Speaking of Jim Jarmusch, I recently watched The Limits of Control the other day. It’s pretty much exactly what I thought it would be given that it’s a Jarmusch film, AND with cinematography from one of the best ever, Christopher Doyle. In cinema, I can enjoy films for several different reasons, but I definitely love a good shot. Sure, a movie should be more than style over substance, but if Christopher Doyle is behind the camera at least you know the visuals will be stunning. And I can say that 90% of every frame of this film is just that. Consider it his version of The Conformist (shot by the equally brilliant Vittorio Storaro), but you know, way slow paced and not much happens. Regardless, it’s pretty stuff to look at.
Almodovar obviously has the home-court advantage when shooting Spain, and has the better films, but as far as American filmmakers go, Woody Allen did it better with Vicky Cristina Barcelona. Jarmusch/Doyle’s vision of Madrid though looks super nice, doesn’t really capture the pulse of the city. Which I’m sure was an intentional move on their part to set the tone. However, I would have preferred if Jarmusch had done a Night on Earth type film, only set in Spain instead. I can’t be the only one tired of seeing Bill Murray do serious roles. The man is FUNNY. Let the funny man be funny.
ED. NOTE: I made this poster based on a Jarmusch quote off of his Rules of Filmmaking about a year ago and will finally release a hi-res version later on this week. I don’t have any intentions of selling it and will have it free to download under a Creative Commons license so you can do whatever you want with it. It’s a great quote and is one of my favorites. And given the nature of the quote’s message, I wouldn’t mind if someone actually did capitalize on it and made prints for sale. Personally, I really just don’t want to make money off of a quote that wasn’t mine. What’s important is that the message gets across.
