Stranger Than Paradise: Meaningful Minimalism

Type :

School essay

Pages :

3 pages

Format :

.doc

Published date :

11/19/2007

Category :

Arts & media

Sub category :

Film studies

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Summary :

Introduction
The center of Stranger Than Paradise
The narrative style of the film
The revelation of the characters' meaning
The American identity that Willie wants
The end of the third segment
Conclusion
Works cited

Abstract

The term "independent film" is extremely malleable in the realm of American cinema. A film may be considered "independent" if it is financed and/or distributed outside of a Hollywood studio, or if it bends and/or breaks the conventions of mainstream American movies. There are numerous, if not infinite, ways to categorize and classify films as independent, and any attempt to do so is nearly impossible. That said, there are certain films that inarguably deserve the controversial classification, and certain filmmakers that approach American cinema in a manner that undeniably independent. One such film is stranger than paradise (1984), and one such filmmaker is Jim Jarmusch. The film, Jarmusch's second feature as writer/director, was financed with a shoestring budget (around $110,000), and became an archetype of what American independent cinema would strive to be in the following two decades. The narrative style of stranger than paradise bends nearly all the "rules" of mainstream cinema. Everything about the film is minimalist, to put it lightly. In the early 1980's, when films with grand narratives-such as Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981) and Ghostbusters (1984)-dominated the box office, Jarmusch's film served as a daring, wholly original way to approach American cinema. stranger than paradise's sparse visual and narrative qualities frame its subject, American identity, in a way that few movies had ever attempted. His emphasis on the small, mediocre, and often-unexamined qualities of everyday life, made for a truly independent film.