Night on Earth

These five short ‘existential comedies’ are set on the same night in different places on earth. The first section takes place in Los Angeles, where dusk has just fallen. At the end of the last part, set in Helsinki, dawn breaks.

Each part starts with the same event: the brief encounter between a taxi driver and his or her nocturnal customers. But the tone soon changes, determined by the character of the city and its inhabitants. The casting also plays a role: for each city actors have been chosen who belong there, such as Béatrice Dalle in Paris and Kaurismäki actor Matti Pellonpää in Helsinki. Some parts are extremely humourous, such as the New York section with Armin Müller-Stahl, and especially the part set in Rome with Roberto Benigni. The final part however, in Helsinki, is sad through and through.

Jarmusch was his own producer for Night on Earth and had complete artistic control. He is even the owner of the film negative, which is very unusual for American films.