Paterson [DVD]

This movie has stayed with me, and impacted me, ever since I first watched it many years ago.Rilke (Very famous German poet) once wrote, "If your everyday life seems impoverished, don’t blame it; blame yourself, say to yourself that you are not enough of a poet to invoke its riches; since for the creative there is no such thing as poverty, no poor or indifferent place."This movie is, as I saw it, an opportunity to explore Rilke's invitation.Rilke also wrote (in the same letter), "Deliver yourself from these general themes and choose those that your own life offers you, day by day; describe your sorrows and desires, your passing thoughts and belief in some kind of beauty – describe all these, with quiet, humble, heartfelt sincerity, and use the things around you to express yourself, the images from your dreams, and the objects of your memory."The movie shows Paterson doing just this, in line with Rilke's first invitation.The movie isn't focused on merely entertaining us with "surface titillation", but it seeks to invite us into "core undulation" (Stanley Keleman).The movie will, probably, be "slow" for a lot of us. The movie shares the life of someone who is relating with ordinary everyday life in a way that is and that creates art. If you're one of the people this movie was created for then you'll love it, if you're not one of these people then there are lots of other movies made for you.MOVIE SPOILER: BEGINAt one place in the movie a young poet confesses that their poem "doesn't rhyme". Paterson replies that her poem has "internal rhymes" and that he likes these poems best. This is a movie/poem that doesn't "rhyme" but is full of "internal rhymes".MOVIE SPOILER: END

Film (like all art) is not so much judged on its story as on its effect. Thus, a story can be exotic and rare or bland and commonplace. Yet if it bears down upon a viewer in some way in the telling, then it has done its work and can be measured somewhere on a scale, up or down. This film bore upon me in an odd way.For all it’s atmosphere of blandness, I couldn’t stop watching because of the curious monotony that bore upon me, and then I began to question why this guy with his rather dead personality sits in a bar each night when his vivacious, fascinating and adoring wife waits at home. I wondered why he doesn’t accompany her when she goes to sell her cupcakes at the fair, just to watch her, to share with her the new experience and to be enriched by it in common with her, and yes, to offer his own contributions to it, to help her set up her new concession? Why is he such a droll and ignorant failure in this? So, i guess I still watched on, in agitated wonder.Oh yes, his introversion is extreme and she accepts him for it, wholly and willingly and sincerely. What a lucky guy he is. What an unusual thing in today’s world. Yet, you sense too the underlying tragedy that seems poised to arrive in this seeming unbalance. And so we wait for the hammer to fall. We know it will. Life always drops that hammer. Will he come home finally to an empty house one day, her bags gone? Well the dog she adores be stolen from outside that bar where he idiotically leaves it each night as he sits inside? What uncertainty of life will strike this sweet (temporarily, surely!) couple? Each moment I expect it. And truly the tension inside me grew.And so we watch, riveted, uncertain, even bothered by the sameness, and knowing that life does allow for such utter simplicity, for such sequestering of common happiness into a small world of quiet and contentment. No, that can’t happen. It won’t happen for long. And the continual dreams of Laura with her eye always to the future and her overwhelming energetic daily creativity which hints that the temporal nature of their existence will not last in face of the uncertainty that destiny always holds and which she herself seeks.And yet, still we see within his monotonic existence that he possesses a kernel of some real, living and purely simple and rather uniquely honest core within him. He is the uncontrived soul. A rarity of sorts. He is the “holy man” unrealized, you might say. The flawed man with the flawless insides. Because not every human being will meet their truer destiny, nor reach their highest potential, just as the seed blown beneath the overbearing canopy of a great and majestic oak, will not bloom so brightly and keenly as his brothers out in the full sunlight of the common field. This is just how it is. This is Patterson.When you realize this, then some of the scenes take on more impact, such as that of the gangbangers in their car who seem oddly to accept, even appreciate the rare and unadorned simplicity at the depths of this common man on this common sidewalk with his dog, who can be slyly witty with them, unaffected and unafraid of the outward mantle of the canny street thug who lives by wit and violence. He only sees and addresses the brother human inside them, and they sense it, even value it. And so the gangbanger accepts him in like manner, human to human in a single little encounter, a unique and passing moment of Patterson’s life which is itself a string of such passing moments. His life is a dull walking poem with an occasional pithy line that opens a mental door. Okay. I can accept that. And it’s observed too in the little scene of the young girl reading her poem to him that bears impact. Such an innocent voice to bring heavy insight in all its simplicity. Yes, this is the life of Patterson — a microscope of every life.The ending scene of the film with the Japanese poet at the waterfall was contrived, a piece of artifice that anyone can see thru. I find such things unforgivable in film and yet, I could overlook it this time, I found I could forgive it this once as it served to nicely open to the door (no mater how hokey) to the restoration of Patterson back onto his path, after a stunning loss. And so then the film closes and it revealed to me that “sameness,” that stability in this unstable world can be restored, and so his and Laura’s lives picked up where they left off. And this was the end of the story, a clean and final statement that catastrophe which I waited for, doesn't always come. Not yet. It's put off for another day, and maybe … well maybe it can be put off for a whole life. I quite liked that thought.

This movie was an odd one to say the least. There isn't much of a story to follow, if any. Do not watch this hoping for some grand adventure to be swept up in. It doesn't have any real drama or conflict, and as a whole offers little more than disappointment. That said, I believe that very fact is what makes the movie great. It could be the poetry, or maybe the raw emotion that you see throughout the movie. His work friend, who always has something going on, the couple at the bar who can't seem to stay away from their toxic relationship, the passengers on the bus showing a slight glimpse in to a world Paterson will never be a part of. I found the deep sadness in Laura to be particularly painful to watch. She comes across as deeply depressed, even if she is not shown to be as such. The constant need to busy herself, finding gratification in her successes, the endless barrage of new skills and hobbies to find a spark in an otherwise dreary life. The circles she painted on everything stood out to me as her way of bringing everything together in an attempt to become whole again. Paterson sees this in her and does what he can to keep her occupied and happy, sacrificing his own needs to provide for her in ways she doesn't see but clearly appreciates none the less. He finds satisfaction in his routine and in his writing. But he never shares any of it throughout the film. Those works are for him and him alone, save the one about the matches, which he expressed interest in showing to his wife before the dog ate his notebook. After that he claimed not to be a poet, perhaps feeling downtrodden after the dogs actions and the weight of his burdens lost their relief giving routine. I may be entirely off the mark on this but that is what it seemed like to me and to be honest, as devastatingly melancholic as it was, I loved it from the first word to the last. I have seen Adam in a similar role before where the end of the film lacked similar resolution and I loved that film too. Maybe I'm a sucker for the human experience. It's not exciting, or unrealistic. It's simple and at times excruciatingly depressing, but it felt real and I appreciate a film that feels so real it could be almost anyone.

I just really love this movie. I've watched it twice now since I bought it. If you are looking for fast paced action look elsewhere. This story is about finding beauty and meaning in everyday life through the eyes of Paterson. Paterson is a bus driver who loves poetry and writes down his own compositions in his treasured notebook.While watching it I was transported back to a sadly forgotten time when life was less about technology (even though the story is set in modern day) Paterson drives his bus, observes his life and surroundings comes home to his wife, who is quirky and creative herself but in different ways. She gives him the creative space he needs and is supportive of him as he is of her even though she can be a bit impulsive with some of her ideas.The film is beautifully shot and acted. Adam driver gives a really wonderful performance as a bus driving poet as he interacts with the world and people around him. Dedication to getting things right the actor even went on a 3 month course to learn how to drive a bus to give it more authenticity.The film itself is as wonderfully crafted as a beautiful poem.

There are a number of reviews of this film that are of the “Boring”, “Boring”, “Boring” variety. Those reviews are not wrong, as that is how the reviewers found the film to be, but they are the kind of reviews that will often encourage me to watch a film, which was the case here.I've watched and enjoyed other Jim Jarmusch films and I happened upon “Paterson” when I was looking for Golshifteh Farahani films on Amazon. It was the first film with an English speaking part that I have seen Golshifteh Farahani in. I didn't think that I'd seen the lead actor (Adam Driver) in anything before, but now realise that I had seen him before – in the film “Tracks” where he had a supporting role and was excellent in that supporting role.For me, Jarmusch, Driver and Farahani (together with everyone else involved with the film) have excelled with “Paterson”. I thought it was a beautiful film. (Perfectly) unhurried, at times very funny, brilliantly observed situations, with things happening, that in just about any other film would almost certainly have happened very differently and predictably unlike in this film (a scene where Adam Driver's character has a conversation with a group of guys about Marvin comes to mind). Marvin played by Nellie I thought was brilliant and whether Nellie knows it or not, took part in some of the funniest scenes.I came to this film via looking for other cinema of Golshifteh Farahani. Once again she was great, but “Paterson” I would say is very much a case of the film being better than the sum of its parts and is definitely a film that I will be watching again.On the DVD (ASIN: B01N1GQDLR) you get:“Paterson” (1 hour 53 minutes)Chapters SelectionExtras:Q&A with Adam Driver (19 minutes – no subtitles)Trailer“Also available by Jim JarmuschSet Up:5.1 Surround, 2.0 StereoAudio DescriptionOptional English Subtitles

A gentle life-affirming socially inclusive small masterwork that is impressive in every way. Great performances, a charming script and masterfully restrained direction make the production highly memorable. It most oddly received a 15 Certificate from the BBFC for no reason I could see whatsoever. That’s the same certification as the blood-soaked second part of the explicit horror movie “IT” and Almodovar‘s heroin advocating new movie with Banderas getting high on smack and thoroughly enjoying the sensation. All very weird indeed and rather worrying too!

Alles an diesem Film hat mir gefallen. Eigentlich wollten mein Freund und ich einen Thriller schauen. Dann haben wir Paterson geschaut, einer der langsamsten Filme, die ich je gesehen habe. Aber, sobald man sich auf den Film einlässt, wird man belohnt, mit Anregungen und Raum zum Nachdenken und für Inspiration. Wunderschön auch die Übersetzungen. So oft sind bekannte Hollywoodfime mangelhaft übersetzt oder synchronisiert. Die Gedichte, die der Protagonist im Film schreibt, sind in englischer Sprache eingeblendet und werden auf Deutsch gesprochen. Die Qualität der Übersetzungen ist eine Wohltat. Keine Amerikanismen. Alles passend übertragen ins Deutsche.Der Film hat meinen Freund und mich noch tagelang beschäftigt. Unabhängig von einander haben wir - inspiriert durch den Film - angefangen Gedichte zu schreiben und sie uns per Email zu schicken.Der Film ist sehr empfehlswert. Schön auch der Schluß des Films. Der Protagonist erhält ein Geschenk.Den Film zu schauen war für uns ein Geschenk!

A lovely, gentle film from Jim Jarmusch about a bus driver poet and his engaging wife. Uplifting and inspiring.