‘Paterson’ Trailer: Adam Driver Drives A Bus For Director Jim Jarmusch
I do not envy anyone tasked with cutting trailers forJim Jarmuschfilms. How do you take the work of a filmmaker known for observational storytelling, small moments, and offbeat touches and sell that you a mass audience? How do you create the illusion of a narrative for a film by a director who has the habit of rejecting narrative whenever he feels like it?
At the very least, thePatersontrailer can make use ofAdam Driver’s increasingly famous face and the fact that the film has received nearly universal praise from critics.
The most fun thing about observing the career of Jim Jarmusch (and it should be said that I’m an admirer of his work, not an expert) is willingness and ability to leap between genres and try completely different things without ever losing sight of the personal touches that define him. The same artist making a melancholy comic drama likeBroken Flowers, a vampire hang-out movie likeOnly Lovers Left Alive, a nightmarish western likeDead Man, an offbeat crime drama likeGhost Dog: Way of the Samurai, and a surreal tribute to rock music likeMystery Trainis impressive enough. That they all share the same distinct voice, the same quirks, and the same obsessions makes his filmography a joy to explore.
What is there to say aboutPatersonbased purely on the trailer? Well, it stars Adam Driver a bus driver named Paterson, who lives and works in the city of Paterson, New Jersey. He is also a poet and maybe a pretty good one. He has a series of mundane adventures as he goes about his days. How do you sell that? Maybe like this?
The film had a successful festival run throughout 2016 racking up acclaim from most critics. Our own Angie Hangave it a glowing review, concluding:
Patersonis sprinkled throughout with Paterson’s poems, which like the movie tend to start out mundane (“We have plenty of matches in our house”) before revealing themselves as something more evocative. Poetry isn’t a side hustle for the character or even, really, a way for him to express himself. They’re how he processes his world, and how he imbues it with meaning. His affinity for poetry may be the most surprising thing about him, but by the end ofPaterson, you suspect everyone has a little poetry in them. It might not take the same form as Paterson’s — it might be drama or chess or simply caring for your loved ones — but that blazing inner flame that makes you unique is what unites us all. WithPaterson, Jarmusch has blessed us with one of those films that makes the world seem just a little bit brighter.
