South of 5th Street convo
In Stranger Than Paradise, there’s a shot in front of the “Welcome to Florida” sign. What does that have to do with anything? Well, when they’re in New York, just knocking around, living a kind of meaningless existence, they get into trouble at a gambling spot and feel like they have to leave town.
Or at least, one of them says they gotta leave town because of that. But the other wants to go see his cousin—Eszter Balint’s character, who I think plays a version of herself—since she had stayed with him before. So they head to Cleveland.
But life there isn’t much different. If anything, it’s even more bleak—buried in snow, not much happening. At some point, they get the idea to go to Florida, as if things will really be popping off there. But when they finally get down to Florida, they just end up in some drab, nowhere motel. It looks just as dull as everywhere else they’ve been. It’s kind of a joke on that idea—”wherever you go, there you are.”
That scene when they first arrive is great. John Lurie’s character goes to check into the motel, and when he comes back, he’s wearing some cool sunglasses. He gives a pair to his cousin, Eszter, and Richard Edson’s character watches them both, clearly thinking, Oh, that’s cool—but also obviously wishing he had a pair too, in this almost childish way. Then John Lurie, who had a stash of them, casually hands him a pair. Of course, he was going to give him one. But you can see how much Edson’s character wants that approval—like, the eagerness in how he puts them on.https://open.spotify.com/embed/album/4cc0b5tFRmmersyHFLbrVc
The film features an original soundtrack written by John Lurie, who also stars in the film. It is performed by The Paradise Quartet, consisting of Jill B. Jaffe (viola), Mary L. Rowell (violin), Kay Stern (violin), and Eugene Moye (cello). The recording engineer was Ollie Cotton.
https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/UxHMREKn9fs?rel=0&autoplay=0&showinfo=0&enablejsapi=0
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