Victoria, who is evidently a talent scout or casting director, discovers that Corky would be perfect for a part in a movie she is casting. However, Corky turns her down saying that she has her life all planned out.
[edit] 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) and drives him to Brooklyn. As he struggles to drive the taxi (he does not seem to know how to use the automatic transmission), YoYo takes over as driver. Not long after that, they stop and pick up YoYo's sister-in-law Angela (Rosie Perez). The story reveals Helmut's attempts to understand and become a part of the culture of New York.
[edit] Paris
A snarky blind woman (Béatrice Dalle) goes for a ride at night with a driver (Isaach De Bankolé) who hails 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.
[edit] Rome
In the wee morning hours, a cabbie (Roberto Benigni) picks up a priest (Paolo Bonacelli). As the driver drives, he starts to confess his sins. He goes into great detail about how he discovered his sexuality first with a pumpkin and with a sheep, then goes on telling about a love affair he had with a married woman (in fact, his brother's wife). The priest, shocked by the lurid confession, has a heart attack in the back of the cab. The driver realizes that the priest is dead and, fearing retribution by the authorities, leaves the body sitting on a park bench.
[edit] Helsinki
After an evening spent drinking, three workers who have been laid off (Kari Väänänen, Sakari Kuosmanen, and Tomi Salmela) climb into a cab. On the way to drop them off the workers talk about what a terrible fix their drunk friend is in by being out of work and having to still support a family. The driver Mika (Matti Pellonpää) then tells them the saddest story they have ever heard. Mika's wife gave birth to a sickly baby, who the doctors expected to die. The baby was at the hospital, and Mika was at his apartment keeping his emotional distance from the child. His wife convinced him that if the child was going to survive it would need all of their love. The two of them rushed down to the hospital to show their baby all their love for it, but when they arrived they were informed that the baby had died. The workers are terribly depressed by the story and even become unsympathetic toward their drunken, laid-off companion.
[edit] Cast
[edit] Los Angeles
Winona Ryder as Corky (taxi driver)
Gena Rowlands as Victoria Snelling (passenger)
[edit] New York
Armin Mueller-Stahl as Helmut Grokenberger (taxi driver)
Giancarlo Esposito as YoYo (passenger)
Rosie Perez as Angela (passenger)
[edit] Paris
Isaach De Bankolé as Unnamed Taxi Driver
Béatrice Dalle as the Blind Woman (passenger)
[edit] Rome
Roberto Benigni as Unnamed Taxi Driver
Paolo Bonacelli as Priest (passenger)
[edit] Helsinki
Matti Pellonpää as Mika (taxi driver)
Kari Väänänen, Sakari Kuosmanen, and Tomi Salmela as Passengers
[edit] On DVD
As of February 2007, Night on Earth is one of only two Jarmusch features not yet released on DVD in the United States (it has been released in the UK). However, it has been recently announced by the Criterion Collection that they will release a DVD in fall 2007.
[edit] External links
- Night on Earth at the Internet Movie Database
- Night on Earth at Rotten Tomatoes
- Night on Earth at Box Office Mojo
- Interview with Jim Jarmusch concerning Night on Earth
- Film Review by B. Wahlbrinck
