Paterson

Dir: Jim Jarmusch

2016

*****

I don't think Jim Jarmusch has made a film yet that I haven't enjoyed being engulfed by or lost in. Paterson started out as a film about the great poet William Carlos Williams, born in Paterson, New Jersey, but grew into more of a tribute to him and the city. William Carlos Williams wrote a book of poetry which he called Paterson, after the city that gave him such inspiration and Jarmusch's lead character is also a poet, called Paterson, living in the same Paterson, New Jersey as his hero, William Carlos Williams. The film is somewhere between Grant Gee's 2012 dream-like essay Patience (After Sebald) and Nuri Bilge Ceylan's melancholic and rather thought-provoking 2004 film Uzak in that it is about someone else's work (and in the case of Sebald, also of a place) while celebrating the day-to-day and seeing the beauty in the ordinary, surely the sources of all great poems. The film is poetic but not a poem, although it is narrated somewhat by poems our protagonist Paterson (played by Adam Driver) is writing throughout the film. These poems are not by William Carlos Williams as you'd might expect, although one of his is featured. The poems from the film are written by living poet Ron Padgett and are written on the screen and stretched over time, as though Paterson is still writing them while he goes about his daily routines. Routine is something Jarmusch seems to be drawn to in his more recent films. It's almost as if you can categorize his films in two groups; before Broken Flowers and after Broken Flowers. Everything after Broken Flowers seems to follow a repeated turn of events or some sort of routine, while everything before had a more prominent feel of fluidity about it. That said, similar themes lie in all of Jarmusch's films, most of them are inspired by music, so it is nice to see one that is about something poetry, something new but something that still feels very much like a Jarmusch. Our protagonist Paterson is clearly a big thinker, although we only hear his opinions through his poetry and occasionally when he visits his favourite bar every evening. He drives his bus through the city he loves, refuses to own a phone and listens to the people of Paterson. His passion for poetry is collected in one single note book which his girlfriend Laura (played by Golshifteh Farahani) begs him to make copies of. Paterson soon finds himself lost and contemplative, following the destruction of his book by their pet Bull Dog (played by the Palm Dog Award winning Nellie). I felt a connection with Paterson right away. His passion is his, and while he is told of his talent, he doesn't seek a way to share it with anyone or try and get it published, worrying that the integrity of his work would be somehow broken. I totally get that. However, there is no regret in Paterson, other than leaving his note book where his dog could get hold of it, he is content and unphased, able to enjoy the garden for what it is. Laura however is a bit of a whirl-wind of ideas, which she always implements, almost immediately, to seemingly great success. Her open enthusiasm is a contrast to Paterson's persona, she almost seems fickle with her ideas, although she always sees them through. Their relationship works through communication and mutual understanding, it's nice to see that in a film, it is also quite rare. I saw a lot of Jarmusch in both characters, Laura being his old films and Paterson representing his new direction. I thought Masatoshi Nagase's appearance towards the end of the film was quite telling. He stared in Jarmusch's fourth feature, 1989's Mystery Train and he may or may not be the same character. Whether he is or he isn't, he bridges the gap between old Jarmusch and new Jarmusch quite well. Paterson bumping into Method Man in a launderette was also a very old school bit of Jarmusch which was appreciated. It's a very reflective study of creativity, a beautifully subdued film, matured but still 100% Jarmusch. I loved every minute and was swept away almost instantly.