Jim Jarmusch
I saw it as something that captured existential pain of youth. About how for some lives, things just don’t make sense mostly. Entrenched within the meaning of the film and organically used, are beautiful and rare shots of dilapidated parts of Manhattan. Only 75 minutes long, yet coherent, it leaves behind other contrived pretensions of film and ends up quite cool – probably the most fitting word.
Permanent Vacation is Jim Jarmusch’s first feature which trails Aloysious Parker, a 16-year old drifter whose life is made up of sporadic encounters and situations – most of which is reflected in his own character. With his mother and father not around, he lives on the borders of society, dancing with an abandon in a crummy apartment while his girlfriend smokes the day away. However, Aloysious as naïve as he is, keeps moving forward not only encountering more strange moments but the depths of his mind.
The feel of the film is so great and real I think it’s attributed to the actor playing Aloysius, Chris Parker, whose life is very much alike and fairly based on his own. I read that some parts of the dialogue came from Chris himself while working with Jim and that the parts of Manhattan depicted in the film were indeed familiar to him.
““I can’t seem to sleep at night, not in this city”
”
Capturing the back streets of Manhattan in its most naked state and coated with a lingering score along-side Chris Parker’s sincere narration creates a bleak and lost atmosphere most people have felt.
Permanent Vacation
director JIM JARMUSCH
year 1980
director of photography TOM DICILLO and JAMES A. LEBOVITZ
cast RICHARD BOES, RUTH BOLTON, SARA DRIVER and FRANKIE FAISON
words JAVED KALAM and RAYHAN RAFIQUE
More to read
