Down By Law
— Swamp thing: a film about non-actors doing star turns.”
- Director: Jim Jarmusch
- US/Germany, 1986
This film ought to be naff: three unlikely cellmates stage a jailbreak only to find themselves lost in the swamps of Louisiana. For almost two hours in black and white.
But drinking cryogenic cocktails with pipe-smoking penguins fully starkers at the North Pole isn’t as cool as Down By Law. Musicians Tom Waits and John Lurie jam effectively as actors, offset by an effervescent Roberto Benigni in front of arresting Deep South backdrops.
That’s not to say it’s all style and no substance, though. Like most of Jarmusch’s efforts, Down By Law quietly resonates with a different rhythm of Americana.
See also:
Third Eye Foundation and Matt Elliott
Music for ghosts played by ghosts: in concert with Matt Elliott and Third Eye Foundation
- Originally published: 21 May 2011 in Concerts
Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai
The soul of a hitman: another comical curiosity from the quiet genius.
- Originally published: 10 Jan 2007 in Film
All that jazz: New Year in New Orleans
Seeing in the New Year down on the Bayou.
- Originally published: 17 Jan 2008 in North America
Katrina was here
Two years on, New Orleans is struggling to rebuild after Katrina.
- Originally published: 18 Jan 2008 in North America
Who you gonna call?
Hello you, I'm Mike Padgett. I'm not a Princeton curator, Knoxville mayoral candidate, Kentuckian pastor or Arizona journalist, I just share the same name. In fact, I am a consultant working in user experience and information design.
I also enjoy travel, concerts, films and walking.
I'm originally from Yorkshire, England but nowadays I live in Belgium. My current favourite Belgian beer is Black Albert.
Shameless self-promotion
Over a year in the making, Dopeology.org is my latest personal project: a topology of doping in thirty years of European pro road cycling.
I collected information from thousands of sources, then I modelled and published it via a lightweight user interface.
Comments
No responses yet to Down By Law
Why not give me your comments?