Directed by Jim Jarmusch • 1984 • United States, Germany
Starring John Lurie, Richard Edson, Eszter Balint
With this breakout film, Jim Jarmusch established himself as one of the most exciting voices in the burgeoning independent-film scene, a road-movie poet with an affinity for Americana at its most offbeat. Jarmusch follows rootless Hungarian émigré Willie (John Lurie), his pal Eddie (Richard Edson), and his visiting sixteen-year-old cousin, Eva (Eszter Balint), as they drift from New York’s Lower East Side to the snowy expanses of Lake Erie and the drab beaches of Florida, always managing to make the least of wherever they end up. Structured as a series of master-shot vignettes etched in black and white by cinematographer Tom DiCillo, STRANGER THAN PARADISE is a nonchalant masterpiece of deadpan comedy and perfectly calibrated minimalism.
Up Next in New York Stories
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Five Corners
Directed by Tony Bill • 1987 • United States
Starring Jodie Foster, John Turturro, Tim RobbinsYouthful idealism collides with matter-of-fact violence in a working-class Bronx neighborhood in the early 1960s in this captivatingly offbeat urban mosaic featuring an extraordinary ensemble cast. A w...
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Moonstruck
Directed by Norman Jewison • 1987 • United States
Starring Cher, Nicolas Cage, Vincent GardeniaA full moon, a New York City night, and love and music in the air . . . One of the most enchanting romantic comedies of all time assembles a flawless ensemble cast for a tender and boisterously funny ...
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Metropolitan
Directed by Whit Stillman • 1990 • United States
Starring Carolyn Farina, Edward Clements, Taylor NicholsOne of the great American independent films of the 1990s, the surprise hit METROPOLITAN, by writer-director Whit Stillman, is a sparkling comedic chronicle of a young man’s romantic misadven...
