Saturday, February 27, 2010

Movie Review: "Night On Earth" with Gena Rowlands, Winona Ryder, Rosie Perez and Roberto Benigni


This film was first released in 1991. It takes place at the same time in 5 different cities around the world. The stories all concerns taxi cabs.

Beginning with Gena Rowlands and Winona Ryder as passenger and driver in Los Angeles and continuing on to New York, Rome, Paris and Helsinki the film is divided into five 20 minute segments which all take place in the same hour. Five clock faces on the wall illustrate this as they are set back after each of the stories.

The 2 American cities are done in English. The New York segment is the wildest and also most poignant. The Paris story is a cutting statement about people. But my favorite is the Rome sequence with Roberto Begnini as the zany midnight cabbie who roams the streets of Rome. His insights and adventures are well worth the subtitles.

Newly released on DVD this is a movie everyone should see. Written and directed by Jim Jarmusch it is a delight.

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