Down by Law (1986)

Down by Law

You know going into a Jim Jarmusch movie that the experience will be different form the standard Hollywood fare and you know that you will spend the next few days contemplating what exactly you have just watched. “Down by Law” is no different and as this was a first-time watch for me, I am not at all done wondering what this was all about.

Somewhere in the New Orleans area, we meet Zack (Tom Waits) and Jack (John Lurie). Zack is an out of luck disk jockey whose (very pretty) girlfriend is leaving him in the opening scenes. In a drunken stupor he accepts a job to drive a car from one end of town to the other, not knowing there is a dead body in the trunk. Zack is busted and sent to prison just like that.

Jack is a pimp who is lured to meet a new girl who turns out to be a child. Too late he learns he has been set up and he is busted too.

Zack and Jack end up cell mates and are eventually joined by Roberto (Roberto Benigni), a tourist who threw back a billiard ball when attacked and accidentally killed one of his attackers.

We follow their interaction in the cell. They escape and then we follow them in the swamps.

The big question of what this is all about is still lost on me. All three are framed, but the court events are omitted. As is the actual escape. They talk about escaping and in the next scene they are on the run. For a prison break movie, those are two very curious omissions. Instead, we get long scenes where they are playing cards, arguing or just doing nothing. Except Roberto is never quiet.

The closest thing to a theme I have gotten to, is the developing relationship between the three of them, particularly seen from the points of view of Zack and Jack. They are both loners, who need nothing from other people and have trouble socializing. They see each other as enemies but are actually quite alike. Only as we approach the end, they seem to realize that, but it is very difficult for them to admit that what they have in front of them is their soul brother. That in fact, they are not alone. Roberto is almost the opposite. He very easily socializes, do not judge anybody and looks for opportunities instead of obstacles. He is not smart, but he does not need to be with those traits. He is the glue that keeps the team together and make things happen. Almost as some divine intervention.

Just like “Stranger than fiction”, “Down by Law” is filmed in black and white and gives the feel of taking place in some sub-reality that is similar to the real world, but eerily disconnected from it. This has the effect of taking the characters out of a real-world context and making their world very small and unpopulated. We see only the other cells in a single glimpse; we see only their connection to the outside world as sort of goodbye scenes and I could even believe that the prison and escape is meant as some religious purgatory leading to a rebirth.

Tom Waits I only know as a musician, but it turns out he has a massive resume as an actor and here I learned why. He is very convincing. Luckily, we get a few of his songs too. Benigni is a polarizing character. His arm-waving kind of over-the-top Italian comedy usually sits poorly with me, but somehow it worked perfectly in this movie. It must be that the character begs this sort of acting or that the two other characters were constantly trying to put a lid on it.

Did I like the movie? Well, based on the above, it is hard to say I did not, but it took me an awful long time to get into it and most of it, I only like in retrospect. I frankly admit that, especially during the first hour, i was often bored and had some trouble maintaining attention. My wife checked out after 10 minutes, but my persistence paid off and I think it redeemed itself towards the end. Probably mostly for Jarmusch fans, but a tempered recommendation from me.