Paterson (2016) directed by Jim Jarmusch
Viewed on July 10, 2019
Synopsis: The film follows one week in the life of Paterson, a bus driver in the city of Paterson. Each day follow the same routine. Paterson, sleeping beside his girlfriend, Laura, wakes up around the same time, roughly 6:10 to 6:30. The time varies because he doesn't use an alarm clock. He also, as we find out later, doesn't own a cellphone. He eats breakfast and walks to work, composing poetry in his head. On the bus, he jots down his poetry ideas in a notebook that he shares with no one but Laura. He drive his route and visits Paterson Falls on his lunch break. When he comes home, he finds that Laura has been doing some artistic project, such as painting the drapes or painting a dress. Her artistic creations are always in black and white. Laura has many ambitions. She wants to start a cupcake business. She convinces Paterson to buy her a $600 guitar and instructional package, so she can become a country music star. (She has never played the guitar.)
At the end of each day, Paterson takes their bulldog for a walk, leaving him outside the local bar while he goes in for a beer and a chat with the owner. A woman is there who is trying to ditch her boyfriend, who plea with her to give him another chance.
The routine varies a little each day. One day, he meets a girl who is writing poems in her own secret notebook. Paterson doesn't tell her that he is also a poet. She reads a poem to her which he later recites to Laura. On another evening, in the bar, the boyfriend threatens to shoot himself, and Paterson disarms him. The gun, it turns out, is a toy. On Friday, his bus breaks down, and he has to call for help with a phone borrowed from a passenger.
For the weekend, Laura has prepared a cupcakes (decorated in lack and white, naturally) to sell in the farmer's market. When she returns, she has made almost $300. They go out to celebrate, leaving the dog behind. When they return, they find that the dog has chewed up and destroyed Paterson's precious notebook. He had promised Laura to make a photocopy, but he hasn't gotten around to it.
Paterson goes to the Falls to be alone with his thoughts. There he meets a Japanese tourist who is reading a volume of William Carlos Williams's poetry. The man is a poet who wants to see the hometown of Williams. Paterson does not tell him that he too is a poet. When the man leaves, he gives Paterson a gift - a blank notebook. Paterson begins composing poetry again.
Commentary:
The only film I know of that has any success in depicting the creative writing process, as Paterson (in his mind) writes and revises his lines. The film's narrative strategy is interesting. It often hints at foreshadowing developments that don't come to pass. For example, one night on the way to the bar, some men in a car stop him and warn him to be careful that his dog (an apparently valuable purebred) isn't snatched. For most films, this would be a guarantee that something would happen to the dog, but nothing does. In fact, the men aren't even seen again. The audience might also expect that something will happen between Paterson and Laura. She appears to be in a manic phase of bipolar disorder. Paterson often teases her about her changing plans for her future. But he never explodes, and she never has a breakdown. When she gets her guitar (a black and white harlequin design, naturally), she quickly learns some basic chords; the guitar does not, as one might expect, drop it in pursuit of some other manic dream.
The one big bit of foreshadowing, at the beginning of the movie, is Paterson's promise, at Laura's insistence, that he make a photocopy of his poetry, lest anything happen to it. Eventually, the notebook is destroyed, but the incident still comes as a surprise because so many other hints have occurred that have not developed.
Comments