Paterson, Jim Jarmusch, 2016
Friday, April 7th, 2017, 16:30
This was one of the films presented under the 'Poetry in Motion' theme (along with Neruda, Il Postino [presented together, which made a lovely pair], and a documentary, Astrid H. Roemer—The World Has Lost Face [which we missed]). Adam Driver, known to more mainstream fans as patricidal Kylo Ren of the latest Star Wars trilogy, gives an outstanding performance here (and so regained the respect of the not-so-mainstream fans) as a bus driver who possesses, rather unexpectedly, the heart and mind of a poet. The beauty here is in how—much like Paterson author William Carlos William himself—this driver/poet finds not just inspiration but reason for awe and wonder in the everyday happenings of his life: in tiny, unplanned variations in his routine, in the passengers he drives and the conversations he overhears, in his quirky wife's black-and-white obsession, in his rather reluctant walks with the most personable bulldog ever. In the mundane, in short. And because we watch him do this, remark and marvel and try to capture these mundane things, we are infected by it. One walks out of this film with eyes and ears and all senses re-attuned to find beauty in the world.
Of course this resonated with me doubly... The Miracle of Small Things is, after all, a similar (if different in style, and much less competent) attempt to reveal and highlight the beauty in the details. So perhaps I'm a little biased. But it did win 7 out of 34 nominations.
The film surprised me in one way: I didn't expect the humor. Poetry is notoriously perceived as sober, even solemn—unless one is introduced early to Shel Silverstein. I expected... well, not laughs. But laughs there are, and plenty of them. It's a meditation, certainly; one packaged not in a jagged pill but rather a smooth, even refreshing, drink.
It's a film about joy, and joy permeats every aspect of it. Poet fan or not, one leaves the theater feeling uplifted in tangible ways.
Oh, yeah, that's a film I wanted to see but forgot about! Thanks for reminding me!
ReplyDeleteGlad I could help :) If/when you do see it, Andrew, I'd love to hear what you think.
DeleteWe saw this a couple of months ago and I loved, loved, loved it. I heard people criticize it because, they said, nothing happened. Excuse me?! Lots happened and I found it completely satisfying. Might watch it again, too. BTW, we watched Pop Aye the other night. What a quirky and good film. Yes, these are films, people, not movies.
ReplyDeleteYES! With you on all of the above, Sarah. Most of the criticism I heard was in that vein, too... Though I guess the exploding-helicopter crowd *would* feel that way :)
DeleteAnd thrilled that you a) found Pop Aye, b) watched it, and c) enjoyed it! Yeah, I loved that one.
Thanks for coming by, Sarah!
This sounds like an excellent film that I would love to see. I don’t know if it will come near me but I marked it down.
ReplyDeleteOh, I hope so, Birgit—I think you'd like it!
DeleteIt sounds wonderful Guilie thank you also for providing the clip. The 'stuff of life' is what poetry is about - I loved that. I hope we get it on our shores -
ReplyDeleteMy pleasure, Susan! Yes, I'm with you there. And if/when you do get a chance to watch it, I'd love to hear your thoughts. I think this is one you'd enjoy, too.
DeleteThanks for the visit!
Hi Guilie - I certainly hope this makes it up to this part of the world ... looks to be an eye-opening film ... fascinating read - thank you! Cheers Hilary
ReplyDeleteI hope so, too, Hilary! I'm fairly sure it did play in Canada, but last year, so maybe it's already gone by now :( You might be able to find it on Netflix or one of those... Also, I think Sarah shared a link to it on Amazon Prime, but I can't find it anymore. Either way, I'm sure it's around. Fingers crossed that you do find it :)
DeleteI did put up a link but then found that although it was Amazon Prime it was also one of those extra streaming services, so I took the link down. If you are creative and type into Google's search engine things like... watch online free + Patterson all kinds of unofficial sites will show up where you might be able to watch it. For free. Just saying. ;-)
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