Review of Night on Earth

Introduction

Probably the most accessible of all of cult director Jim Jarmusch’s independent films is Night on Earth. Continuing the theme of the world from the viewpoint of different nationalities, Night on Earth is basically a theatre piece: five scenes, each one featuring conversations between a taxi driver and his or her passengers.

Video

The picture is clear and has a reasonable sharpness to it, so on the whole this is a good transfer.

Audio

As this is a film that involves a LOT of talk, I am pleased to say that the stereo soundtrack presents the dialogue clearly. Music is provided by Tom Waits, who is regularly casted in Jarmusch’s films. The last three stories have subtitles to accompany the foreign languages.

Features

Absolutely bare bones, nothing except the film and scene selection is included.

Conclusion

Night on Earth is a good film, but not one of Jarmusch’s best. Although featuring outstanding performances from Roberto Benigni and Winona Ryder in particular, the film lacks a coherent theme and instead is content with being what is basically a set of five duologues (if we count multiple passangers as being one `voice`). Still, if you are a Jarmusch fan then this is definitely worth a watch.