Permanent Vacation (1980)
Cast: Chris Parker, Leila Gastil, John Lurie
Director: Jim Jarmusch
Country: USA
Genre: Drama
Official Site: Here
Editor’s Notes: The following review is part of our coverage for TIFF’s Strange Paradise: The Cinema of Jim Jarmusch. For more information on upcoming TIFF film series visit http://tiff.net and follow TIFF on Twitter at @TIFF_NET.
The Wizard of Oz has a sobering moment for its characters: Dorothy and her friends pull back a curtain to reveal that the ominous Oz is nothing more than a man running a machine. It is a moment that shatters their image of this deified being and turns him into a common person. While watching Only Lovers Left Alive (my first Jim Jarmusch film), I had made the same mistake that Dorothy made: I turned Jarmusch into a God. I perched him a top a mountain simply because I loved every choice he made in the aforementioned film. However, my recent viewing of Jarmusch’s debut feature, Permanent Vacation, was a “peaking behind the curtain” moment and I realized that even Jarmusch was capable of taking a misstep or two (or in this case, a bunch).
Yet in spite of this well-crafted scene, the film lacks enough emotional weight to carry it for 75 minutes.
Permanent Vacation has no specific narrative trajectory. It follows Aloysius Christopher Parker (Christopher Parker), a flâneur who weaves in and out of a variety of settings and urban locations. He occasionally provides voice-over narration as a means of commenting on life and his present state. His chance encounters with characters – who range from lovers to street performers –seem to add to his growing disillusionment. The one encounter that is truly compelling is that with his mother, who lives in a mental institution. Aloysius’ conversation with his mother plays against the laughter of the woman next to them, creating an emotionally raw and deeply disturbing scene.
Yet in spite of this well-crafted scene, the film lacks enough emotional weight to carry it for 75 minutes. These encounters are the sketches of a portrait, but they are unrefined and underdeveloped. There are admirable elements that can be sifted from the film, namely that of the film’s score - an industrialized and creepy tune that adds an Eraserhead-esque tone – and the 16mm cinematography. I’m not arguing that Jarmusch’s film should have a specific narrative structure, what I’m arguing is that the film lacked any kind of connection to its viewers. Permanent Vacation doesn’t create pleasure or displeasure, it just creates rambling ambivalence.
There are admirable elements that can be sifted from the film, namely that of the film’s score - an industrialized and creepy tune that adds an Eraserhead-esque tone…
We, as critics, sometimes idolize these directors as being perfect, and often times we idealize their filmographies as being flawless. Yet writing that Permanent Vacation is a masterpiece would be a disservice to the Next Projection readers. In a way, I’m glad that I experienced these tail-end films first. It gives me an understanding of Jarmusch’s range as a director, and it transforms my view of Jarmusch into a more pragmatic/realistic image. I don’t view him as a supermensch incapable of mistakes, but I view him as an artist who evolved from a shaky beginning and developed a refined style.
Permanent Vacation gives me an understanding of Jarmusch’s range as a director, and it transforms my view of Jarmusch into a more pragmatic/realistic image. I don’t view him as a supermensch incapable of mistakes, but I view him as an artist who evolved from a shaky beginning and developed a refined style.
