Stranger Than Paradise
Stranger Than Paradise
R | 01 October 1984 (USA)
Stranger Than Paradise Trailers

A Hungarian immigrant, his friend, and his cousin go on an unpredictable adventure across America.

Reviews
aquauver

Apparently, this film is a little bit boring to some people.No fascinating scene,So gorgeous actress.However, after watching it,something remains in my mind.What is it?I think it is a non narrative thing,so I can't convey how I feel.The reason it attracts me so much is just because this situation is similar to me.I am a college student,and once I have a extra money, I definitely use it so fast.It is true of every students all over the world.What stops my action is only smart and good looking girl's whisper.

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Mohamed Abu-Shally

A good movie for film-making students and film fans in general. This movies sends it message not just by the story itself, but uses all of the possible elements to aid the story: Starting with the theme color of this movie, gray, even though the film was made after the colored movies era began, the director decided to use black and white in order no enhance the feeling of solitary that the characters show. It also helps to make both states look about the same, to show that loneliness doesn't differ no matter where you go. The angles and shot sizes: The fixed cams use prevents the observer from feeling strong emotions to a particular character, thus strengthening the message of the movie. same goes for the sound and decoration. Now, to the story, A will written story with good storytelling, it does get boring sometimes, but it is surely worth watching. It combines Drama and Comedy and gets the watcher feel emotionally connected to the plot as if it reflects something from his own life, without getting him connected to the characters themselves, which, in my own opinion, was a brilliant thing to do.

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Dan Franzen (dfranzen70)

The other night I caught Jim Jarmusch's Stranger Than Paradise (1984), a low-key story about a young woman who comes to the United States from Hungary, her boho cousin, and her cousin's friend. This is an undemanding, entertaining little film that relies most heavily on its actors' fine performances.Willie (jazz musician John Lurie) is a hipster, at least as much of one as 1984 had to offer. He lives in a tiny, tiny apartment in New York, and he's expecting his cousin Eva (Eszter Balint, recently seen in a story arc on Louie) to arrive from Hungary and spend the night before heading to Ohio to live with their aunt. But poor Aunt Dottie (Cecillia Stark) will be in the hospital for the next fortnight, so Eva necessarily crashes with Willie. Willie's miffed that his blossoming (untrue) social life will take a hit with Eva around, and he treats his cousin with some scorn, like an unwanted puppy. Soon, Willie's friend Eddie (Richard Edson) shows up, and he's a kinder, gentler (if submissive) version of Willie.In the second act, Eva has left for Ohio, but after a year the guys miss her and, after winning some money in a fixed poker game, head out to visit. But, bored (again) with Ohio, they head to Florida with Eva for some deserved rest and relaxation.One of the most intriguing aspects of this superficially uncomplex film is the way the trio's interrelationships develop. Willie becomes more tolerant of Eva, to the point where he's willing to drive from New York to Ohio to visit. And as time progresses, Willie and Eddie are more on even ground with each other (Eddie becomes more assertive).This isn't a movie about nothing, but it's a close approximation. Lurie and Balint mesh well together. Balint's Eva is neither a shrinking violet (being new to the country and all) nor a pugnacious harridan. She's smarter than she looks - and certainly wiser than Willie and Eddie. But the other two aren't one dimensional, either, as Jarmusch's efficient script allows each to grow and to communicate so much by saying so little.Stranger Than Paradise is a beautiful little movie, filmed in black and white to better illustrate the inevitable hopelessness the characters endure. It's one of those cases in which less is truly more, as Jarmusch's immersive atmosphere lightly complements the strong acting from the three leads.

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Claudio Carvalho

The New World: The teenager Eva Molnar (Eszter Balint) arrives from Budapest, Hungary, and goes to the house of his cousin Willie, a.k.a. Bela Molnar (John Lurie) in a dangerous neighborhood in New York. Eva intends to travel to Cleveland to stay with her Aunt Lotte (Cecillia Stark), but the old woman is in the hospital and Eva has to stay with the idle Wille, who is absolutely indifferent to her. They spend their empty days smoking Chesterfield, watching television and playing solitaire and Eva befriends Willie's friend Eddie (Richard Edson). Then Willie and Eddie are connected to Eva and they miss her when she travels to Cleveland.One Year Later: Willie and Eddie win a large amount in the poker game and they borrow a car and travel to Cleveland to visit Eva. They spend a couple of boring days in the house of Aunt Lotte.Paradise: Willie and Eddie invite Eva to go on vacation in Florida. However they lose their money in the dog racing. Willie decides to bet their last money in the horse racing and they win money. Meanwhile Eva is wrongly taken by another woman and receives a large amount from a stranger. She leaves money for Willie and Eddie and goes to the airport expecting to travel to Europe, but there is only one flight to Budapest. Meanwhile Willie and Eddie seek her out in the airport. Will Willie find Eva? "Stranger than Paradise" is an ironic and weird tale of emptiness and boredom by Jim Jarmusch, filmed in black and white and divided in three segments (acts). There are funny moments, like for example, when Willie has a phone conversation with his Aunt Lotte and tells that Eva will put his life on hold since the guy spends the days smoking, watching television, playing solitaire and gambling in the horse racing. Then he misses Eva, probably the only different thing that had happened in his boring and empty life. In the end, it is hilarious when Eddie asks to himself: What will Willie do in Budapest? "Stranger than Paradise" is not for every audience but those viewers that also enjoy cinema as art. My vote is eight.Title (Brazil): "Estranhos no Paraíso" ("Stranger in the Paradise")

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