Stranger than Paradise [1984]

Directed by Jim Jarmusch, instantly recognizable thanks to his wild white hairdo, Stranger than Paradise is an offbeat low-budget indie classic that attained cult status among the art house aficionados, and has influenced a generation of new-age underground filmmakers. Shot in static grainy black-and-whites, the movie evokes the sentiments propounded by the Beat Generation, and ends up being a terrific road movie. The character-driven movie chronicles the experiences of a Hungarian immigrant who has embraced the American dream, his New York buddy, and his cousin sister who has come to Uncle Sam from Budapest, and who too is ready to go the American way. The cool detachment of the characters, the stark documentary like depiction of the travel from the Big Apple to Florida via Cleveland, the deadpan humour, the boredom, the poker games, the minimalist treatment, and the understated chemistry between the leads, have combined to make it, which begun as a short and emerged as feature (courtesy some old stock provided by Wim Wenders), one of the most influential New Wave movies of the 80’s.








Director: Jim Jarmusch
Genre: Drama/Road Movie/Buddy Film/Comedy/Avant-Garde
Language: English
Country: US