film

Here's a landmark of American independent cinema from 1984 starring John Lurie, Eszter Balint and Richard Edson that helped establish the visual language, use of space and deadpan performances that would characterise so many of Jarmusch's later films. It follows three disaffected outsiders drifting through a monochrome America: Hungarian immigrant Willie (Lurie), who lives in New York, where his cousin Eva (Balint) arrives from Budapest before moving to Cleveland. When Willie and his friend Eddie (Edson) eventually visit her, the trio embark on a road trip to Florida, but find that a change of scenery does little to shake their ennui. 

With its static compositions, long takes and deceptively simple dialogue, the film turns everyday inertia into something quietly hypnotic. Repetition, awkward silences and wonderfully offbeat humour are used with precocious skill by Jarmusch in what was his breakout feature.