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Stranger Than Paradise (1984)

7.5
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Ratings: 7.5/10 from 16,609 users  
Reviews: 87 user | 56 critic

This is about a self-styled New York hipster who is paid a surprise and quite unwelcome visit by his pretty sixteen-year-old Hungarian cousin. From initial hostility and indifference a ... See full summary »

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Title: Stranger Than Paradise (1984)

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7 wins & 2 nominations. See more awards »

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Cast

Complete credited cast:
...
Willie
Eszter Balint ...
Eva
...
Eddie
Cecillia Stark ...
Aunt Lotte
Danny Rosen ...
Billy
Rammellzee ...
Man With Money
...
Airline Agent
Richard Boes ...
Factory Worker
Rockets Redglare ...
Poker player
Harvey Perr ...
Poker player
Brian J. Burchill ...
Poker player
...
Girl with Hat
Paul Sloane ...
Motel Owner
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Storyline

This is about a self-styled New York hipster who is paid a surprise and quite unwelcome visit by his pretty sixteen-year-old Hungarian cousin. From initial hostility and indifference a strange affection grows between the two exiles. Due to complete boredom they decide to visit their aunt in the wastelands of Cleveland and then proceed to sunny Florida where they lose all their money and unwittingly gain a fortune. With a final ironic twist, they are at the end, back where they began. Written by J.Arnold Free <arnold@mayahtt.ca>

Plot Summary | Add Synopsis

Genres:

Comedy | Drama

Certificate:

R | See all certifications »

Parents Guide:

 »
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Details

Country:

|

Language:

|

Release Date:

9 November 1984 (West Germany)  »

Also Known As:

Extraños en el paraíso  »

Filming Locations:

 »

Box Office

Budget:

$90,000 (estimated)
 »

Company Credits

Show detailed on  »

Technical Specs

Runtime:

Sound Mix:

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1
See  »
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Did You Know?

Trivia

The film's scenes are each a single shot, followed by a few seconds of black screen. See more »

Goofs

When Willie and Eddie are walking on the railway line in Philadelphia, there are tracks of their footprints in the snow from a previous take. See more »

Quotes

[first lines]
Willie: Yeah.
Aunt Lotte: [speaks indistinctly in Hungarian]
Willie: Oh, hello, Aunt Lotte.
Aunt Lotte: [replies indistinctly in Hungarian throughout conversation]
Willie: Don't speak to me in Hungarian, please. No, I haven't heard from him, not for ten years. Yeah, I got your letter. Speak English, please! Yeah, my little cousin Eva. Yeah, I know, she's come - coming here and she's gonna stay overnight, when's she coming? Today? Straight from Budapest today? Ah, no. No, I never agreed to that. I can't possibly babysit for her for...
[...]
See more »

Connections

Referenced in The Simpsons: Any Given Sundance (2008) See more »

Soundtracks

"I Put a Spell on You"
By Screamin' Jay Hawkins (as Jay Hawkins)
Used by permission of CBS Unart Catalog, Inc.
All Rights Reserved.
Performed by Screamin' Jay Hawkins
Courtesy of CBS Records
See more »

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User Reviews

Beautiful uncomfortableness
5 June 2006 | by (Ronn Ives/FUTURES Antiques, Norfolk, VA.) – See all my reviews

"Stranger than Paradise" (1984): Jim Jarmusch's first film. Often listed as a "comedy" – and yes, I suppose there ARE a few oddly funny moments – for the most part I find it an intensely bleak film, empty of almost all life but for a few lone cruiser characters who are detached from everyone else. The photography is astoundingly beautiful black & white. They are almost shot as individual stills with minor movements in them, and divided by blatant black divisions, which one can think of as the black pages of an old photo album. The velvety rich blacks, grays, and whites, plus the composed "still" scenes, cause me to think Jarmusch was trained as a static, 2-D artist first. Just a guess. This film is NOT about acting, which is limited at best, but doesn't really need much. We observe an alienated set of scenarios which are only enhanced by the stiff, awkward exchanges and pauses of the characters, and the lack of movement in the camera work. Ambient sound adds to the gritty reality of emptiness. Funny or not, this is a low-key, lost-souls story of detachment and aimlessness.


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