Down by Law
Jarmusch's cult dark comedy set in the American South. Three unfortunate souls, the unemployed DJ Zack (Tom Waits), the pimp Jack (John Lurie) and poker player Roberto (Roberto Benigni), share a New Orleans jail cell. Contrary to his gloomy comrades, the perky Italian, though struggling with his English, brims with completely unfounded optimism and hope. Ultimately, he is the one who devises an escape plan, taking the trio to an inn lost among the treacherous swamps of Louisiana. The American South is a realm penetrated by Tennessee Williams and noir detective stories from the 1940s, but in this context, Down by Law plays like an ostentatious anti-crime story. Jarmusch himself called it a "neo-bit-noir" comedy, based on the contrast between the expectations of common perception and the ostentatious refusal to fulfill them. Roberto's character, with his Italian temperament and linguistic lapses, also supports the comedic effect. In slang, ‘down by law’ has several meanings - to be an outsider, to be carefree, cool, calm, and finally - be truly outside the law. Jarmusch's protagonists are down by law in every one of those ways.
awards
Amanda Awards, Norway 1987 - Best Foreign Feature Film; Bodil Awards 1988 - Best Non-European Film; Danish Film Awards (Robert) 1988 - Best Foreign Film; Italian National Syndicate of Film Journalists 1987 - Best Actor (Roberto Benigni)
Jim Jarmusch
Jim Jarmusch was born in 1953 in Akron, Ohio, and is one of the most important figures of in the history of independent cinema. Jarmusch studied at New York University Film School and Cinémathèque Française. His mentor was Nicholas Ray (director of Rebel Without a Cause), for whom Jarmusch also worked as assistant director. Thanks to the success of his first films, especially Stranger Than Paradise (1984), which won the Golden Camera at Cannes, Jarmusch came to symbolize a new generation of independent American cinema and became a critics' darling. The combination of his specific sense of humor and oft-used static scenes is so characteristic that the term Jarmuschian is understood throughout the world today. Laureate of, among others, Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival for a short film (Coffee and Cigarettes III, 1993) and winner of numerous other awards.
Filmography
1980 Nieustające wakacje / Permanent Vacation
1984 Inaczej niż w raju / Stranger Than Paradise
1986 Poza prawem / Down by Law
1991 Noc na Ziemi / Night on Earth
1995 Truposz / Dead Man
1999 Ghost Dog: Droga samuraja / Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai
2003 Kawa i papierosy / Coffee and Cigarettes
2005 Broken Flowers
2009 The Limits of Control
2013 Tylko kochankowie przeżyją / Only Lovers Left Alive
2016 Paterson
2016 Gimme Danger (doc.)
2019 Truposze nie umierają / The Dead Don’t Die
Cast & Crew
