Stranger Than Paradise (1984) - The Criterion Collection

Synopsis

Rootless Hungarian émigré Willie (John Lurie), his pal Eddie (Richard Edson), and visiting sixteen-year-old cousin Eva (Eszter Balint) always manage to make the least of any situation, whether aimlessly traversing the drab interiors and environs of New York City, Cleveland, or an anonymous Florida suburb. With its delicate humor and dramatic nonchalance, Jim Jarmusch’s one-of-a-kind minimalist masterpiece, Stranger Than Paradise, forever transformed the landscape of American independent cinema.

Cast

Willie	John Lurie
Eva	Eszter Balint
Eddie	Richard Edson
Aunt Lotte	Cecillia Stark
Billy	Danny Rosen
Man with money	Rammellzee
Airline agent	Tom DiCillo
Factory worker	Richard Boes
Girl with hat	Sara Driver

Credits

Director	Jim Jarmusch
Cinematography	Tom DiCillo
Producer	Sara Driver
Screenplay	Jim Jarmusch
Executive producer	Otto Grokenberger
Music	John Lurie
Editing	Jim Jarmusch and Melody London
Sound	Greg Curry and Drew Kunin
Part one (“The New World”) from an idea by	Jim Jarmusch and John Lurie

Disc Features

DIRECTOR-APPROVED DOUBLE-DISC SET:

New, restored high-definition digital transfer, supervised and approved by director Jim Jarmusch
Permanent Vacation (1980, 75 minutes), Jarmusch’s first full-length feature, presented in a new, restored high-definition digital transfer supervised by the director
Kino ’84: Jim Jarmusch: a 1984 German television program featuring interviews with cast and crew from Stranger Than Paradise and Permanent Vacation
Some Days in January, 1984, a behind-the-scenes Super-8 film by Tom Jarmusch
Location scouting photos
U.S. and Japanese trailers
PLUS: A booklet featuring Jarmusch’s 1984 “Some Notes on Stranger Than Paradise,” Geoff Andrew and J. Hoberman on Stranger Than Paradise, and Luc Sante on Permanent Vacation

From the Current

Stranger Than Paradise: Enter Jarmusch

by Geoff Andrew Sep 3, 2007

Very few movies count as truly significant milestones in the development of American “indie” cinema during the last quarter of the twentieth century. They include Eraserhead (1977) and Return of the Secaucus Seven (1979), as early trailblazers; She’s Gotta Have It (1986) and...

Paradise Regained

by J. Hoberman Sep 3, 2007

It came from nowhere, it’s always been here—or so Stranger Than Paradise might seem.Jim Jarmusch had completed his first feature, Permanent Vacation, in 1980 and spent the next four years working on his second. Screened a few times as a fragment, Stranger Than Paradise...