5. Jim Jarmusch
Love him or hate him, one of my favorite filmmakers of all time makes number 5 on this list. If you haven’t seen anything by Jim Jarmusch, you really have to, but I will say it’s important to watch the right ones first. Context is everything, and Jim Jarmusch deserves to be treated as a total artist, each work contributing to his overall artistic project.
His films require patience (but you have that), and they certainly won’t let you just sit back and have “movie time” wash over you, but that’s what good film (art) is all about. It’s about actively engaging with the material so that you finish the film with something you didn’t have when you started. Don’t worry, there are more difficult filmmakers (I assume you’ve seen David Lynch’s films, otherwise he would have taken this spot and Michael Roemer would be knocked off the list entirely).
The List:
The Limits of Control (2009)
Jim Jarmusch's first color film, but not a farewell to black and white!
**Broken Flowers (2005)
Coffee and Cigarettes (2003)
Ten Minutes Older: The Trumpet (2002) (segment “Int. Trailer Night”)
**Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai (1999)
Year of the Horse (1997)
**Dead Man (1995)
Coffee and Cigarettes III (1993)
**Night on Earth (1991)
Red Hot and Blue (1990) (TV) (segment “It’s All Right With Me”)
**Mystery Train (1989)
Coffee and Cigarettes II (1989)
**Down by Law (1986)
Coffee and Cigarettes (1986)
**Stranger Than Paradise (1984)
Stranger Than Paradise – Short (1982)
Permanent Vacation (1980)
** Denotes essential viewing from this director
