Criterion Close-Up – Episode 51 – Mystery Train & Jim Jarmusch
Explicit content warning
10/06/16 • -1 min
Mark and Aaron are joined by Marcus Pinn to explore the filmography of Jim Jarmusch, beginning with Mystery Train (1989). We explore the triple storyline, the coalescence of the director’s indie experience and arthouse sensibilities, and the film’s sense of place. We then dive into his library and style, and choose our five favorite Jarmusch films.
About the film:
Aloof teenage Japanese tourists, a frazzled Italian widow, and a disgruntled British immigrant all converge in the city of dreams—which, in Mystery Train, from Jim Jarmusch, is Memphis. Made with its director’s customary precision and wit, this triptych of stories pays playful tribute to the home of Stax Records, Sun Studio, Graceland, Carl Perkins, and, of course, the King, who presides over the film like a spirit. Mystery Train is one of Jarmusch’s very best movies, a boozy and beautiful pilgrimage to an iconic American ghost town and a paean to the music it gave the world.
Buy The Films On Amazon:
Special Guest: Marcus Pinn from Pinnland Empire. You can follow him on Twitter.
2:15 – TIFF talk with Marcus
17:40 – Criterion Connection “Shelved”
19:00 – Mystery Train
1:01:00 – Jim Jarmusch
- The Pink Smoke
- Cut Print Film
- Wrong Reel 181: TIFF
- Marcus’ Interview with Claire Denis
- Criterion Completion
- Mystery Train – IMDB
- Mystery Train – Criterion
- Marcus’ History – Stranger than Paradise
- Aaron’s Essay on Down by Law
- The Newsstand 64 – December 2016 Releases
Episode Credits
- Mark Hurne: Twitter | Letterboxd
- Aaron West: Twitter | Blog | Letterboxd
- Criterion Close-Up: Facebook | Twitter | Email
- Music from Ben Model: Website | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram
Next time on the podcast: Carnival of Souls
Mark and Aaron are joined by Marcus Pinn to explore the filmography of Jim Jarmusch, beginning with Mystery Train (1989). We explore the triple storyline, the coalescence of the director’s indie experience and arthouse sensibilities, and the film’s sense of place. We then dive into his library and style, and choose our five favorite Jarmusch films.
About the film:
Aloof teenage Japanese tourists, a frazzled Italian widow, and a disgruntled British immigrant all converge in the city of dreams—which, in Mystery Train, from Jim Jarmusch, is Memphis. Made with its director’s customary precision and wit, this triptych of stories pays playful tribute to the home of Stax Records, Sun Studio, Graceland, Carl Perkins, and, of course, the King, who presides over the film like a spirit. Mystery Train is one of Jarmusch’s very best movies, a boozy and beautiful pilgrimage to an iconic American ghost town and a paean to the music it gave the world.
Buy The Films On Amazon:
Special Guest: Marcus Pinn from Pinnland Empire. You can follow him on Twitter.
2:15 – TIFF talk with Marcus
17:40 – Criterion Connection “Shelved”
19:00 – Mystery Train
1:01:00 – Jim Jarmusch
- The Pink Smoke
- Cut Print Film
- Wrong Reel 181: TIFF
- Marcus’ Interview with Claire Denis
- Criterion Completion
- Mystery Train – IMDB
- Mystery Train – Criterion
- Marcus’ History – Stranger than Paradise
- Aaron’s Essay on Down by Law
- The Newsstand 64 – December 2016 Releases
Episode Credits
- Mark Hurne: Twitter | Letterboxd
- Aaron West: Twitter | Blog | Letterboxd
- Criterion Close-Up: Facebook | Twitter | Email
- Music from Ben Model: Website | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram
Next time on the podcast: Carnival of Souls
Previous Episode
Criterion Close-Up – Episode 50 – French 1930s 1: Silent to Sound, Jacques Feyder, Jean Vigo
Mark, Aaron and Scott Nye kick off the first of a seven episode series about French cinema in the 1930s. We give an overview of the decade and some historical context, and discuss the French silent tradition and how that it transitioned to sound. We also get into detail about two important filmmakers, Jacques Feyder and Jean Vigo. Feyder was an important filmmaker in his time, but his works are not as prominent today, whereas Vigo was nearly forgotten in the 1930s and discovered after the war.
Episode Links & Notes
Special Guest: Scott Nye from CriterionCast and Battleship Pretension. You can follow him on Twitter.
3:15 – Dedication and Thanks
9:35 – Intro to French Film Series
28:15 – From Silent to Sound
46:30 – Jacques Feyder
1:13:30 – Jean Vigo
- Criterion Collection: Poetic Realism
- Flicker Alley: The House of Mystery
- French Masterworks: Russian Émigrés in Paris 1923-1929
- Flicker Alley: L’Inhumaine
- Flicker Alley – Vimeo Channel
- Aaron West – 3 from Jean Vigo
Recommended Films
- Napoleon
- Un chien andalou
- Coeur fidèle
- Crainquebille
- Visage d’enfants
- Le grand jeu
- Carnival in Flanders
- À Propos de Nice
- Zéro de conduite
- L’Atalante
Episode Credits
- Mark Hurne: Twitter | Letterboxd
- Aaron West: Twitter | Blog | Letterboxd
- Criterion Close-Up: Facebook | Twitter | Email
- Music from Ben Model: Website | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram
Next time on the podcast: Mystery Train and Jim Jarmusch
Next Episode
Criterion Close-Up – Episode 52 – Carnival of Souls
Mark, Aaron and Eric Ford begin a month of horror with the micro-budget cult classic, Carnival of Souls. We talk about what makes this such an enduring classic that has held up over time, the bizarre story about how it was made, its influences and what it has influenced, and what type of artistic aims the filmmakers tried to reach.
About the film:
A young woman in a small Kansas town survives a drag race accident, then agrees to take a job as a church organist in Salt Lake City. En route, she is haunted by a bizarre apparition that compels her toward an abandoned lakeside pavilion. Made by industrial filmmakers on a small budget, the eerily effective B-movie classic Carnival of Souls was intended to have “the look of a Bergman and the feel of a Cocteau”—and, with its strikingly used locations and spooky organ score, it succeeds. Herk Harvey’s macabre masterpiece gained a cult following on late-night television and continues to inspire filmmakers today.
Buy The Films On Amazon:
Episode Links & Notes
Special Guest: Eric Ford from The Burlington Film Society and the Vermont International Film Festival.
1:10 – Welcome Eric Ford from Burlington Film Society, Vermont International Film Festival.
4:10 – Vermont International Film Festival
11:20 – Short Takes (Angst, The Neon Demon, Son of Saul, The Brood, Neon Bull, Anomalisa)
31:45 – Carnival of Souls
- VTIFF – A-Z
- Aaron’s Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind review
- Wrong Reel 181: TIFF
- Dana Gould as Dr. Zaius/Mark Twain
- Rifftrax – Carnival of Souls
- Criterion – Carnival of Souls
- IMDB – Carnival of Souls
Episode Credits
- Mark Hurne: Twitter | Letterboxd
- Aaron West: Twitter | Blog | Letterboxd
- Criterion Close-Up: Facebook | Twitter | Email
- Music from Ben Model: Website | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram
Next time on the podcast: The Vanishing
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