Criterion Tube: Playful Fellini and Benigni
By January 29, 2013
Film Info
- United States
- 1986
- 107 minutes
- Black and White
- 1.78:1
- English
- Spine #166
Director Jim Jarmusch followed up his brilliant breakout film Stranger Than Paradise with another, equally beloved portrait of loners and misfits in the American landscape. When fate brings together three hapless men—an unemployed disc jockey (Tom Waits), a small-time pimp (John Lurie), and a strong-willed Italian tourist (Roberto Benigni)—in a Louisiana prison, a singular adventure ensues. Described by Jarmusch as a “neo-Beat noir comedy,” Down by Law is part nightmare and part fairy tale, featuring sterling performances and crisp black-and-white cinematography by the esteemed Robby Müller.
Cast
| Zack | Tom Waits |
| Jack | John Lurie |
| Roberto | Roberto Benigni |
| Nicoletta | Nicoletta Braschi |
| Laurette | Ellen Barkin |
| Bobbie | Billie Neal |
| Gig | Rockets Redglare |
| Preston | Vernel Bagneris |
| Julie | Timothea |
| L. C. | L. C. Drane |
| Detective Mandino | Joy Houck Jr. |
| Young girl | Carrie Lindsoe |
| Detectives | Ralph Joseph |
| Richard Boes | |
| Cajun detective | Dave Petitjean |
| Uniformed cop | Adam Cohen |
| Corpse | Alan Kleinberg |
| Prisoner | Archie Sampier |
Credits
| Director | Jim Jarmusch |
| Written by | Jim Jarmusch |
| Director of photography | Robby Müller |
| Music | John Lurie |
| Editor | Melody London |
| Songs | Tom Waits |
| Producer | Alan Kleinberg |
| Coproducers | Tom Rothman and Jim Stark |
| Executive producers | Otto Grokenberger, Cary Brokaw and Russell Schwartz |
| Production manager | Rudd Simmons |
| Unit manager/Locations | David Ross McCarty |
| Set dresser/Prop master | Janet Densmore |
| Assistant director | Claire Denis |
| Production troubleshooter | Sara Driver |
| First assistant camera | Jack Anderson |
| Sound mixer | Drew Kunin |
| Gaffer | Christopher Porter |
| Key grip | Paul Ferrera |
| Supervising sound editor | John Auerbach |
| Sound editor | Frank Kern |
| Music recorded and mixed by | Tom Lazarus |
Disc Features
DIRECTOR-APPROVED SPECIAL EDITION:
- New, restored digital transfer, supervised by director Jim Jarmusch, with uncompressed monaural soundtrack on the Blu-ray edition
- Audio interview with Jarmusch from 2002
- Interview with director of photography Robby Müller from 2002
- Footage from the 1986 Cannes Film Festival, including a press conference with Jarmusch and actors John Lurie, Roberto Benigni, and Nicoletta Braschi, and an interview with Lurie, featuring commentary
- Sixteen outtakes
- Music video for Tom Waits’s cover of Cole Porter’s “It’s All Right with Me,” directed by Jarmusch
- Q&A with Jarmusch in which he responds to fans’ questions
- Recordings of phone conversations between Jarmusch and Waits, Benigni, and Lurie
- Production Polaroids and location stills
- Trailer
- Isolated music track
- Optional French dub track, featuring Benigni
- PLUS: An essay by critic Luc Sante
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