Night on Earth

For other uses, see Night on Earth (disambiguation).

Night on Earth
Film poster for Night on Earth
Directed by	Jim Jarmusch
Produced by	Jim Jarmusch
Written by	Jim Jarmusch
Starring	Winona Ryder Béatrice Dalle Roberto Benigni Armin Mueller-Stahl Matti Pellonpää
Music by	Tom Waits
Cinematography	Frederick Elmes
Editing by	Jay Rabinowitz
Distributed by	Fine Line Features
Release date(s)	1991
Running time	129 min.
Country	USA
Language	English German Italian French Finnish

Night on Earth is a 1991 film written and directed by Jim Jarmusch.

It is a collection of five vignettes, which take place during the same evening, each concerning the temporary bond formed between taxi driver and passenger in five different cities around the world: Los Angeles, New York, Paris, Rome, and Helsinki. The movie begins with the Los Angeles based segment and moves from city to city as the clock turns during the late hours of the night. Jarmusch wrote the screenplay for Night on Earth in about eight days, and the decision to film in certain cities was largely based on the actors with whom he wanted to work at the time.^[1] The soundtrack, Night on Earth, is by Tom Waits.

Plot

Los Angeles

As evening falls, sassy tomboy cabby Corky (Winona Ryder) picks up hot-shot Hollywood executive Victoria Snelling (Gena Rowlands) from the airport, and as Corky drives, Victoria tries to conduct business over the phone. Despite their extreme differences socially, the two develop a certain connection. Sometime during the ride Victoria, who is evidently a talent scout or casting director, discovers that Corky would be ideal for a part in a movie she is casting, but Corky rejects the offer, as she has plans to become a mechanic.

New York

Helmut Grokenberger (Armin Mueller-Stahl), a mild East German immigrant who was once a clown in his home country, now works in New York as a taxi driver. He picks up a passenger named YoYo (Giancarlo Esposito), a brash, streetwise young man and attempts to drive him to Brooklyn. Helmut doesn't really know how to drive with an automatic transmission so he allows YoYo to drive. On their way, they pick up YoYo's argumentative sister-in-law Angela (Rosie Perez). The story revolves around Helmut's attempts to understand and become a part of the culture of New York.

Paris

A blind woman (Béatrice Dalle) goes for a ride at night with a driver (Isaach De Bankolé) who hails from the Ivory Coast. They both take some verbal jabs at each other during the ride. The driver asks his passenger what it's like to be blind and she attempts to explain to him, but their cultural differences and differences of life experience make things difficult. An ironic twist at the end of the segment turns upon a French pun near the beginning of it: When the driver states his nationality as "Ivoirien," some other Africans mock him with the punning phrase "Y voit rien" (he sees nothing there). After he drops off his blind passenger, he feels fascinated by her and gazes in her direction. This inattention to driving causes him to crash into another car, whose driver angrily accuses him of being blind.

Rome

In the wee morning hours, a very eccentric cabbie (Roberto Benigni) picks up a priest (Paolo Bonacelli). As he drives, he starts to confess his sins. Much to priest's discomfort, he goes into great detail about how he discovered his sexuality first with a pumpkin and then with a sheep, then details a love affair he had with his brother's wife. The already-ailing priest is shocked by the lurid confession, and promptly has a fatal heart attack, leaving the cabbie with a very troubling situation.

Helsinki

After an evening spent drinking heavily, three workers, one of whom has just been laid off (Kari Väänänen, Sakari Kuosmanen, and Tomi Salmela), climb into a cab to return home. On the way to drop them off the workers talk about what an awful fix their now-unconscious friend is in, by being out of work and having to face a divorce and a pregnant daughter. The driver Mika (Matti Pellonpää) then tells them all the saddest story they have ever heard. The workers are terribly moved and depressed by the story, and even become unsympathetic toward their drunken, laid-off companion. As they arrive home, the sun is beginning to rise on a new day. But no one sees change in their stupering friend from his day to day life.

Cast

Los Angeles

• Winona Ryder as Corky (taxi driver)
• Gena Rowlands as Victoria Snelling (passenger)

New York

• Giancarlo Esposito as YoYo (passenger & taxi driver)
• Armin Mueller-Stahl as Helmut Grokenberger (taxi driver & passenger)
• Rosie Perez as Angela (passenger)

Paris

• Isaach De Bankolé as Unnamed Taxi Driver
• Béatrice Dalle as the Blind Woman (passenger)
• Pascal N'Zonzi as an unnamed African passenger
• Emile Abossolo M'Bo as an unnamed African passenger

Rome

• Roberto Benigni as Gino (taxi driver)
• Paolo Bonacelli as Priest (passenger)

Helsinki

• Matti Pellonpää as Mika (taxi driver)
• Kari Väänänen, Sakari Kuosmanen, and Tomi Salmela as Passengers

On DVD

Until September 2007, Night on Earth was one of only two Jarmusch features not yet released on DVD in the United States (it had been previously released only in the UK). It was eventually released by the Criterion Collection on September 4, 2007.

References

1. ^ Andrew, Geoff (1999-11-15). "Jim Jarmusch interviewed by Geoff Andrew (II)". The Guardian (Guardian Media Group). http://film.guardian.co.uk/Guardian_NFT/interview/0,4479,110606,00.html. Retrieved 2008-05-02. 

Further reading

• Bernd Wahlbrinck (2011). Jim Jarmusch's Night on Earth: The New York Episode". Germany: Tumbleweed. ISBN 978-3-00-035771-8. 

External links

• Night on Earth at the Internet Movie Database
• Night on Earth at AllRovi
• Night on Earth at Rotten Tomatoes
• Night on Earth at Box Office Mojo
• Film Review by B. Wahlbrinck