Down By Law

Jim Jarmusch defined what would become a fertile east coast hipster indie scene, even though he did his best to get out of New York. Compensating for low budgets with charm and charisma, he concocted a series of minimalist slow burn comedies, scribbling on the margins with cool musos like Lounge Lizard John Lurie and troubadour Tom Waits. Here, they’re two surly Americans forced to share a small jail cell. A third cellmate, an Italian tourist who barely speaks English, transforms the mood with his sunny disposition and eccentric communication style, especially after he hatches a surprisingly effective escape plan…

Top DP Robby Muller (Paris, Texas; To Live and Die in LA) does the honours again, this time in black and white.

Jim Jarmusch is back at VIFF this year with another triptych of short vignettes (also featuring Tom Waits): Father, Mother, Sister, Brother.

The excitement of Down by Law comes not from what it’s ’’about.’’ Reduced to its plot, it is very slight. But the plot isn’t the point. The excitement comes from the realization that we are seeing a true film maker at work, using film to create a narrative that couldn’t exist on the stage or the printed page of a novel. Down by Law works on the mind and senses in a completely different fashion. It’s an unqualified delight, from its elegiacal opening shots to to its unexpected last scene.

Vincent Canby, New York Times

Oddly heart-warming, magnifying moments of unexpected camaraderie between kindred spirits who don’t immediately ID each other as such.

Vadim Rizov, Little White Lies