In a Jim Jarmusch film, to simply be is a dramatic act. The act of smoking a cigarette, having a coffee or simply taking a long drive to nowhere in particular are the seemingly mundane tasks out of which Mr. Jarmusch has fashioned some of his most iconic and memorable films. Nearly all of the Akron-born director’s pictures are, in one way or another, about the invisible fabric of human connection that transcends any and all cultural boundaries. As a filmmaker, Jarmusch has always been interested in the odd kind of kinship that can blossom between bands of outsiders: think of the tender camaraderie between Forest Whitaker’s lonely assassin and his French-speaking ice cream vendor friend in “Ghost Dog: Way of the Samurai,” or the motley brotherly dynamic that forms between a DJ, a pimp and a motormouthed Italian in the director’s bayou fairy tale “Down by Law.”
Throughout “Calling from Somewhere,” a brief but evocative visual ode to Jarmusch’s distinctive body of work, it’s impossible to miss the creative overlap that binds even his most incongruent works together. There’s his longstanding fascination with loners who adhere to outdated moral codes; it’s a motif that’s most present in ‘Ghost Dog’ and the underrated “The Limits of Control,” but can also be seen in the Beat worship and jazz slang of the lovable lowlives in “Down by Law” and “Stranger than Paradise.”
There’s also his preoccupation with style: whether it’s a perfectly-coiffed greaser hairdo or just a killer pair of boots, Jarmusch’s characters are always dressed to kill, even as they amble through the flotsam of life with a permanent poker face. Not surprisingly, there’s no footage here from the director’s upcoming, Adam Driver-starring “Paterson” (read our review), though the omission of his droll, terrific vampire film “Only Lovers Left Alive” is unfortunate. In any case, this neat video essay is a fitting encapsulation of Jarmusch’s long and surprising career to this point, and it will surely warm the heart of anyone who has ever smiled at the phrase “I ham a good egg.”
Check out this beautiful video tribute to Jarmusch above, and warning, it’s NSFW. “Paterson” will be distributed in the U.S. by Amazon Studios following its screening at Cannes.
