No wonder Jarmusch’s films bring boredom. In the post-industrial spaces of Ohio in the 1970s, where the director of Stranger Than Paradise grew up, there was still an aura of former wealth, reflected in gargantuan-sized buildings and factories falling into disrepair. Cleveland and the surrounding towns – including Akron, Jarmusch's hometown – were rapidly deserting. It was possible, of course, to turn this experience into the observational style à la Frederick Wiseman, but young Jim Jarmusch found an element of comedy in the miserable U.S.
