TRIBUTES AND RETROSPECTIVES

Escapes

Down By Law

Jim Jarmusch
1986 - United States - 1h47

Screenings : saturday 27 - 2:00 pm - Pathé - 1 - presented by Sophie Charrier - sportive and Pierre Pucelle - film teacher

Jack, a small-time hustler, and Zack, a disc jockey, are put in the same jail cell in Louisiana. They are forced to put up with each other, and are soon joined by Roberto, an Italian immigrant full of the drive they both lack and who suggests that they should escape.

Based on the interactions between the characters rather than the mechanics of the escape itself, Down By Law confirmed the hopes placed in Jim Jarmusch. One of the key elements in the film is the photography, composed by German Robby Müller and his slow travelling shots of the architecture of Louisiana and New Orleans which gives the feeling of the characters' unwitting wanderings. Characters who only dreamt of immobility. Except for the foreigner, played by Roberto Benigni, the free spirit unsuited to the territory. “It is a film about language and the limits of language. It is so rare in American cinema that it deserves stressing with a sigh of joy. It is rare that an American director has so few illusions about the communicative virtues of everyday language and so much love for languages that they become music. John Lurie and Tom Waits are not only perfect physically as well as being two satisfying actors, but they make music when they speak.” (Serge Daney; Libération)

CAST AND CREW

Cast : Tom Waits, John Lurie, Roberto Benigni, Nicoletta Braschi, Ellen Barkin
Screenplay : Jim Jarmusch
Cinematography : Robby Müller
Sound : Peter Waggoner
Editing : Melody London
Music : John Lurie

Production : Island Pictures, Black Snake, Grokenberger Film Produktion

French distributor : Les Acacias