directed
by Jim Jarmusch
USA 2003
From 1986 to 2003 Jim Jarmusch has been shooting short films
in a series named “Coffee and Cigarettes”. These partly improvised films show
at least two characters playing variations of themselves, having coffee and
cigarettes together and talking about… well, what’s currently on their minds.
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Strange to Meet You
This was the first segment of “Coffee and Cigarettes”, made in 1986 and
starring Roberto Benigni and Steven Wright. It’s a witty little film, mostly
driven by Benigni’s ravishingly wild humour, with Wright as the lethargic
opposite. A quick, entertaining opener.
Twins
“Twins” is about Steve Buscemi telling Joie and Cinqué Lee a story about Elvis
and his evil twin brother. It’s obvious that Buscemi steals the show here,
since the Lee-twins are quite uninteresting, shallow characters. The opening
and ending scenes with the Lees-only are dry and repetitive, while Buscemi
adds some funny lines, but is nevertheless unable to prevent this episode from
becoming tedious.
Somewhere in California
Tom Waits and Iggy Pop meet each other “Somewhere in California”, the segment
that won the 1993 Palm d’Or in Cannes for best short film. This is one of the
films in this series that seems less staged and more improvised, since there
is uncomfortable distance and human quirkiness between Waits and Pop. What I
liked most about this episode were the casual gestures and expressions (the
hesitant handshake, the eyes rolling, Waits waiting for Pop to leave so that
he can look at the jukebox in the end) and Jarmusch’s laconic humour (the fact
that since they both stopped smoking, now they can have one).
Those Things’ll Kill Ya
Joe Rigano gives Vinny Vella a lesson why smoking is bad in this segment,
which is among the comedies of “Coffee and Cigarettes”. There are some
hilarious one-liners and neat acting by all three participants (the third is
Vella’s son).
Renée
“Renée” is a quiet, static piece of observation. It stars Renée French (who,
with all the thick make-up and the cigarette looks like an archetypical femme
fatale from a 40s film noir) and E.J. Rodriguez as her sloppy waiter. The
dialogue - if you can call it “dialogue” - is brief and of no interest for
Jarmusch, who films Renée from above (with a look at her weapon-magazine) and
in a series of close-ups. This is comfortable and relaxing to look at.
No Problem
I have a problem with “No Problem”. This meeting between Alex Descas and
Isaach De Bankolé is the least satisfying segment next to “Jack Shows Meg His
Tesla Coil”. This film mainly consists of Isaach asking Alex if he has a
problem. To a certain extent, this would be a realistic conversation between
two friends – one passive, the other one caring. But the piece is just too
long and the dialogue soon becomes pointless.
Cousins
It must have been very hard for Cate Blanchett to achieve the feel of a
natural one-on-one conversation by playing two characters, but she succeeded
in every way. On one side, we have the actress Cate, the shining star, and on
the other we have the jealous cousin Shelly, broke and pathetic. The dialogue
of “Cousins” is smart and catchy and Blanchett perfectly embodies both
personalities.
Jack Shows Meg His Tesla Coil
The title says it all. What we get here is terrible acting, uninteresting
screen personas and minutes of boredom. Completely out of place.
Cousins?
This very entertaining, clever and brilliantly constructed episode is one of
the highlights of the collection. Jarmusch packs a big story twist and some
sarcastic wit on Hollywood into only a couple of minutes, while the true
genius comes from Alfred Molina’s and Steve Coogan’s performances, whose
behaviours and expressions radically change at one point.
Delirium
Perhaps the funniest of all episodes, “Delirium” is about GZA and RZA telling
Bill Murray what to do against his smoker’s cough. It may not surprise you
that it is Murray who creates the big laughs, with drinking coffee directly
from the pot and masquerading his celebrity persona as a waiter. What I also
liked here were the references to “Strange to Meet You”.
Champagne
Jarmusch couldn’t choose a better episode to end “Coffee and Cigarettes” than
“Champagne”, because it captures the essence of the “sad and beautiful world”,
present in all of the director’s films. What Roberto Benigni mistakenly said
in “Down by Law” became Jarmusch’s trademark. The appreciation of the little
things in life and the pleasant nostalgia. In “Champagne”, Bill Rice and
Taylor Mead listen to Gustav Mahler’s “I Have Lost Track of the World” and
pretend to drink champagne instead of the working man’s coffee. It’s a very
sad and touching episode, though beautiful in every frame and spoken word. It
leaves me with the same melancholic feeling I had after viewing “Dead Man”,
“Stranger than Paradise” and recently “Broken Flowers” and that’s what makes
me return so often to Jarmusch’s movies.
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“Coffee and Cigarettes” is certainly not a perfect work, but it has a very
pleasant overall feel. I laughed loud at “Delirium” and “Those Things’ll Kill
Ya”, I highly enjoyed the naturalism of “Cousins?” and “Somewhere in
California” and I have lost track of the world in “Champagne”. After viewing
this, I feel both rested and entertained in a calm way and the beauty of the
DVD is that I can return to the episodes I liked best every time I want.
Posters
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Theatrical Release: 7 September 2003 (Toronto Film Festival)
Reviews More Reviews DVD Reviews
DVD Review: Arthaus - Region 2 - PAL
| DVD Box Cover |
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CLICK to order from:
also available in Region 1: |
| Distribution |
Arthaus Region 2 - PAL |
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| Runtime | 1:32:21 (4% PAL speedup) | |
| Video |
1.85:1 Original Aspect Ratio
16X9 enhanced |
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NOTE: The Vertical axis represents the bits transferred per second. The Horizontal is the time in minutes. |
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| Bitrate |
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| Audio | English (Dolby Digital 5.1) | |
| Subtitles | German | |
| Features |
Release Information: Studio: Arthaus Aspect Ratio:
Edition Details: Chapters 12 |
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| Comments | This German DVD from Arthaus is practically identical to the American MGM and British Tartan releases. What we get is superb black and white picture quality, very clear sound (although the 5.1 is useless, since this is a dialogue-driven film) and a few bare-bones extras. Certainly a must-have for Jarmusch fans. |
DVD Menus
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Incidental Reading (CLICK COVERS or TITLES for more information)
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The A List: The National Society of Film
Critics' 100 Essential Films by Jay Carr (Editor) |
Movie Mutations: The Changing Face of World
Cinephilia by Jonathan Rosenbaum, Adrian Martin |
Dead Man (Bfi Modern Classics Distributed
for the British Film Institute) by Jonathan Rosenbaum |
Jim Jarmusch: Interviews (Conversations
With Filmmakers Series) by Ludvig Hertzberg |
How to Read a Film: The World of Movies, Media, and
Multimedia : Language, History, Theory by James Monaco |
Teach Yourself Film Studies
by Warren Buckland |
Moving Places: A Life at the Movies by Jonathan Rosenbaum |
The Art of Watching Films by Joe Boggs, Dennis W. Petrie |
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Thank You!
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