Jarmusch’s Night on Earth, 1991                          Stasia McGehee 8/11/97

Jarmusch uses a parallel narrative structure, as 5 separate tales are framed by zooming in on a series of clocks. Using this approach he offers his viewers a "slice of life," so as to showcase the diversity of the human condition, while also stressing universal themes of love, happiness, and death. Using major cities as backdrops, Jarmusch is also able to focus upon themes particular to that region.

I. Los Angeles
The first episode features the young Corky, an aspiring mechanic, working for her protective older brothers, and the Beverly Hills talent scout. The scene opens with a view of LA. Palm trees grace the horizon, while run-down facades sport the vestiges of over-hyped products and their accompanying cartoony characters. It sets the stage for a kind of shallow superficiality that LA is known for, perhaps undermining the vain promises of the harried acting agent in the final scene. Although on the surface, these women lead vastly disparate lives, both struggle to find love and romance while attempting to stay true to their ambitions for a career. Both wish for unconditional acceptance. Thematic parallels are reinforced by their similar reliance upon the ubiquitous telephone. Corky must call in to her brother on a pay phone, while the agent’s incessantly ringing cell phone enables her to quell the paternal apprehensions of her business partner. In Corky, the agent sees a quality lacking in her portfolio of would-be stars. She generously offers Corky a coveted career in acting, which is summarily refused. The moral? One must be true to oneself. Corky explains matter-of-factly that everything in her life is already going well, as planned. She has worked hard to win the trust of her brothers and she doesn’t want to mess things up. Acting just wouldn’t be her. In the last scene, Corky’s refusal to be seduced by the proffered fame and fortune of Hollywood inspires the agent to abandon her cell phone, ringing vainly upon her curved drive.

II. Paris
Here we meet a dour Parisian from the Ivory Coast. Hostile, overworked, aloof, at first our protagonist is not a sympathetic character. His patrons are 2 fellow African diplomats. Giddy from drink and beguiling heads of state, they deride their driver. After a perceived ethnic slur, the cabby angrily abandons them in an isolated section of town. Next the cabby spots a blind woman. Thinking that at least she will pose no threat to his peace of mind, she immediately rails at his recklessness as she enters the cab. Whereas before the driver was aloof, this woman piques his interest; the driver had never met a blind person before. She artfully, and sometimes insultingly parries his queries. A turning point occurs when he challenges her to guess his color. She remarks that color really has no relevance in her world, he could be "blue like a carrot" for all she cared. Yet unlike the African diplomats, she is able to perceive not merely his color, but his country of origin. Although blind since birth, she contends that she knows and feels things that he never will. The driver becomes utterly enamored, and in watching her feel her way through the darkness, he runs into another Parisian who begins to hurl racial epithets, deriding him for his blindness. This episode, concerning the theme of Appearance vs. Reality, is riddled with irony. Those with sight are associated with blindness (note others’ racism and ethnocentrism, plus the cabby’s inability to see where he is going). Conversely, the blind woman has unparalleled perceptual abilities. She forces the driver to question his own false sense of privilege, for her insight proves to be most profound.

III. New York
This episode highlights the immigrant’s experience of being awed and overwhelmed by the vastness and complexity of the urban American setting - the bridges, the lights, the inhabitants of the ghetto, and the littered streets overwhelm the hapless cabby who has yet to figure out how to turn his meter on. Somehow a recent immigrant who can’t even drive has managed to get a taxi’s license. Yet a young Black man, because of the color of his skin, cannot even catch a cab, until the inept Helmut pulls over to greet his first paying customer. Although utterly different in character, both Yoyo and Helmut are marginalized because of race or ethnicity. Their unusual names, shared humor, and similar headgear emphasize their kinship. Helmut’s funny name and clown act amuse Angela and Yoyo. His shy humor and polite diffidence offer a corrective to the New Yorkers’ behavior that vacillates between the two extremes of indifference and rage. Hence the conversation between Yoyo and Angela is reduced to a shouting match. In the end, Yoyo tries to underpay him to teach him a lesson, but Helmut counters that money is not important to him, for "he is just a clown." Playing the role of "wise fool" the immigrant counters the fast-paced hustle ethic of New York with a more humane sincerity. Whereas other taxi drivers are coldly indifferent, Helmut displays the utmost gratitude towards his patron.

IV. Rome
Our protagonist is entertaining, but recklessly self-absorbed, singing to himself as he barrels down one-way streets. Recurring images of sexuality and religion frame this episode, climaxing with the death of a priest. The cabby’s dialogue with the dispatcher is highly sexual, while his "confession" to the priest in his thrall is an utter farce, an exercise in self-indulgence, an opportunity to revisit and revel in his many transgressions. Ignoring the priest’s objections, as well as his hacking cough, the driver prattles on, chain-smoking. The driver catalogues his sexual escapades, beginning with pumpkins, then his pet sheep, finally culminating with the affair with his sister-in-law, at which point the priest dies, seemingly in a fit of apoplexy. This episode is about the artist and his role in society. The driver is a talented performance artist and storyteller; but lacking the discipline necessary to curb his unbridled Id, as well as an awareness of his audience, he entertains only himself. His preoccupation with self-expression contrasts with the religious conformity of the priest, whose dogma renders him incapable of handling the driver’s exploits. Nothing but a priest’s death can rouse the driver from his narcissistic reveries.

V. Helsinki
The final episode takes place in the Nordic capital of Finland. The driver picks up 3 drunken revelers, celebrating the demise of their friend Aki. While drunken Aki is slumped over in the back, his friends recite a litany of disasters that has befallen him: after losing his job, and being chased out of his home by his wife, armed with a butcher/butter knife, he finds that his 16 year old daughter is pregnant. Like the noble Beowulf, our anti-hero has been divested of hearth, home, and livelihood, only Aki’s troubles stemmed from his own sloth. But the cabby counters with a sad tale of his own barrenness, a parable of love and hope. While his two passengers argue over which is best, a son or a daughter, the driver contends that he would be happy with either. He recounts the poignant tale of how he withheld his love from his premature daughter. According to the doctors, she had only a couple of days to live, consequently, he refused to love her. After 3 weeks, the baby was still alive. The parents realized they had made a terrible mistake; their "little peanut" needed all the love it could get. They rushed to the hospital, only to find that she had just passed on. His tale highlights the futility of not loving; it only results in profound regret. His tale moves his two brutish passengers to tears, who now chide their sleeping friend for bothering them with his petty woes. In the end they leave Aki slumped over in the snow, still mourning for the lost baby. Jarmusch’s unusual narrative structure allows him to comment on the diversity of the human condition by providing 5 self-contained shorts.

Each episode concerns itself with themes that are relevant to the city that serves as a backdrop, shedding light on that particular culture. The first episode, taking place in Hollywood, concerns itself with the importance of staying true to oneself, a daunting task in such a superficial culture caught up in a materialistic facade. The 2nd episode highlights the immigrant’ experience, and how such diversity adds to the quality of life. Both the driver and the passenger, marginalized members of the American dream, have much to teach one another. The Parisian episode also deals with racial issues in a highly stratified society. Ultimately the driver is forced to confront his own preconceptions as themes of appearance vs. reality, blindness vs. perception are introduced. In Rome, religion and sexuality intersect with disastrous results. The driver’s insensitivity towards the priest illustrates the need for the artist to understand his audience for what is cathartic for the driver debilitates his passenger. The final episode reflects the Nordic temperament, where life is "nasty, brutish, and short". Theirs is an epic of human tragedy; one disaster follows another, yet life goes on, as Aki’s neighbors stoically greet him on their way to work. Their dour temperament and resigned attitude is reflective of the hostile conditions of their environment.

This page last updated on November 2nd, 1997.
Copyright © 1997 Stasia McGehee.

Written for History of Cinema,  F/TV-042.-0IL,  DeAnza College,  Cupertino, CA,  1997.