``Permanent Vacation'' Jim Jarmusch's debut film from his student days.

Turning his back on upward mobility and careerism, he continues to make "small films"

By the way, Jarmusch says that the classes at New York University's Graduate School of Film Studies provide "education for entering and working in the world of commercial films" and "techniques for making commercial films based on fixed patterns." It was a place for training,'' and it didn't sit well with him. In fact, when ``Permanent Vacation'' was submitted to a student film festival sponsored by New York University, it was criticized harshly, saying, ``This is the worst film ever made.'' (The quote is from the January 1987 issue of Monthly Image Forum. (from an interview article).

Meanwhile, Jarmusch was only fortunate that director Nicholas Ray, a Hollywood Outsider known for films such as `` The Great Dust '' (54), `` Rebel Without a Cause '' (55), and the aforementioned ``The Ballen'', was teaching at the school. That I was taking it. Jarmusch studied under him and served as his teaching assistant, but unfortunately Ray passed away the day before production on Permanent Vacation began.

"Permanent Vacation" (c)1980 Jim Jarmusch

Soon after, Jarmusch became a darling of the times with the boom-like global hit of ``Stranger Than Paradise,'' but after his so-called social breakthrough, he distanced himself from ``Hollywood stuff,'' even though he is now considered a master. still. What he hates most is upward mobility and careerism. Based in New York, he has been making "small films" based on alternative values ​​for many years at his own pace.

`` Paterson '' (16), which stars popular actor Adam Driver in the lead role of a bus driver and collaborates with Masatoshi Nagase for the first time since `` Mystery Train '' (1989), is truly the ultimate ``maiden work''. A masterpiece that has matured. Jarmusch's official comments upon the release of this film are moving.

"' Paterson' is a quiet story, with no dramatic tension happening to the main characters. The structure of the story is simple, just following seven days in their lives. ' Paterson' is a quiet story with no dramatic tension for the protagonists. , a celebration of the poetry inherent in everyday interactions, is meant to be a kind of antidote to dark, overly dramatic or action-oriented films. It's a movie, like the view out the window of a public bus that moves like a mechanical gondola in a small, forgotten town."

“Paterson” preview

I don't know, but essentially nothing has changed since ``Permanent Vacation.'' Jarmusch's attitude can be seen in the documentary film `` Carmine Street Guitar '' (18/Director: Ron Mann). Jarmusch, who is said to be a regular at the craft guitar shop he runs in Greenwich Village that uses recycled materials, shows up unexpectedly. Her looks (including her clothing preferences) are still the same as when she was younger!

He stays in his "everyday life" and continues on the "journey" of life. Living an "eternal vacation" in real life. It's as if Jarmusch himself is the main character who symbolizes Jarmusch's films.

Text: Naoto Mori

Film critic, writer. Born in Wakayama in 1971. He is the author of ``Cinema Garage: Children in the Ruins'' (Film Art Publishing), and edited ``Movies of the Zero Years+'' (Kawade Shobo Shinsha), among others. He regularly writes for magazines such as Weekly Bunshun, Asahi Shimbun, TV Bros., Men's Nonno, Kinema Junpo, Eiga Hiho, and Cinema Today.

Watch now

View work information

"Permanent Vacation"

(c)1980 Jim Jarmusch