Golden Age of Indies

1. Golden Age of Indies Jim Jarmusch, Stranger than paradise 1984 New organs of perception come into being as a result of necessity. Therefore, increase your necessity so that you may increase your perception. --Rumi

2. Modes of Communication so Far First week: exploitation films, meant as entertainment Some elements are dated Some elements are still effective Some elements benefit from historical context

3. Second Week Alienation Transgression Defiance of conventions Taboo Shock Realism Meditative Absurdist

4. 3rd Week Outrage We will be looking at engaging forms of narrative Some aspects will be controversial and some will spark disagreement Alienation is only a factor, in terms of moral ambiguity

5. Modes of effective communication Identification Alienation

6. Pathos Persuading by appealing to the viewer’s emotions. Film language choice affects the audience's emotional response, and emotional appeal can effectively be used to communicate ideology—or used persuasively

7. Bathos is an abrupt transition in style from the exalted to the commonplace, producing a ludicrous effect. While often unintended, bathos may be used deliberately to produce a humorous effect descent from the sublime to the ridiculous.

8. Brecht 1928: Emotional Identification=Nazi Propaganda Three Penny Opera A play should not cause the spectator to identify emotionally with the characters, but should provoke rational self-reflection His style gave a critical view of the action on the stage.Ex. Breaking the 4th Wall https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3QCfvBA760s Brecht thought that the experience of a climactic catharsis of emotion left an audience complacent. The Threepenny Opera had already been produced 130 times worldwide by 1933, before the rise of the Nazis forced Weill to flee to Paris in March of that year.

9. Realism Cinematic realism is neither a genre nor a movement, and it has neither rigid formal criteria nor specific subject matter. realism has been an extremely useful concept for asking questions about the nature of cinematographic images Classical Hollywood Cinema (all forms are realism in a way)—The invisible edit Deep focus, naturalism, and the Classical Hollywood style are all things that Andre Bazin wrote about as a response to montage

10. Italian Neo-realism (is a movement/genre) Filmed on location Set amongst poor and working class Uses non-professional actors Post-World War II Italy where conditions were very bad (poverty, oppression, injustice and desperation) Films that fit into this genre are: Bicycle Thieves (Vittorio De Sica, 1948), Killer of Sheep (American version), and Wendy and Lucy Another term for this genre is Social Realism

11. Jim Jarmusch (Bio) From Akron, Ohio Moved to New York in 1971 and studied literature at Columbia Went to Paris for a year to study French literature frequented the Cinémathèque in Paris and became interested in films from around the world Studied at NYU film school Met Nicholas Ray and Tom DiCillo (cinematographer for the first two films)

12. Film School He held on to the technical aspects of film school Had to relearn how to work with actors Like his idol John Cassavetes, Jarmusch is a very actor-oriented director. He creates the characters first, often with a specific actor in mind, and then “the plot kind of suggests itself around the character” Actors rehearse scenes that are never filmed (to give them more personality and nuance) Dropped out of NYU and decided to turn his final project into a feature (Permanent Vacation)

13. Stranger Than Paradise Began as a 30 minute short German filmmaker WimWenders donated film stock Received 120,000 to complete the film About down on their luck losers living in New York Mundane, go nowhere existence is disrupted by Willie’s cousin Spatial Realism (as addressed by Bazin)

14. Aesthetics Long un- interrupted takes with little camera movement “Rather than finding a story that I want to tell and then adding the details, I collect the details and then try to construct a puzzle of story. I have a theme and a kind of mood and the characters but not a plotline that runs straight through“ heralded by many critics as a watershed film in American Independent Cinema

15. Characters’ pasts are not important— Little history conduct motivated by the present charactersliving quietexistence unable to communicate

16. Lethargic atmosphere interrupted by an outsider---usually from another country they expose shallow, emptiness of American characters

17. culture collision ExposesAmerican “throwaway” culture “To make a film about America, it seems logical to have at least one perspective that’s transplanted, because ours is a collection of transplanted influences”

18. (Mis)communication informs the interaction between Jarmusch’scharacters Only link through pop culture familiarity

19. Rhythm creates Alienation and Tension Single long lasting shots Not much happens in the way of conventional plotlines Lacks a strongsense of causality

20. Structured as a triptych The New World One Year Later Paradise

21. Jarmusch’s goal was to make a simple, innovative, deadpan film about deadbeats Influenced by time spent studying in Europe and the films that he saw in France However, it was important not to imitate the French New Wave, or New German Cinema, but to have a fresh aesthetic

22. Unlikely Success Story Extremely successful Antithesis of most films being made in America at the time Slow, meandering pace of Stranger did not conform to the quick cut, music video style that was fashionable at the time His characters lacked ambition which was the antithesis of 80’s culture

23. Made Jarmuschthe one of the most hip Indie directors of the 80’s Large following in other markets, besides New York— Turned a profit Hollywood sent him scripts--Teenage sex comedies?

24. Timeline of Jarmusch Films Permanent Vacation (1980) The New World (1982) short Stranger Than Paradise (1984) Down By Law (1986) Coffee and Cigarettes(1986) short Mystery Train (1989) Coffee and Cigarettes II (1989) short, also known as Coffee and Cigarettes: Memphis VersionNight On Earth (1991) Coffee and Cigarettes III (1993) short, also known as Coffee and Cigarettes: Somewhere in CaliforniaDead Man (1995)Year of the Horse (1997) documentary Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai (1999) Ten Minutes Older: The Trumpet (2002) short Coffee and Cigarettes IV (2003) short, also known as Coffee and Cigarettes: Jack Shows Meg His Tesla Coil Coffee and Cigarettes(2003) feature Broken Flowers (2005) Only Lovers Left Alive 2014

25. Profitability Stranger Than Paradise (1984) Budget US$100,000 Box office $2,436,000 She’s Got to Have It Budget $185,000 Box office $7,137,502 Blood Simple: Budget $1.5 million Box office $4,218,701 Sex, Lies and Videotape Budget $1.2 million Box office $24,741,667

26. Comparison with current Blockbuster Pulp Fiction (Studio Indie) Budget $8.5 million Box office $213,928,762[3] +approx 205 Million Guardians of the Galaxy: Budget $170 million[2] Box office $319,159,666[3] +approx 149 Million (so far)