I became a devout Jim Jarmusch fan pretty much right after my first viewing of “Mystery Train” upon its release in 1989. At the time, I didn’t know a thing about Jarmusch’s past a bona fide New York No Wave, CB’s-hangin’ coolster. There was just something so other about “Mystery Train” that it completely captivated me.
From there, I dutifully sought out the man’s earlier films like “Down By Law” and “Stranger Than Paradise,” and checked out each successive new release like “Night on Earth,” “Dead Man,” “Ghost Dog” and beyond. They weren’t all as great as “Mystery Train” (although I consider “Dead Man” pretty flawless), but each had something special to recommend it. I regret to say, however, that I’ve yet to see his more recent films like “The Limits of Control” and “Broken Flowers.” With two little kids in the house, I just don’t get to the movies that often anymore.
Anyway, blah blah blah. The only reason I'm bringing the great man up now is that earlier this week my colleague Drew quizzed me on my knowledge about "Permanent Vacation." By this he meant Jarmusch's short cinematic debut from 1980 and not the regrettably more celebrated, glossy comeback album by Aerosmith from 1987. I had to woefully confess that I hadn't seen it. Drew frowned.
I'd heard about the film, but it wasn't widely available until fairly recently (well, 2007), when it was appended as an extra to the Criterion Collection re-release of his 1984 film, "Stranger Than Paradise." I don't own that either, so I still cannot say that I've seen the film in its entirety, but Drew shot me a clip of the opening sequence (see below), knowing that its time-capsule-worthy depiction barren SoHo and TriBeCa streets would stop me dead in my tracks. The jarring disparity between busy midtown and scenes of deserted streets and alleys -- some of the same ones that Carrie Bradshaw would lose her Manolo Blahniks on decades later -- in the first four minutes alone makes it required viewing for any devotee of this blog and/or its preoccupations.
In any case, if you're curious about it and don't want to pony-up the thirty-something dollars for that "Stranger Than Paradise" re-release, you'll be ticked to know that the entirety of "Permanent Vacation" is available on YouTube.... for the moment, at least.
If you've not seen it, soak in the sights of an elbow-room-heavy lower Manhattan that simply does not exist anymore.
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