Rent Night on Earth (1991)

“I’ve never seen a blind person.” - Night on Earth review by LJ

As expected from an anthology this is just a bunch of stuff, there are five sections set in different cities across the world, they go: uneventful, entertaining, uncomfortable, vile, interesting but I’m kind of numb by this point because none of this has any consequences.

The Great Globe - Night on Earth review by Steve

Bittersweet anthology of tales rich in the usual idiosyncratic quirkiness of writer-director Jim Jarmusch. It feels like an exercise from a drama workshop with the quintet of short films about taxi rides in five very different cities at night: Los Angeles, New York, Paris, Rome and Helsinki.

The locations were mostly chosen so Jarmusch could reconnect with past collaborators. And Helsinki, well so he could make an offbeat short in the style of Aki Kaurismäki; the best performance on show is from the legendary Finnish director's stalwart leading actor, Matti Pellonpää.

The diverse stories are about the nocturnal meetings of strangers, and the moods shift effectively between comedy and tragedy. Presumably Roberto Benigni improvised most of his bawdy monologue delivered to a dead priest... There's an alien eye view of the foibles of mankind.

And also the often overlooked magic of living on the surface of a rock spinning though space. The soundtrack by Tom Waits is another reason to visit, but again, is hardly mainstream. This is an unorthodox arthouse treat for Jarmusch fans, but unlikely to crossover beyond the cult.