Night on Earth

I never thought that watching a car for 2 hours would be so enjoyable. But when there's a witty script with ornate dialogue, and even better, when it's all written by Jarmusch and scored by the brilliant madman Tom Waits, it's actually no wonder. Five short stories from different settings and with people of different mentalities and one is better than the other. From Los Angeles to Helsinki, people everywhere experience their own mini-dramas, and Jarmusch has a wonderful and warmly human way of talking about it. (14.07.2003)

Thanks to Night on Earth, Jarmusch became a recognized icon of the American independent scene and gained recognition from film fans around the world. Each of the five film stories provides an interesting humorous tale, where it's not about major dramas, but about small fragments of the life of the city inhabitants thousands of kilometers apart. The story from Rome is the most likely to entice audiences, in which Roberto Benigni particularly despicably eliminates a poor priest, but my favorite is the French story, where a black taxi driver struggles with an eccentric blind girl. The most sympathetic character of all is probably portrayed by Armin Mueller-Stahl, who plays a fresh immigrant in New York, trying to make a living as a taxi driver despite his limited language and driving knowledge. Overall impression: 90%. (30.04.2009)

Los Angeles: 4/5, New York: 5/5, Paris: 4/5, Rome: 5/5, Helsinki: 3/5. A beautiful and original anthology set in five different cities at the same time, each time in a taxi. An Oscar worthy idea. Each story is authentic, with humour, wisdom and an interesting denouement or lesson at the end. I had the most fun in Rome, where an Italian comedian confesses his erotic sins to a priest. 85% (05.09.2015)

Another stunning achievement by the eternally original Jim Jarmusch. I liked the stories from New York and Rome the best, but that doesn't mean I want or can criticize the others. On the contrary. Simplicity really is power, Jim Jarmusch knows it and his seemingly small films are so big... It is hard to write about them, very hard.__P.S. Great music by Waits as always. (05.08.2013)

Few people can tell stories about nothing as captivatingly as Jarmusch. And even though he presents five simple short stories, the viewer always feels the mood he tries to evoke. During Los Angeles, there is a narrating charm, New York warms the heart, the East German clown convinces about the power of life's destinies, Paris tunes into melancholy, and Rome will make you laugh out loud as the most successful anecdote. And then come Helsinki in the early morning, which gets under your skin and doesn't allow the viewer to stop thinking about this Night. (14.07.2006)