"Slice of life" films, eg. Linklater, Woody Allen, etc. Not quite "Cinema vérité" from French new wave, maybe closer to Karismaki's cold, poetic, comical observation sense.

Poetry and "The art of routine".

Jarmush

Born in Ohio, 1953. developed a taste for counterculture (William Burroughs, Jack Kerouac, and The Mothers of Invention).

Moved to Chicago in 1971 to enter a school of journalism, then transferred to Columbia University with the intention of becoming a poet. 1 year exchange program wheen he worked as a delivery driver for an art gallery, and spent most of his time at the Cinémathèque Française.

Back to New York, broke, working as musician. Went for 4 years program to learn cinema in NY University. Worked last year with Nicholas Ray. His first script was criticized because of no action, and Jarmush responded in making the script to be even less eventful.

Started his career in 1980 with "Permanent Vacation" (too much of a student's film), then shot "Stranger than Paradise" which won the "Camera d'Or" in Cannes.

Paterson (New Jersey)

Industrial 19th century.

Williams, and also that Allen Ginsberg grew up there

Poetry

• Paterson is an epic poem by American poet William Carlos Williams published, in five volumes, from 1946 to 1958 (Beat generation).

• Jarmush and poetry: refs. William Blake in "Dead Man". Other Jarmush movies are quite poetic (Stranger than paradise, Down by law, Mystery Train, Broken flowers, Only lovers left alive)

Music

Jarmush and his band Sqürl. But silence is the real rock star here.

Photo

Frederick Elmes: Lynch (Eraserhead, Blue Velvet, Wild at heart), Jarmush (Night on Earth, Broken Flowers), Ang Lee (The Ice Storm).

During a 1989 interview Jarmusch commented on his narrative focus, "I'd rather make a movie about a guy walking his dog than about the emperor of China."

Refs

https://medium.com/outtake/interview-jim-jarmusch-on-paterson-and-poetry-bd8e42bcdb6b