The Jim Jarmusch Collection: Volume 1

The Jim Jarmusch Collection: Volume 1

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Reviewed by: Anton Bitel

Jim Jarmusch is, alongside his friend the Finnish director Aki Kaurismäki, the crowned king of deadpan cinema. Jarmusch's independent films have come to epitomise a low-key brand of spare hilarity, wherein taciturn characters (often played by musicians) are captured in long sequence shots as they make the most of doing very little.

The Jim Jarmusch Collection: Volume 1 is a three-disc edition comprising his first three features: Permanent Vacation (1980), Stranger Than Paradise (1984) and Down By Law (1986). While they were never originally conceived as such, one might reasonably regard these films as an informal trilogy concerned with beautiful losers – for all three feature male characters who are considerably less cool than they themselves imagine (and certainly nowhere near as cool as the films in which they appear). Additionally, the films all share a motif of cultural exchange that in fact runs through all his work.

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So put on your meanest threads, take a deep draw on that Chesterfield, sit back, and prepare to be thoroughly out-cooled by America's finest hipster. For the duration of these films, you'll be going nowhere, and yet covering so much ground on the way.

Reviewed on: 13 May 2008
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The Jim Jarmusch Collection: Volume 1 packshot
Trio of films from the king of dead-pan cinema, featuring Permanent Vacation, Stranger Than Paradise and Down By Law.
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Director: Jim Jarmusch

Writer: Jim Jarmusch

Starring: See individual reviews

Year: 2008

Runtime: 327 minutes

BBFC: 15 - Age Restricted

Country: US

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Aki Kaurismäki Collection: Volume 1

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