Down By Law

Released in 1986 under the direction of Jim Jarmusch and originally distributed by Island Pictures on a budget of $1,100,000; "Down By Law" is an independent prison escape film that, typical of Jim Jarmusch films, takes a familiar genre but uses a different approach to the material to focus solely on the character. Long time readers of my reviews will remember a review I wrote in January 2011 for the Johnny Depp film "Dead Man" as I described it as being interesting to watch and praised them but rather long and tiresome for the mindset of someone who hadn't began the intense film immersion course. Well, it's been a long time I think it's time I came back to Jim. A real home-grown independent film-maker; Jarmusch dropped out of film school and opened the gates of independent cinema with the Cannes Film Festival favorite and Criterion Collection film "Stranger Than Paradise," there, he ignored the call to the mainstream and continued to create films that dealt with the concept of identity, alienation, and cultural confrontations that clash with the societal norm. such films include "Mystery Train," "Night on Earth," "Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai" and "Broken Flowers" as well as the aforementioned "Dead Man." Today's film is such an indie film that not only gave Jarmusch more recognition in the indie scene but also helped to introduce future Oscar-Winner Roberto Benigni to American audiences as well as allowing Jarmusch team up with long-running cinematographer Robby Muller. With that said, let's shackle up for "Down By Law."

Plot: Three men are incarcerated into the Orleans Parish Prison, Jack (John Lurie who also starred in "Stranger Than Paradise") is a pimp who is sold out to the police after being tricked to fornicate with an underaged girl, Zack (Tom Waits) is a radio personality who is set up by a drug dealer while trying to drive a car across town, unknowingly carrying a victim, and Roberto (Roberto Benigni) an Italian imprisoned for murder (though due to his lack of understanding the English language, his story could possibly be a figment of his lack of being able to explain it precisely). Roberto tells his cellmates of his plan to escape and it's not long before the three are on the run through the Louisiana swamp. On their way to freedom, they come across a road-side cafe where they meet Nicoletta (Nicoletta Braschi Benigni's real-life wife) who willingly houses them and falls in love with Roberto. Zack and Jack continue on without Roberto who has decided to stay with Nicoletta, the two men come across a fork in the road and split away, but hesitant to do so initially.

Jarmusch has always been a director with unconventional ways. His movie typically tend to look at his subjects as very lonely people and he commonly uses the audience's imagination to allow them to fill in the gaps. This movie could have been another run of the mill prison escape movie, but it's use of cutting to black before returning to the film shows a sense of time from a week to two hours or even 10 minutes. Jarmusch does this not because of limitation from his budget, but by choice. We, as a film-going audience, have seen prison escape movies and he chooses to not make the escape the central focus, but the characters on the run it's focus. Some years ago, I would have said this movie was really boring, but it's slow quiet pace has this effect that draws you in, just like "Dead Man" or "Stranger Than Paradise," he allows the imagery to speak for itself as well as the limited dialogue to only say what's important instead of just blabbering on. The dialogue, in this regard, is almost unimportant but meant to establish the characters more than progress the plot, which, I admit, on that note, the movie almost becomes a silent film, allowing the actors' physical actions tell the story. Jarmusch once said "the pauses to me are more important, really, than the words. Often the calm moment when people aren't saying anything is much more important than the dialogue." While I've always been partial to quiet moments in film, Jarmusch makes it work here.

Characters:

John Lurie: Lurie's character is a very active aggressive kind of guy. He views himself as the leader but often butts heads with Zack when they are both lost in the swamps.In most prison escape films, he would the more relatable protagonist, since we see his life before incarceration and his vices of being a pimp. But he's also imperfect as he shows little patience for others and puts himself higher than others. Coincidentally, John Lurie and Tom Waits provided the movie's soundtrack.

Tom Waits: Waits is more passive aggressive in his role, he tends to think more ahead than for the moment, who is perhaps why he and Lurie's character butt heads in this movie. Not much else I can say but he does a damn good job and his scratchy singing voice actually didn't bother me as I thought it would. I was also surprised when I looked up his filmography, turns out he played the Devil in "The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus," isn't that interesting? Either way, good job Mr. Waits.

Roberto Benigni: I found it interesting that even though Roberto is the most foreign element of this three-man group, he's the glue that keeps them together. At one point in the film, Zack and Jack have had enough of each other so they split up, leaving Roberto alone, to bring them back, he cooks a rabbit. It's an interesting metaphor in this situation that it's the foreigner who speaks little english and requires a small book of English to help him speak to others that manages to be the voice of reason. Once he decides to stay with Nicoletta, the glue that held the two men from before together is gone and they split away going down to paths of the road. Most people remember Roberto for his crazy antics at the Academy Awards in 1999, but he's very reserved here, which works well in my opinion. He was probably my favorite character of this movie because he manages to elicit sympathy for his situation and you're not entirely sure if he actually committed the crime of manslaughter like he claimed to have done.

Production: As said before, Jarmusch is a man who uses the backgrounds and empty spaces to tell his story of lonely characters and the cinematography of Robby Muller shows the less than extravagant side of New Orleans and more of the run-down neighborhoods and mucky side of the swamps. The use of side tracking shots via boat, a typical trope that is seen in Jarmusch. This film cements this feeling of age through black and white and distills the color of nature to give the feeling of alienation in a wide spaces where trees can be seen for miles around. The music is also a very mysterious one, a combination of jazz with eerie worldly instrumentation plays without he idea of the familiar early on before moving out to the swamps where the unknown is shown as the characters wander the swamp to find a way out. The prison itself is just a cell, we don't see them going out into the prison yard at any point, any interaction we see of the characters takes place in their cell, which perfectly cements the limited space these characters are forced to live in in the middle of the movie.

Bottom Line: I like this movie, there, see? I can like something and still be constructive. This is not a film for everyone though, Jarmusch is a filmmaker who makes movies for himself instead of what people want to see. To really appreciate this movie, patience is required. It is slow, but it's slow pace allows you to take the time to appreciate the movie's finer points and themes. The characters are interesting, the cinematography looks beautiful in black and white and the music, while it's rather simplistic, boggles the imagination. 

If you want to expand your cinematic horizons, at least check out Jim Jarmusch's "Dead Man" and remember this, without Jim Jarmusch, there would be no Richard Linklater and there would be no Robert Rodriguez or Quentin Tarantino.

Final Rating: 4/5