Talking about the role of cinema is such a monumental task that it's almost pointless—cinema means something different to everyone at different times and in different places. To me, one of the vital roles of cinema is to celebrate the mundane, the everyday, and to transform it into something vital. We want to see ourselves reflected on the screen; our better or worse selves, something to reject or something to aspire to. Paterson does this beautifully: it's an ode to the normal and the extraordinary that resides within it, to the idea that each of us should always strive to fulfil something greater and deeper.
Paterson is a former Marine who now drives a bus in the city of Paterson, New Jersey. His favourite poet is William Carlos Williams who was inspired by the streets Paterson drives every day and the falls he takes his lunch at. He is married to Laura and every evening he takes her dog Marvin for a walk and has a drink at his favourite bar. This is Paterson's life, such as it is, and we are witness to a week of it. Jim Jarmusch focuses on the minute details of Paterson's life: a conversation in a laundromat, the engine of a bus breaking down, the patter you have with a colleague in the minutes before you're due to officially start work. Throughout, Adam Driver imbues Paterson with a quiet warmth and complexity that finds its outlet in his own poetry; we see the events in Paterson's life reverberate in his writing and vice versa. It's a towering performance from Driver, delicate and restrained and always a marvel. The performances of those around him, particularly Golshifteh Farahani as Laura, complement him perfectly. The people he meets and the conversations he has feel very low-key and natural—we're never taken out of Paterson, or away from him. The film builds up to an event that changes things profoundly for him; something that seems so insignificant in the grand scheme of things but is a deeply personal loss. This is the closest thing the film has to a moment of great drama, and it's satisfying that it leads to what feels, genuinely, like a moment of personal growth. A little progress, something we all crave, and something that feels immensely relatable.
It helps that it's a very beautifully made film. Jarmusch and Frederick Elmes do a wonderful job of creating a sense of Paterson's regimented life and showing off his environment. The writing is excellent throughout, from the dialogue and the silences that fill the spaces in between to the poetry that springs from Paterson and those around him. I found the film to be a near-perfect thing—gentle, meandering, beautiful in a way that is both surprising and of great comfort.
After his notebook was shredded to pieces, it felt like the only thing left from that whole week was the same old bus driving, which meant nothing. That particular bit was very sad. I didn't think his poems were any good -most of them anyway- but when he lost them, everything seemed even more meaningless than it was before. If you paid attention, he's never truly happy. Not with his phony wife with whom he always forces smiles and pretends he likes stuff when he doesn't, not with his job, certainly not with his dog. He doesn't really love any of it. He finds small things out of his monotonous life that draws him to write monotonous poems. He's not all that talented but there's that glimpse of artistic personality in him -which the Japanese guy could see- that keeps him aware of how even the smallest things in life can be poetic, and it kind of depresses him at the same time.
Funny how sad it actually is when you do have a tiny amount of talent and you never got to improve it because you were never in the right places at the right times, and you'll never work on it as much as you'd want to now because it can't be your main focus. It's left as a half in you. Half a talent, half an interest, an incomplete desire and a hobby that only remains a hobby.
Everyone seems to love this movie, yet I did not. I want to say that it wasn’t a bad movie it’s just that I didn’t get it; however, certain parts actually felt contrived to me. Some of the conversations on the bus felt unnatural and scripted such as the one between the teenage girl and boy discussing some Italian anarchist. The bartender’s female friend came in to fuss at him for taking her cookie jar money. Her performance felt a little off as well. For much of the movie, I was painfully aware that I was watching actors rather than becoming immersed in the story.
Perhaps you need to be into poetry to like this movie. I am not particularly interested. So apparently, everyone in Paterson, New Jersey is a poet. There’s the poet William Carlos Williams, the main character also named Paterson (rolling my eyes at this little coincidence), some little girl waiting for her mother and sister who he happens upon, and a Japanese tourist. I didn’t find the poetry aspect of this movie the least bit interesting. To me the most interesting part of this movie is his relationship with his wife.
Paterson seems sad and unhappy with his life. Writing in his notebook is his escape from his dull existence. I’m not sure he’s very thrilled with his bus driving job, yet it gives him a chance to observe people and eavesdrop on passengers’ conversations. I’m not sure how happy he is with his wife either. Sure, they are extremely pleasant to one another and they seem to be affectionate enough and genuinely care for each other, yet something feels off. His wife Laura is beautiful. I get the feeling that was his main, if not his only, motivation for marrying her. Paterson seems to struggle at times to overlook his wife’s ditzy and eccentric manner. She conducts herself in the free-spirited manner of someone who has never had to worry about such mundane things as working to pay the bills. Such are the advantages of female beauty I suppose. She is constantly decorating everything in the house with black patterns on white background. Everything is black and white. One day she is going on about having a cupcake business and the next she is telling him that she wants to order a guitar with lessons for a few hundred dollars so she can become a country music star. During nearly every brief evening interaction with his wife, his face shows displeasure or discomfort with something she says. Most notably when she asks for the expensive guitar and again when she tells him she ordered it. Paterson however just continues to be quiet spoken and polite. Is he afraid to say anything which might upset her? When the guitar arrives, unsurprisingly it is black and white which is probably why she wanted it in the first place. Despite Laura’s somewhat childlike frivolity and naivety, she did make over $200 selling her cupcakes at the farmer’s market and she learned an impressive amount on the guitar in the first day. Perhaps Paterson is simply doing his best to support his wife and avoid negativity while he bears the brunt of the real world. It seems odd to me that although he is gone all day at work, he only spends an hour or so with his wife before he takes the dog for a “walk” and stops to hang out in a bar. This furthers my belief that their relationship is based primarily on sex and beyond that they have no real connection. His life wouldn’t suck so bad if they were actually friends and could share common interests and truly enjoy each other’s company outside the bedroom. She seems a little too eager to have him take the dog for a walk every evening. I actually suspected her of having an affair at one point.
Anyhow, Paterson is distraught when his notebook is destroyed by the dog. (Should have made copies like is wife urged him so often to do.) This is when he has the strange interaction with the Japanese poet tourist who gives him a new notebook when parting ways. So, it seems he’ll get over his loss and soldier on.
Look, we all bring a bit of ourselves into the interpretation of a movie. We see things from our perspective which is shaped by our life experiences. Perhaps I did not like this movie because I could not relate to the main character. Although pleasant and open to others, he is completely void of any personality. The only things he ever says to his wife is in response to her questions.
Bottom line is that I was unable to care about the main character, Paterson. His life is boring because he is boring. Although he has nothing to offer, he does manage to touch the lives of others by just being there and listening. The only real things he has to say, he writes in his notebook, which is destroyed and lost forever. The true tragedy of this story is not that he lost his notebook, but that he chooses to put himself into the notebook rather than share himself with his wife and others.
Review by DeletedBlockedParent2017-02-24T01:40:03Z
"Some call it rain"
"Paterson" is one of the most relatable, sweet, and charming movies I've seen this year. While the story is simply and straight forward on paper, but the final result is quite unique. Before seeing the movie, I've heard nothing but great things about this movie, even at Cannes it got excellent feedback. And boy, it didn't disappoint.
Adam Driver once again knocks it out of the park in this movie. By giving a very quite and kindhearted performance that's quiet something. He's in everything recently and I'm glad an actor at he's range is getting the work he deserves.
I would view this movie as kind of a character study. For example: Paterson main interest is poetry, as it is he's escapism, because he lives a simply life and usually dose the same routine everyday. He's a talented man that's stuck in a dull life. There's many times in the movie where he will be sitting at a bar (alone) and he will be watching other people and you can clearly see there's something going on in their lives. Or his friends would come up to him and talk about their day, which has a lot going compared to him. It brilliantly captures loneliness and the necessity of the main character. Even through he is married and has friends, he still feels isolated.
Jim Jarmusch wrote and directed this movie so brilliantly that I can't imagine any other director doing this. What's so interesting about Jarmusch direction is that he focus more on mood and character development than anything else. And that's why I felt the main character isolation and futility. The strongest part of "Paterson" (putting aside the acting) is Jarmusch screenplay, as the film is heavy dialogue. The poetry in the movie is so well written and wasn't terribly force like other movies when trying to be poetic. Excellent work Jim Jarmusch. Haven't seen his other work yet, but will do soon day.
Overall rating: "Paterson" is pure poetry in the most wonder way. I must admit, it left a big dumb smile on my face after it was over. The movie might be slow for some people and I can understand that, but there's something in this movie that I think everyone can appreciate.