Paterson by Jim Jarmusch Analysis

Paterson (2016)

Written & Directed by: Jim Jarmusch

Awards: Nominated for Palme d'Or and other awards at Cannes Film Festival.

Paterson makes me wonder, how different slice of life films can be. They seem like a genre which you can't do a lot with, but slice of life films are mostly about lives and personalities of the filmmakers. They can have more variants than any other genre. Take for example, crime films; they are inspired by real incidents or the crimes in pop culture, be it movies or books. Any other genre of cinema, is mostly imagined and written about. The source for slice of life movies, or I would not like to label them that way is their own lives and in spite of they being rom-coms or love stories they are so different to each other. Take, Richard Linklater's cinema and Woody Allen's cinema; both of them are mostly a girl and a guy talking but both of them are so different in terms of style, technique and the philosophy that they talk about. 

Paterson has a laid back style of storytelling, it almost feels like you are being cuddled while watching it. The way Paterson and his wife Laura wake up on bed, kiss each other and talk about what dreams they had last night. Jim Jarmusch presents his overview on life, through the characters. When asked on, 'How's life doing you?', Paterson says, 'Well, umm...no complaints' whereas there is another character who keeps ranting about everything in his life, who seems like he is actually better off in life on paper. Paterson is a bus driver, who keeps writing poetry in his secret notebook which is the core of the film. We see beautiful imagery with dissolves while he is writing, with voice over and texts on screen of the poetry. What if poetry had sound and visual, that is what Jim Jarmusch presents us with in those montages. The dissolves were used so beautifully, where at times there were even 3 shots on the screen with different opacity, with soothing music taking us into a trance. There is a sense of mundane in his life, the physicality of it. Same places, same job, same people everyday but he constantly keeps finding some beauty in his world and keeps writing about it.

Laura is an interesting character in the film, she gets excited and happy for even small things and sometimes it feels that Paterson wouldn't say anything to hurt her and he just wants be there for her. It feels like he doesn't have strong opinions and choices, and he is open to trying new things which is why he doesn't object to a lot of things that come his way and he eventually ends up enjoying them. What Laura means to Paterson, is evident in one of his poems where he says, 'there would be no one like you'. There is a stoic nature to Paterson which is inspiring, the way he just receives life and absorbs everything. He doesn't fight life or does anything solid or bold, unless if the situation demands, he just embraces life the way it comes. The film inspires you to write or do some art in your pastime and just show it to your loved ones. The film celebrates poetry and people who write or create any kind of art just for the love of it, without expecting anything from it.