Jim Jarmusch facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Jim Jarmusch
Jarmusch at the 2013 Cannes Film Festival
Born	(1953-01-22) January 22, 1953 (age 72) Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio, U.S.
Education	Northwestern University Columbia University (BA) New York University (MFA)
Occupation	Filmmaker actor composer
Years active	1979–present
Partner(s)	Sara Driver

Jim Jarmusch (born January 22, 1953) is an American film director, writer, and musician. He is famous for making independent films, which are movies made outside of the big Hollywood studios.

Since the 1980s, Jim Jarmusch has directed many well-known films. Some of his most famous movies include Stranger Than Paradise (1984), Down by Law (1986), Dead Man (1995), Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai (1999), and Paterson (2016). His film Stranger Than Paradise was even added to the National Film Registry in 2002 because it's considered an important part of film history.

Besides making movies, Jarmusch is also a musician. He was part of a band called The Del-Byzanteens. He has also created music for some of his own films and released albums with musician Jozef van Wissem.

Growing Up and Early Life

Jim Jarmusch was born in Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio. He was the middle child of three. His mom used to review movies and plays for a newspaper. She often dropped him off at the local cinema to watch double features while she ran errands. This is how he first got interested in movies.

Jim loved to read when he was young. His grandmother encouraged his interest in books. He also became interested in new ideas and music from his friends. They would sometimes use fake IDs to get into art house cinemas. These cinemas showed special, independent films.

After high school in 1971, Jarmusch went to Northwestern University in Chicago. He left because he focused more on literature and art history than on journalism. The next year, he moved to Columbia University in New York City. He planned to become a poet and studied English and American literature there.

During his last year at Columbia, Jarmusch spent 10 months in Paris. He worked delivering art for a gallery. He spent a lot of his time watching movies at the Cinémathèque Française, a famous film archive.

After graduating from Columbia in 1975, Jarmusch returned to New York City. He was a musician and didn't have much money. He decided to apply to the graduate film school at New York University. Even though he didn't have much filmmaking experience, he got in. He studied there for four years and met other future filmmakers like Spike Lee.

In his final year at NYU, Jarmusch worked as an assistant to a famous director named Nicholas Ray. Ray encouraged him to make his first film. Jarmusch used scholarship money to start his project. The university wasn't happy with how he used the money or with his film, so they didn't give him a degree.

Making Movies: The 1980s

Jim Jarmusch's first full-length movie was Permanent Vacation, made in 1980. He made it with a very small budget of about $12,000. The movie was filmed in black and white and followed a young wanderer in New York City. It didn't get much attention at first, but it showed many of the unique things that would become part of Jarmusch's style.

Stranger Than Paradise (1984)

Jarmusch's first big success was Stranger Than Paradise, released in 1984. It cost about $125,000 to make. This movie is a funny, quiet story about three young people traveling from New York to Florida. It was very different from typical Hollywood movies. It won an award at the 1984 Cannes Film Festival and became a very important film in independent cinema.

Down by Law (1986)

In 1986, Jarmusch wrote and directed Down by Law. It starred musicians John Lurie and Tom Waits, and Italian actor Roberto Benigni. The movie is about three prisoners who escape from a jail in New Orleans. Like his earlier films, it was shot in black and white.

More Films in the 80s and Early 90s

Jarmusch then made two films that told several stories at once. Mystery Train (1989) showed three different stories happening on the same night in a hotel in Memphis. Night on Earth (1991) followed five taxi drivers and their passengers in five different cities around the world. These films were still unique but a bit less serious than his earlier work.

Because of these early films, Jarmusch became known for his "road movies." These movies were popular with art house audiences in America, Europe, and Japan.

Making Movies: The 1990s

Johnny Depp (left) with Jarmusch at the Cannes Film Festival in 1995

Dead Man (1995)

In 1995, Jarmusch released Dead Man. This was a Western film set in the 1800s, starring Johnny Depp and Gary Farmer. It cost almost $9 million to make and had many famous actors. This movie was a big change for Jarmusch. It was more serious and sometimes violent. It was also shot in black and white and had music by Neil Young.

While some American critics didn't like it, Dead Man was very popular internationally. Many critics called it a masterpiece. It's also praised for showing Native American culture in a real way.

Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai (1999)

After Dead Man, Jarmusch made Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai (1999). This film stars Forest Whitaker as a hitman who lives by the rules of an ancient Japanese samurai book called the Hagakure. The movie's music was created by RZA from the Wu-Tang Clan. This film helped Jarmusch become more widely known.

Making Movies: The 2000s

After Ghost Dog, Jarmusch took a five-year break. In 2004, he released Coffee and Cigarettes. This was a collection of eleven short films he had made over two decades. Each short film featured different actors and musicians talking while drinking coffee and smoking cigarettes.

Broken Flowers (2005)

In 2005, Jarmusch directed Broken Flowers, starring Bill Murray. Murray plays a man who goes looking for the mother of his unknown son. The film won a major award at the 2005 Cannes Film Festival. Critics praised it as one of Jarmusch's most enjoyable and emotional films.

The Limits of Control (2009)

In 2009, Jarmusch released The Limits of Control. This was a quiet, thoughtful crime film set in Spain. It starred Isaach de Bankolé as a mysterious assassin.

Making Movies: The 2010s

Only Lovers Left Alive (2013)

It took a long time for Jarmusch to get money for his next film, Only Lovers Left Alive. He finally started shooting in 2012. The movie stars Tilda Swinton and Tom Hiddleston as vampires. Jarmusch's band, SQÜRL, helped create the film's music. The movie premiered at the 2013 Cannes Film Festival. Jarmusch said it took so long to make because "no one wanted to give us the money" for a film that was "a little unusual."

Adam Driver, Golshifteh Farahani, and Jarmusch at the premiere of Paterson (2016) at the Cannes Film Festival

Paterson (2016)

In 2016, Jarmusch wrote and directed Paterson. The movie follows the daily life of a bus driver and poet, also named Paterson (Adam Driver), in Paterson, New Jersey. The film has Jarmusch's quiet, simple style. It was praised by critics for being unique and true to Jarmusch's vision.

The Dead Don't Die (2019)

Jarmusch's first horror film was the zombie comedy The Dead Don't Die (2019). It had many famous actors, including Bill Murray, Adam Driver, Chloë Sevigny, and Tilda Swinton. The movie premiered at the 2019 Cannes Film Festival.

Music

Jim Jarmusch has been involved in music for a long time. In the early 1980s, he was a keyboard player and singer for a band called The Del-Byzanteens.

He has also worked with other musicians. He released three albums with a lute player named Jozef van Wissem. Jarmusch and van Wissem also worked together on the music for Only Lovers Left Alive.

Jarmusch is also a member of the band Sqürl, with Carter Logan and Shane Stoneback. The band created music for Jarmusch's film The Limits of Control. Sqürl has released several EPs and a debut album called Silver Haze in 2023.

Filmmaking Style

Jim Jarmusch is known for his unique filmmaking style. His movies are often slow-paced and don't always follow a traditional story structure. Instead, they focus more on the mood and the characters. He once said his goal was to make films feel like "real time" for the audience.

His early films were often quiet and thoughtful, with long silent scenes. He also likes to use a "vignette" format, where he tells several short stories that are connected, like in Mystery Train and Coffee and Cigarettes. Critics often say his films have a clever wit and a calm, funny tone.

The main characters in Jarmusch's films are often lonely adventurers. They are usually likable, even if they are a bit quiet or sad. Jarmusch says he listens to the film itself to figure out what it wants to be. This strong independent spirit is a big part of his style.

Themes in His Films

Even though most of his films are set in the United States, Jarmusch says he looks at America "through a foreigner's eyes." He wants to mix European and Japanese film styles with Hollywood movies. His films often include actors and characters from other countries, and sometimes they speak languages other than English.

Jarmusch is also very interested in how different cultures interact. He explores how people from different backgrounds can connect. He often shows how national identity can be a bit random.

Music is another very important part of Jarmusch's work. Many musicians appear in his films, like John Lurie, Tom Waits, RZA, and Iggy Pop. Music isn't just in the background; it's often a key part of the story. For example, the song "I Put a Spell on You" was central to Stranger Than Paradise. Critics say his movies have the rhythm of blues and jazz music.

Jarmusch once said, "I'd rather make a movie about a guy walking his dog than about the emperor of China." This shows his interest in everyday life and ordinary people.

Filmography

Awards and Recognition

Jim Jarmusch has won many awards for his films.

• In 1980, Permanent Vacation won an award at the International Filmfestival Mannheim-Heidelberg.
• In 1984, he won the Caméra d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival for Stranger Than Paradise.
• In 2005, he won the Grand Prix at the 2005 Cannes Film Festival for his film Broken Flowers.

Jarmusch is often seen as a key figure who helped start the American independent film movement with Stranger Than Paradise. This film showed that independent movies could be popular and not just for a small group of people. He is known for being an independent filmmaker who sticks to his own vision.

A British film producer named Jeremy Thomas called Jarmusch "one of the great American independent film-makers" and said he is "the last of the line." This means that filmmakers like Jarmusch, who have so much creative control, are becoming rare.

Personal Life

Jarmusch at punk club CBGB in New York City in November 2003

Jim Jarmusch usually keeps his personal life private. He splits his time between New York City and the Catskill Mountains. He stopped drinking coffee in 1986, but he still smokes cigarettes. He has been a vegetarian since 1987.

Jarmusch has supported causes for Palestine. He was one of many celebrities who signed a letter asking for peace in Gaza.

He is also a founding member of "The Sons of Lee Marvin," a funny group of artists who look like the actor Lee Marvin. They sometimes meet to watch Marvin's films.

In 2014, Jarmusch said he isn't interested in living forever. He believes the natural cycle of life is important.

Frequent Collaborators

Jim Jarmusch often works with the same actors and musicians in his films. Here are some of them:

Discography

Studio albums

• Concerning the Entrance into Eternity (Important Records, 2012) (with Jozef van Wissem)
• The Mystery of Heaven (Sacred Bones Records, 2012) (with Jozef van Wissem)
• An Attempt to Draw Aside the Veil (Sacred Bones Records, 2019) (with Jozef van Wissem)
• Ranaldo Jarmusch Urselli Pandi (Trost, 2019) (with Lee Ranaldo, Marc Urselli, Balazs Pandi)
• Churning of the Ocean (Trost, 2021) (with Lee Ranaldo, Marc Urselli, Balazs Pandi)
• Silver Haze (Sacred Bones, 2023) (as Sqürl)

Soundtracks

• Only Lovers Left Alive (ATP Recordings, 2013) (as Sqürl, with Jozef van Wissem)
• Paterson (Third Man Records, 2017) (as Sqürl)
• The Dead Don't Die (Sacred Bones Records, 2019) (as Sqürl)
• Some Music for Robby Müller (Soundtrack Living the Light—documentary) (Sacred Bones Records, 2020) (as Sqürl)
• Music for Man Ray (Score to Man Ray's short films) (Sacred Bones Records, 2024) (as Squrl)

EPs

• EP #1 (ATP Recordings, 2013) (as Sqürl)
• EP #2 (ATP Recordings, 2013) (as Sqürl)
• EP #3 (ATP Recordings, 2014) (as Sqürl)
• EP #260 (Sacred Bones Records, 2017) (as Sqürl)

Live albums

• Sqürl Live at Third Man Records (12" vinyl, A Third Man Records, 2016) (as Sqürl)

Guest appearances

• Jozef van Wissem—"Concerning the Beautiful Human Form After Death" from The Joy That Never Ends (2011)

Remixes

• The White Stripes—"Blue Orchid" (First Nations Remix) (2005)

See also

In Spanish: Jim Jarmusch para niños

• No Wave Cinema