Trem Mistério

Mystery Train is a moody and atmospheric gem surrounding a flea-bag Memphis hotel. Great performances are dished out (Screamin' Jay Hawkins and Cinque Lee are hilarious in an argument over exotic fruits from foreign lands) all around, but I favor the dynamic duo of Youki Kudoh and Masatoshi Nagase. Their characters are "far from Yokohama," but love will find its way to Tennessee. The lighting of a cigarette, an impressive t-shirt collection, an argument over the merits of Carl Perkins versus The King, the smearing of some crimson lipstick, and an exhilarating invitation to bed -- the minutiae of a special bond beyond mere chemistry. The combination of Nagase's dour, glowering sourpuss and Kudoh's charming, enthusiastic pixie makes for a volcanic cocktail.

The great medieval philosopher Duns Scotus said that whatever leaves a mark remains present in its trace, and by studying the trace, we may study the thing itself. There are traces of Rock'n'Roll everywhere in Memphis, Tennessee, and Jim Jarmusch digs them up for us to see and hear. The plot of "Mystery Train" itself has some semblance of a song. Money is spent, hearts are broken, a gunshot rings, the jukebox plays. When everybody else is playing it cool, Steve Buscemi is the soul of the story as Charlie the Barber, a coward with a heart of gold. For the first time in a long string of enigmatic guest appearances, Tom Waits provides voice-over as a late night radio DJ. "Mystery Train" is also a work of critical feminism. From the very beginning, the girls make all the calls: cheerful Mitsuko, no-nonsense Luisa, chatterbox Dee-Dee. As the King himself once observed, they are devils in disguise.

"Mystery Train" is a witty look at different aspects of one of the crazes of our time, the worship of Elvis Presley. The cast includes cult performers like Tom Noonan (the serial killer in Michael Mann's "Manhunter"), Steve Buscemi, and singer Tom Waits (heard on the radio), and it is directed by one of America's leading independent directors. "Mystery Train" is possibly Jim Jarmusch's most immaculate film, and though the movie gets steadily darker in its comic tone, it is his least bleak work to date. The patterning is precise, the film growing richer as the three strands are finally woven together, or perhaps unwoven, as the characters go their separate ways. Robbie Muller, the great Dutch cameraman who shot Alex Cox's "Repo Man" and Wim Wenders' "Paris, Texas", once more brings an outsider's perspective to the American landscape, giving the night scenes and hotel interiors a Hopperesque look and endowing a dilapidated section of Memphis with an elegaic sadness.

jim jarmusch affects his viewers in curious ways. in mystery train, he presents a series of situations, sometimes filled with off-beat humor, sometimes filled with tenderness, and, in one instance, characterized by one violent moment. on the whole, every moment is affecting, every moment is moving. jarmusch sees the world with such sensitivity and humor, such affection; there is no place for cynics or satirists. jarmusch has never emphasized technical virtuosity. his virtuosity, rather, is his ability to place characters who he obviously cares for in situations which endear them to the audience, his ability to show, with simple gestures and moments (like mitzuko's unorthodox cigarette lighting technique) our beauty, humanity's beauty, is our idiosyncracy and differences. steven soderbergh states that technical perfection is not as important as cinematic energy. jarmusch films have energy; it quiet, polite, lovely energy, but energy nonetheless.

What a terrific film for us foreigners. The USA condensed into one bottle. Elvis, Screaming Jay Hawkins, a seedy hotel, an endless steamy night, the desolation, the Guide at the Sun Studios, the Japanese tourists: I don't want to say any more