07-14-2008, 07:57 AM
Written and directed by Jim Jarmusch who also did "Down By Law" and "Stranger Than Paradise".
The movie begins with two Japanese teens taking a pilgrimage to Memphis. The first third of the movie is mostly in Japanese with no subtitles. I cheated and turned on the French subtitles so I could get some sense of what was going on, but like Jarmusch's other movies, you are watching a snippet of someone's life go by, but you don't feel like anything is really happening.
The story is divided into three parts. The second involves an Italian woman who's husband has died and she is in Memphis picking up the body. Part way through you realize that her story happens simultaneously with the first (not really a spoiler. It's in the liner notes on the disc: "Three stories are connected by a Memphis hotel and the spirit of Elvis Presley.").
The third story is more connected to yhe second. It's about a guy who's really down, gets drunk and shit happens. Then the three stories wrap up and the movie ends abruptly with no real resolution to anything - very much like "Stranger Than Paradise". (I'd compare it to "Down By Law", but I saw that over 20 years ago and I can't remember it at all.)
Joe Strummer plays the drunk. Screamin' Jay Hawkins is the Hotel Clerk, Tom Waits is the voice of the DJ, and you'll recognize Steve Buscemi as the brother-in-law. I'd call this movie "interesting" and leave it at that.
If you want an Elvis-themed movie, I'd recommend "Bubba Ho-Tep" instead...
--tg
The movie begins with two Japanese teens taking a pilgrimage to Memphis. The first third of the movie is mostly in Japanese with no subtitles. I cheated and turned on the French subtitles so I could get some sense of what was going on, but like Jarmusch's other movies, you are watching a snippet of someone's life go by, but you don't feel like anything is really happening.
The story is divided into three parts. The second involves an Italian woman who's husband has died and she is in Memphis picking up the body. Part way through you realize that her story happens simultaneously with the first (not really a spoiler. It's in the liner notes on the disc: "Three stories are connected by a Memphis hotel and the spirit of Elvis Presley.").
The third story is more connected to yhe second. It's about a guy who's really down, gets drunk and shit happens. Then the three stories wrap up and the movie ends abruptly with no real resolution to anything - very much like "Stranger Than Paradise". (I'd compare it to "Down By Law", but I saw that over 20 years ago and I can't remember it at all.)
Joe Strummer plays the drunk. Screamin' Jay Hawkins is the Hotel Clerk, Tom Waits is the voice of the DJ, and you'll recognize Steve Buscemi as the brother-in-law. I'd call this movie "interesting" and leave it at that.
If you want an Elvis-themed movie, I'd recommend "Bubba Ho-Tep" instead...
--tg