JIM JARMUSCH, STRANGER THAN PARADISE 1984 Golden Age of Indies New organs of perception come into being as a result of necessity. Therefore, increase your necessity so that you may increase your perception. --Rumi

Terms (Some Film Styles discussed so far) Camp Kitsch Melodrama Meta (Self-Referential) Parody Homage Pathos Bathos

Genres and Art Movements Surrealism Realism Melodrama Horror

Modes of effective communication Identification Alienation

Camp Sontag claimed that “the essence of Camp is its love of the unnatural: of artifice and exaggeration…” (3).(3) The word "camp" may come from the French term se camper (to flaunt)—in this case the flaunting of one's homosexuality. Camp style can be traced back to at least the early eighteenth century and the rise of homosexual subcultures within western European cities. Camp was thus a way of performing a hitherto unseen identity; early camp style celebrated a certain degree of gender-bending, wit, and aestheticism. an aesthetic sensibility wherein something is appealing because of its bad taste and ironic value.aestheticbad taste ironic

Kitsch art, objects, or design considered to be in poor taste because of excessive garishness or sentimentality, but sometimes appreciated in an ironic or knowing way. "the lava lamp is an example of sixties kitsch” considered to be in poor taste but appreciated in an ironic or knowing way."the front room is stuffed with kitsch knickknacks, little glass and gilt ornaments"

Post-Modernism Postmodernism as a style is described as a renewed appreciation for popular culture that often remixes other art works and pop culture in order to create something new. Camp and irony often arrive hand-in-hand with the postmodern style. Postmodern films may play like a collage of tropes and stereotypes, and may mix different forms of media (such as animated sequences) and could integrate an element of melodrama played as camp.

Meta or Self Referential Self-reference occurs in natural or formal languages when a sentence, idea or formula refers to itself. The reference may be expressed either directly or indirectly The Treachery of Images 1928–1929 René Magritte René Magritte

Melodrama Camp Identification Alienation As a form of identification it appeals to emotions As a form of alienation it can be used ironically Why alienate a viewer purposely?

Brecht 1928 Three Penny Opera a play should not cause the spectator to identify emotionally with the characters or action before him or her, but should instead provoke rational self-reflection His style gave a critical view of the action on the stage. Brecht thought that the experience of a climactic catharsis of emotion left an audience complacent. The Threepenny Opera had already been produced 130 times worldwide by 1933, before the rise of the Nazis forced Weill to flee to Paris in March of that year.

Parody is an imitative work created to comment on and trivialize another work

Homage an allusion or imitation by one artist to another. (Clueless is also loosely based on Jane Austen’s novel Emma)

Pathos Persuading by appealing to the viewer’s emotions. Film language choice affects the audience's emotional response, and emotional appeal can effectively be used to communicate ideology—or used persuasively

Bathos is an abrupt transition in style from the exalted to the commonplace, producing a ludicrous effect. While often unintended, bathos may be used deliberately to produce a humorous effect descent from the sublime to the ridiculous.

Surrealism The Surrealists saw in film a medium which nullified reality's boundaries. Surrealism is a cultural movement and artistic style that was founded in 1924 by André Breton. Surrealist style uses visual imagery from the subconscious mind to create art without the intention of logical comprehensibility.

Realism Cinematic realism is neither a genre nor a movement, and it has neither rigid formal criteria nor specific subject matter. realism has been an extremely useful concept for asking questions about the nature of cinematographic images Classical Hollywood Cinema (all forms are realism in a way)— The invisible edit Deep focus, naturalism, and the Classical Hollywood style are all things that Bazin wrote about as a response to montage Cassavetes style is somewhat singular (his own genre) I’ll call it heightened Realism

Italian Neo-realism (is a movement/genre) Filmed on location Set amongst poor and working class Uses non-professional actors Post-World War II Italy where conditions were very bad (poverty, oppression, injustice and desperation) Films that fit into this genre are: Bicycle Thieves (Vittorio De Sica, 1948), Killer of Sheep (American version), and Wendy and LucyBicycle Thieves Another term for this genre is Social Realism

Melodrama characterized by a plot to appeal to the heightened emotions of the audience. Often, film studies criticism used the term 'melodrama' pejoratively to connote an unrealistic, pathos-filled, campy tale of romance or domestic situations with stereotypical characters (often including a central female character) that would directly appeal to feminine audiences. The sub-genre is typically looked down upon by critics and elitists.

Transgressive Aesthetically: overtly rebels against rules and conventions. Pushes boundaries in an extreme way Taboo (topics and actions that are strongly prohibited by culture) Campy, shocking, gross

Subvert To upset or overthrow (there is a connotation of secrecy) Aesthetically subversive: Taking a genre and turning it upside down by aesthetic choices David Lynch took a soap opera and made something very strange and unique (subverted the form) Sirk pushed melodrama to the limit Tarantino uses shocking violence in a humorous way (bathos)

Jim Jarmusch Interested in the in- between moments of life Seeks out the mundane events that most people take for granted—shows them as fascinating Characters have no direction in life They happen to stumble on adventures

Bio From Akron, Ohio Moved to New York in 1971 and studied literature at Columbia Went to Paris for a year to study French literature frequented the Cinémathèque in Paris and became interested in films from around the world Studied at NYU film school Met Nicholas Ray and Tom DiCillo (cinematographer for the first two films)

Film School He held on to the technical aspects But had to relearn how to work with actors Like his idol John Cassavetes, Jarmusch is a very actor- oriented director. He creates the characters first, often with a specific actor in mind, and then “the plot kind of suggests itself around the character” Actors rehearse scenes that are never filmed (to give them more personality and nuance) Dropped out of NYU and decided to turn his final project into a feature (Permanent Vacation)

Stranger Than Paradise Began as a 30 minute short German filmmaker Wim Wenders donated film stock Received 120,000 to complete the film About down on their look losers living in New York Mundane, go nowhere existence is disrupted by Willie’s cousin Spatial Realism (as addressed by Bazin)

Aesthetics Long interrupted takes with little camera movement “Rather than finding a story that I want to tell and then adding the details, I collect the details and then try to construct a puzzle of story. I have a theme and a kind of mood and the characters but not a plotline that runs straight through “ heralded by many critics as a watershed film in American independent cinema

Characters’ pasts are not important— Little history conduct motivated by the present characters living quiet existence unable to communicate

Lethargic atmosphere interrupted by an outsider---usually from another country they expose shallow, emptiness of American characters

culture collision exposes American “throwaway” culture “to make a film about America, it seems logical to have at least one perspective that’s transplanted, because ours is a collection of transplanted influences”

(Mis)communication informs the interaction between Jarmusch’s characters Only link through pop culture familiarity

single long lasting shots not much happens in the way of conventional plots The New World, One Year Later, Paradise (three separate vignettes give the film structure)

Jarmusch’s goal was to make a simple, innovative, deadpan film about deadbeats Influenced by time spent studying in Europe and the films that he saw in France However, it was important not to imitate the French New Wave, or New German Cinema, but to have a fresh aesthetic

Unlikely Success Story Extremely successful Antithesis of most films being made in America at the time Slow, meandering pace of Stranger did not conform to the quick cut, music video style that was fashionable at the time His characters lacked ambition which was the antithesis of 80’s films and culture

Stranger Than Paradise made Jarmusch the most hip Indie director of the 80’s large following in other markets, besides New York— turned a profit Hollywood sent him scripts--Teenage sex comedies?

Permanent Vacation (1980) The New World (1982) short Stranger Than Paradise (1984) Down By Law (1986) Coffee and Cigarettes (1986) short Mystery Train (1989) Coffee and Cigarettes II (1989) short, also known as Coffee and Cigarettes: Memphis Version Night On Earth (1991) Coffee and Cigarettes III (1993) short, also known as Coffee and Cigarettes: Somewhere in California Dead Man (1995) Year of the Horse (1997) documentary Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai (1999) Ten Minutes Older: The Trumpet (2002) short Coffee and Cigarettes IV (2003) short, also known as Coffee and Cigarettes: Jack Shows Meg His Tesla Coil Coffee and Cigarettes (2003) feature Broken Flowers (2005) Only Lovers Left Alive 2014

Golden Age Independent cinema was at one time a way of describing films that were pretty far from Hollywood in many ways indie cinema has become more of a corporate branding strategy than a true alternative to commercial mainstream cinema Jim Jarmusch Stranger Than Paradise Caméra d'Or award for debut films, Special Jury Prize at the Sundance Film Festival National Society of Film Critics Award for Best Picture of 1985Caméra d'Or Sundance Film Festival National Society of Film Critics Award for Best Picture Coen Brothers: Blood Simple 1984 (Genre film) David Lynch: Eraserhead, Blue Velvet and Twin Peaks John Waters (a decade earlier) Steven Soderbergh: Sex Lies and Videotape (Palme d'Or at Cannes 1989 )Palme d'Or Quentin Tarantino Pulp Fiction (Palme d'Or 1994)Palme d'Or Todd Solondz Welcome to the Dollhouse Grand Jury Prize for best dramatic feature at the 1996 Sundance Film Festival.Sundance Film Festival Lost in Translation 2003 Sofia Coppola Acadamy Award for best original Screenplay

Profitability Stranger Than Paradise (1984) Budget US$100,000 Box office $2,436,000US$ She’s Got to Have It Budget $185,000 Box office $7,137,502 Blood Simple: Budget $1.5 million Box office $4,218,701 Sex, Lies and Videotape Budget $1.2 million Box office $24,741,667

Comparison with current Blockbuster Pulp Fiction (Studio Indie) Budget $8.5 million Box office $213,928,762 [3] +approx 205 Million [3] Guardians of the Galaxy: Budget $170 million [2] Box office $319,159,666 [3] +approx 149 Million (so far) [2] [3]