Hero Worship: Jim Jarmusch

I have seen nearly every film Jim Jarmusch has made. I was first introduced to him when an old friend and roommate rented Stranger than Paradise on VHS (yeah, it was a long time ago). One of the main characters is Eva Molnar, a Hungarian who has just arrived in New York to visit her Americanised cousin Willie. Amongst her limited possessions is a tape player that plays only one song, I Put a Spell on You by Screamin' Jay Hawkins. She plays it all the time. This floored me because, well, for starters, I'd never heard that song and I loved it. I also related to the character because I felt as though (and I could be wrong) Screamin' Jay Hawkins was simultaneously comforting her and making her experience in a new and totally alien place a bit wilder and more exciting. The movie is in black and white but when that song comes on I can see colour and feel a real warmth that might not obviously be there.

I've always felt that way about music. It kind of saturates everything and pulls out emotions that might be otherwise hidden. Sometimes it's equally good at lifting me out of the dumps and changing my mood for the better. I feel as though Jim Jarmusch nails it with all his soundtracks and really chooses music that suits the actual setting, heightens the mood of his scenes or just provides them with nice colours which make the mundane feel a bit more beautiful and interesting.

He's got Neil Young scoring Dead Man, John Lurie and Tom Waits providing sparse tunes on Down By Law, Elvis Presley and Carl Perkins belting though the Memphis setting on Mystery Train, RZA lends his grit to Ghost Dog and, rather perfectly, Mulatu Astatke's Ethiopian jazz providing the perfect music for Bill Murray's slightly detached facial expressions on Broken Flowers. That movie also introduced me to Holly Golighty and the Brian Jonestown Massacre amongst others. In fact, all of Jarmusch's films have, to some degree or another, turned me on to new music. The writing and direction is excellent and it's only made better by the accompanying soundtrack. That's why Jim Jarmusch the filmmaker is my musical idol.