Night on Earth by Jim

Night on Earth by Jim Jarmusch is a postmodern film which is told from a multiplicity of perspectives. The postmodernism aesthetic suggests that there is no single, unified truth, but rather only fragments or different 'versions.' This can make it difficult to convey a sense of thematic unity for a filmmaker, but Jarmusch is able to create one by virtue of the structure he uses to relate his different tales. The film's conceit is simple: five taxi drivers in five different cities are followed on their exploits. The viewer is invited to draw parallels between the narratives, or not to draw any conclusions at all. The juxtaposition of the narratives suggests that all human beings, however different their circumstances, can learn from one another, provided they take the time to talk to strangers and listen to the words of others [THESIS].

There is a thematic unity but the tones of the different vignettes are dramatically different. Some of the narratives of the taxi drivers seem light and frivolous. Unsurprisingly, in Los Angeles, the focus is on movies and filmmaking. A casting director tries to persuade a pretty but dubious cab driver to be in her latest film, telling the driver that she can have a career in movies as an actress, rather than the career as a mechanic the driver is planning. The narrative of New York City is similarly humorous, involving the culture clash between the German cab driver and the African-American passenger he is driving through the city. The passenger is convinced that the German has no idea where he is going and insists on driving the cab, much to the chagrin of the cabbie. In Rome, the driver freely narrates various sexually explicit scenes from his love life to his passenger -- a priest.

Other scenes are more serious, such as the tale of black Paris cab driver who picks up a blind girl and talks about colors to her (which she cannot see) and the dark exchanges between driver and passenger in a somber Helsinki narrative. None of the stories directly intersect -- it would be clumsy to create connections between such disparate locations and people. Given the variance in tone, were it not for the use of the cabs as the settings in all of the various cities, the viewer might be left scratching his or her head to make a connection between all five locations.

Yet all of the tales are about communication and miscommunication [MAIN THEME]. The very nature of a taxi ride requires two disparate strangers to be thrown together who might not otherwise connect under normal circumstances because of their classes, races, social roles, and personalities. The nature of a taxi ride transcends class barriers and worldviews. For example, the young Los Angeles taxi driver cannot understand the appeal of films, while the casting director lives, breathes, and sleeps film. The New Yorker is incapable of believing that anyone can know his beloved city as well as himself. The seeing taxi driver learns from the blind woman; the priest cannot escape the sexualized view of life possessed by the cab driver. In Helsinki, the driver and the passengers seem to compete for who has the worst luck and most depressing fate. The characters all exchange war stories and perspectives in the hermetically sealed environment of the cab: unlike many other situations in life, there is no way out.