Jim Jarmusch

Born on January 22, 1953 in Akron, Ohio, James R. Jarmusch, known as Jim, combines his love of movies with his passion for music. He began playing in the band “The Del-Byzanteens” during the 80s, although he currently belongs to a group known as “Sqürl”, which composed several songs for his last film: Only lovers survive . Jim comes from a humble family with European features, since he has Irish and German ancestry on his mother’s side, while his father has Czech and German blood. His passion for cinema was predestined, since his mother was a theater and film critic and instilled in him, as a child, a love for celluloid. His father, on the other hand, was a worker at the Goodrich aeronautical company.

His way of transferring his ideas to the screen is unique. His characters are unrepeatable, extravagant and marginal. His cinema will be liked or not, but it is undeniable that he is one of the most peculiar directors of the moment. He is a confessed follower of actor Lee Marvin , as a result of which he founded a secret society known as The Children of Lee Marvin, whose main requirement to be part is to have some physical resemblance to him. Other illustrious members of this society are Tom Waits, Richard Boes, John Lurie, Nick Cave, Neil Young, Iggy Pop and Thurston Moore. Many of them have collaborated in his films.

Jarmusch began his undergraduate studies at Columbia University in New York. There he studied History of English Literature, whose influence can be seen in his feature films. A few years later, he enrolled at the University of New York Film School, where he made his first major work in 1980: Permanent Vacation . Drama shot in 16 mm, had the support of cinematographer Tom DiCillo and with a very low budget. The film tells the story of a young man who walks the streets of Manhattan and where we can see the interpretation of Sara Driver , his future wife.

Four years later, with the premiere of Strangers in Paradise, he began to forge his prestige. It won the Camera d’Or award at the Cannes Film Festival, receiving very good reviews. The film, shot in black and white, has a very characteristic humor in Jarmusch’s filmography and narrates the peculiar journey of three young people from New York to Florida.

In the years to come, he shot three shorts known as Coffee and cigarettes 1, 2 and 3 , which in 2003 he converted into a feature film of the same name with actors such as Roberto Benigni , Steve Buscemi , Cate Blanchett or the singer Iggy Pop .

After the success of Strangers in paradise and the first short of Coffee and cigarettes, Jarmusch premiered in 1986 Under the weight of the law , a drama about three prisoners who escape from jail and in which he works for the second time with the Italian comedian Roberto Benigni. In 1989 and 1991 he would release two very similar feature films in their background: Mystery Train and Night on Earth . Both tell a series of short stories with marginalized characters who suffer and seek to achieve their goals. He returned to black and white with Dead Man , released in 1995 and starring Johnny Depp and Iggy Pop.. An atypical western that would instantly become a cult film for American independent film lovers, but it also received negative reviews. Mixing violence and surrealism, he abandons his well-known humor and adopts a serious tone.

In 1999 Jim Jarmusch released Ghost Dog, The Way of the Samurai , which was also in competition at Cannes. The film centers on a hit man who lives under the samurai system, played by Oscar winner Forest Whitaker . It has a very careful aesthetic, violence, humor and alludes to a large number of books.

Broken Flowers (2005) is one of his best-reviewed films. Interpreted by the comedian Bill Murray, it tells the adventures of a bachelor who investigates his past when he receives the news that he is his father. The film won the Grand Jury Prize at the Cannes Film Festival. This latest success was followed in 2009 by Los límites del control , a feature film about a hired killer shot in Madrid, Almería and Seville. As in all of his filmography, Jarmusch gives more importance to the visual, since the production had only twenty-five pages of script.

His latest work, Only Lovers Survive , released in 2013, tells the love story between two vampires. The soundtrack is by Jarmusch’s own group and covers themes such as loneliness, the human race and its nature. Although it lacks constant dialogue, it contains deep images and philosophical reflections.