NIGHT ON EARTH (1991)

BLIND WOMAN: I'm just like you. I drink, I eat, I taste things. I listen to music. I feel music. I do whatever I want. I even go to the movies.

PARIS DRIVER: The movies? And what do you see at the movies?

BLIND WOMAN: Sometimes I feel the film.

Hello everyone! I'm back this week with my new favourite film, Night On Earth by Jim Jarmusch! There's absolutely no reason why I would dislike this film, it had everything I wanted! Taking the viewer from the vibrant streets of New York City to the quiet ones in Helsinki, it was such an enjoyable journey and I can't wait to share my thoughts with you! Thanks for being here and I hope you enjoy reading the post!

Before diving into the characters, I'd like to give a little background about the film. Night On Earth is written, directed, and produced by Jim Jarmusch. The film tells the story of five different cab drivers on the same night from different locations on Earth - which are Los Angeles, New York City, Paris, Rome, and Helsinki. One of the things I liked the most about the film was that Jarmusch didn't capture these cities in a glamorous or cliche way. In his words: "I didn't want to say 'There's the Eiffel Tower, we're in France.' The characters live in the cities that they're in. They're not tourists out sightseeing, so I wanted the atmosphere to reflect that." The almost familiar atmosphere of the film helps the audience to connect with the characters and dive into their worlds easily. Now that we mentioned it, let's talk about a few of the characters and explore their unique stories!

I'd like to start with the funniest (also my favourite) segment of the film, the New York City one! In this scene, we get introduced to the German immigrant Helmut and his passenger Yo-Yo. Helmut is such a charming character ever since the beginning of the segment. He makes us smile when he drives the taxi terribly, and later on, he leaves us teary-eyed when he says he never had a family. 

The brief friendship formed between Yo-Yo and Helmut was also meaningful. As Yo-Yo picks up his sister-in-law from the street and banters back and forth with her in the taxi, Helmut praises their family relationship as if it's the most precious thing he's ever seen. It takes a certain talent to give depth to a character as eccentric as Helmut, and Jarmusch managed to do it beautifully. 

I'd like to continue with the Paris segment in which we get introduced to the character Blind Woman (Beatrice Dalle). The Blind Woman uniquely carries herself throughout the film: while she's aware of her disability, she makes it clear to the taxi driver that she can do daily activities just like other people do. In a dialogue that I truly love, Blind Woman tells how she doesn't need to "see" a movie with her eyes, she can just feel it as much as other people do.

The way Blind Woman approaches art, colours, and sexual intercourse is naturally different than ours. While she lectures the taxi driver that her blindness is not a handicap, she also lectures the audience that there are more ways to perceive things other than just seeing, hearing, or tasting. In terms of giving awareness, the Paris segment was the most effective one to me in the film.

Lastly, I'd like to talk briefly about the Helsinki segment. This one is the saddest scene just like Jarmusch intended it to be. As the driver Mika picks up three depressed passengers near the dawn, he asks them what led them to get depressed this much. Not satisfied with their answer, he shares his own tragic story which leads the passengers to cry and sympathize with him. I can't help but praise the actor more than the script itself for this one, because Matti Pellonpaa delivered the story in such a way that his emotions exceeded the language barrier and managed to touch everyone's heart. Out of all the small stories shared in the film, Mika's story will be the one I'll remember for days.

Reaching the end of this post, I feel slightly bad about not touching on Winona Ryder's tough young cabbie or Roberto Benigni's uncomfortably long but entertaining monologue about how he discovered his sexuality, but you can see them yourselves in the links attached! Of all things considered, I give this movie a big 10 out of 10, and I'll most probably return to it in the coming years!

Thank you so much for reading this far and please don't forget to check out my Instagram, Twitter, and Tumblr, all with the same nickname moviesatdawn. You can also comment down below your thoughts or send me your suggestions to: moviesatdawn@gmail.com! Thank you again and I'll see you next week! 

Next post: Raw (2016) dir. Julia Ducournau