Night on Earth

Jim Jarmusch does for movies as Tom Waits does for music, no wonder he uses his music in his films. I've seen this movie over and over, its truly wonderful. We glimpse A side of the world that is the same no matter where you go. The world is round so no matter where you go you are always in the center of it. Here we catch a Taxi in different cities around the globe and although the cultures are clearly different , there is something of the blues in each act. I can't make out which one is my favorite, they all have a certain magic to them that totally captures to mood of the country we are in although the mood itself is that of the night where not much seems to be going on really except in our taxis. Each scene in this film is a masterpiece, no matter which country Jarmusch takes us too. Of course Benigni needless I mention is that little bit more of a of a superstar but for that matter so is the blind girl in Paris. Great music, great photography, great acting, its all good. Its magic!

Jim Jarmusch does an excellent job in creating character conflict and intriguing, realistic dialogue. But what I admire most in this movie are the opening scenes of every segment. He knows how to capture the essence of every city and how to establish mood. National Geographic has nothing over Jarmusch's photographic talent.

All segments are well written and tie in with the respective cities that are the back drop of the film: LA, NY, Paris, Rome and Helsinki. The Helsinki segment is the most depressing and it's kind of a bummer that the movie had to end on that note. The Paris segment steals the show. Incredible camera work and terrific dialogue.

Overall, the movie gave me a renewed appreciation for cinema. Thanks Jarmusch.

I think whenever you crave a late night out but can't get out of your bed you'd better watch a Jarmusch film instead while lying on your bed under a blanket with a big cup of tea in your hand. The common element that can be traced in all of his films is that he captures these laid-back vibes of such nights to a tee. In Night on Earth, we see nocturnal cityscapes of gloomy, empty streets before getting in a taxi with eccentric yet amicable strangers of different cultures, ceaselessly chatting over trifles of otherwise moral value, all while the tires humming over the asphalt roads and the cool, fresh night air tapping on the car windows. This is basically the whole movie!

The five-segment anthology takes place inside taxi cabs across five different cities on the same titular night. The first one is set in Los Angeles, and features a chain-smoking, gum-chewing, tomboyish taxi driver (Winona Ryder) and a classy casting agent in Hollywood (Gena Rowlands). This is probably my favourite out of all the five vignettes next to the second one, which takes place in New York where a German cabdriver (Armin Mueller-Stahl), with a background that remains ambiguous, is lost in a city and culture he doesn't understand. This one genuinely got a few chuckles out of me. The third episode, that's in Paris, is relatively a bit heavier on its message but is more than made up for it thanks to a brilliant Beatrice Dalle as a woman with hyper-acute senses compensating her lack of sight. In the fourth one, which takes place in Rome, we witness Roberto Benigni being Roberto Benigni as he confesses his sins to a priest (Paolo Bonacelli). The final one taking place in Helsinki is by miles the bleakest of them, imbued with a deadpan undertone but suffused in a sorrowful and grieving tone.

Jim Jarmusch values the brief, ephemeral encounters of people who had never met before, and likely would never meet again. People of nature peculiar to yours but actually quite normal once you get to know them. It's all about everyone's own attitude to life; everyone's priorities shaped by their own environment or according to their life path of their own choosing. And without Jarmusch's signature languorous aura that ties up all the segments together and casts a magical spell on the mundane to turn it to something rather celestial, this night on earth would've been a lackadaisical one with nothing memorable.

This is a truly amazing movie which I love. It has five different stories, each on a different city, with very different people, but all in a taxi. All the people are very different, with different background, ambitions, culture and personality, but in the end, so similar. I loved every part of it, some of them are very funny, others touching, depressing, heartbreaking, enjoyable or simply beautiful. They are all wonderful portraits of the city in which they happen. They don't show touristic locations, but how the cities really are and how people behave and think. Every story is well told, with great pace, amazing, believable dialogs and realistic characters that you get to know very well in little time. They work both together and alone. They're all great and I can't choose my favorite.

In the first segment, a young tomboy taxi driver meets a wealthy talent seeker, who wants to cast her in a movie. In New York, an afro American meets an immigrant, his cab driver, lost in the city. In Paris, a blind girl takes a ride with an irritable cab driver from the Ivory Coast and they talk about life and blindness. In Rome, a cab driver picks up a priest and starts confessing, and in Helsinki a miserable driver picks up three drunks and they speak about the most depressing things that ever happened to them.

The direction is amazing in all its simplicity. The camera angles are steady, usually focusing no the actors and allowing you to concentrate on the dialogs.But there are some that show the city, the cars passing, the buildings, lovers in the middle of the night, junkies, etc, and these have unusual quality.

The acting is great by everyone. Winona Ryder, frequently criticized, is in my opinion very funny and totally different from her other roles. I really enjoyed her acting. Gena Rowlands plays her "opposite" in a nice, underacting way. Armin Mueller-Stahl is very touching and expressive (the moment he says he was a clown is very beautiful), with an amazing use of his eyes. Giancarlo Esposito and Jennifer Perez are fun to watch, too. Béatrice Dalle is incredibly charismatic and believable as a blind young woman, and Isaach De Bankolé is good. Roberto Benigni is about as hilarious as you can get, in his one man show. His speech is obviously very funny, but Benigni makes it mind blowing. Some will hate it, though I couldn't stop laughing. Matti Pellonpää delivers his speech in a dramatic, depressive way but without overacting.

The cinematography and the music are beautiful, make this movie feel nostalgic and help linking the segments. This is a very original, worthwhile movie.

Since I have almost seventeen years of experience in the taxi business as a dispatcher and driver, I have to say that "Night on Earth" is one of my favorite movies! This movie gives a very real and comical portrayal of life in this line of work. I've known people who were given great opportunities, and rejected them. I've personally kicked drunk idiots out of my cab. I've had blind people tell me which route to take. I've had people who were so "down and out" tell me their life story. This is a film that portrays what taxi driving is all about, and it is not limited to the USA. People are the same all over the world! This movie is not yet available on DVD in the USA, but I really hope it will be soon!