Film Review: Coffee and Cigarettes (2003), directed by Jim Jarmusch
On Watching Films, Celebrity Cults, Being Cool, Contemplating the Ordinary, etc.
Here’s another film review, this one of Jim Jarmusch’s delightful series of short films, Coffee and Cigarettes. We wrote this one as a back-and-forth dialogue between the two of us; we talk not only about the movie itself, but about what justifies watching films, cool celebrities, and other matters. However, we’re going to put this post partly behind a paywall, out of gratitude for those who have generously taken out a paid subscription to this Substack. Thank you to all of you who have done that! We really appreciate your support!
Mark: I love films, but, as you know, I also often feel guilty spending time watching them. There needs to be something that justifies my watching a film; I can’t stand just mindlessly watching. Mostly, to me, what justifies watching a film is artistry, aesthetic appeal, the opportunities it presents for contemplation, for leisurely enjoyment for its own sake. What that means is that the films I like best, the ones that seem to me most worth watching, are ones in which very little happens—in which there’s no emphasis on practical results from action, but just events and relationships and scenes displayed for contemplation.
Susanna: And I have a guilty pleasure in mindlessly watching—whenever you are out of town I tend to stay up too late watching things. This caused a bit of tension though—like when we would to Blockbuster from our apartment back in 2009 and disagree about what to rent. But, as you know, my goal of my leisure time as an adult has been to make up for the deficiencies of my upbringing by filling in the gaps and forming my tastes. I have found that if I want to enjoy a film with you, it is best if you are enjoying it more than I am. So, usually I let you pick out what we are going to watch, as you are passionate about finding worthwhile films, and I have found I like a slow, artsy film with beautiful shots.
Mark: On this score, Jim Jarmusch’s films are fantastic. They are very low-key. People talk and interact, but nothing much results. Rather, we just get human interactions—often very odd ones, and generally rather funny ones—starkly presented. This is the third film of Jarmusch’s we’ve watched. Earlier, we watched Paterson (2016) and Stranger than Paradise (1984), both of which are great; Stranger than Paradise is one of the best films about nothing I’ve ever seen (and from me that’s a high compliment) and Paterson is a great film about writing poetry. Coffee and Cigarettes is a series of 11 short films, mostly starring celebrities, talking about various things (or about nothing at all) while smoking cigarettes and drinking coffee (or, in one case, tea) which is, really, most of what they talk about. This is stuff you definitely have to see. Who doesn’t want to watch two members of the Wu-Tang Clan talk to Bill Murray, constantly and unnecessarily addressing him as “Bill Murray”? Why wouldn’t you want to spend time watching Iggy Pop and Tom Waits argue awkwardly about their music, talk about how great the coffee is at IHOP, and explain how, since they’ve quit smoking, it’s totally fine for them to have a cigarette or two now and then? Or haven’t you always wanted to listen to the people from The White Stripes discuss, with great seriousness, how, according to Nikola Tesla, the earth is “a conductor of acoustical resonance,” a claim that gets repeated a number of times in other shorts? This stuff is gold. What do you think?
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