Permanent Vacation (1980)

A young man wanders New York City searching for some meaning in life and encounters many idiosyncratic characters.

Director:

Jim Jarmusch

Writer:

Jim Jarmusch

Stars:

Chris Parker, Leila Gastil, John Lurie

1 win.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Chris Parker	...	Allie
Leila Gastil	...	Leila
John Lurie	...	Sax player
Richard Boes	...	War vet
Sara Driver	...	Nurse
Charlie Spademan	...	Patient
Jane Fire	...	Nurse
Ruth Bolton	...	Mother
Evelyn Smith	...	Patient
María Duval	...	Latin girl
Lisa Rosen	...	Popcorn girl
Frankie Faison	...	Man in lobby
Suzanne Fletcher	...	Girl in car
Felice Rosser	...	Woman by mailbox
Eric Mitchell	...	Car fence

Storyline

In downtown Manhattan, a twenty-something boy ('Chris Parker')whose Father is not around and whose Mother is institutionalized, is a big Charlie Parker fan. He almost subconsciously searches for more meaning in his life and meets a few characters along the way.

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Plot Keywords:

new york city | two word title | drifter | graffiti | manhattan new york city | 

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Genres:

Comedy | Drama

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Certificate:

Not Rated

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

25 April 1984 (France)

Also Known As:

Dauernd Ferien

Filming Locations:

Roosevelt Island, New York, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Cinesthesia Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

75 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The Doppler Effect mentioned by the man in the lobby ('Frank Faison'), is the change in a sound (frequency and wavelength) noticed by an observer as a sound source moves relative to the observer.

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Goofs

The position of Leila's legs on the radiator changes between shots as she talks to Allie.

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Quotes

Leila: Where have you been? I haven't seen you since Thursday.
Allie: Walking, just walking around. I can't seem to sleep at night, not in this city.
Leila: Doesn't seem like you sleep at all.
Allie: Well, I have my dreams while I'm awake.

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Connections

References Rebel Without a Cause (1955)

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Soundtracks

Up There in Orbit
Written and Performed by Earl Bostic

User Reviews

fascinating and funny in parts, but severely flawed as a whole

Since this is considered a student film, I must admit that I cannot come up with a better reason to fall asleep during class.

"Permanent Vacation" is the darkly comic debut of acclaimed indie filmmaker Jim Jarmusch, and is unfortunately a somewhat boring film. It had plenty of things going for it, an unsettling and hypnotic musical score, a wild sense of dark humor, an interesting cast of side characters, and a beautiful visual style. However, Jarmusch sadly decided to craft this film's final product into a seemingly incomplete, ridiculously slow paced ride that is scattered with moments of genius throughout. There is plenty I liked about this movie, but it was just so TEDIOUS and DULL-this is a 70 minute long movie that really should have only been a 40 minute long movie. The main character is annoying and pretentious, a lot of the dialogue is cringe inducing (while some of it is actually pretty amazing), and by the end I just wanted to take a nap. This could have easily been a great film if Jarmusch decided to work a little bit more on crafting a main character that is at least somewhat bearable (he doesn't have to be likable, but please don't make him boring and obnoxious!), and made it less goddamn SLOW! I am all for slow movies ("Satantango" is one of my absolute favorite films), and there are a few scenes in this film that are excruciatingly slow paced but manage to work due to the slowness adding to the emotional depth and black humor of those scenes. However, a vast majority of the excruciatingly slow sequences in this film just made me want to beat my head against a brick wall so I could be entertained for once!

This isn't a bad film at all, and I would recommend it to some degree for anyone whose interested, but I would still have to recommend it with caution because it is so, so very flawed and at times unbearably boring. But, at the very least there is a lot of great humor, visual flare, quirky side characters, and beautifully discomforting background music.

Luckily, Jarmusch would improve his ways and skills by the time he made his follow up, break out feature "Stranger Than Paradise", which is not only one of the funniest movies of all time, but also one of my absolute FAVORITES!