Night on Earth (1991)

An anthology of 5 different cab drivers in 5 American and European cities and their remarkable fares on the same eventful night.

Director:

Jim Jarmusch

Writer:

Jim Jarmusch

Stars:

Winona Ryder, Gena Rowlands, Lisanne Falk

1 win & 2 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Gena Rowlands	...	Victoria Snelling (segment "Los Angeles")
Winona Ryder	...	Corky (segment "Los Angeles")
Lisanne Falk	...	Rock Manager (segment "Los Angeles")
Alan Randolph Scott	...	Rock Musician #1 (segment "Los Angeles")
Anthony Portillo	...	Rock Musician #2 (segment "Los Angeles")
Armin Mueller-Stahl	...	Helmut (segment "New York")
Giancarlo Esposito	...	YoYo (segment "New York")
Rosie Perez	...	Angela (segment "New York")
Richard Boes	...	Cab Driver #1 (segment "New York")
Isaach De Bankolé	...	Driver (segment "Paris")
Béatrice Dalle	...	Blind Woman (segment "Paris")
Pascal N'Zonzi	...	Passenger #1 (segment "Paris") (as Pascal Nzonzi)
Emile Abossolo M'bo	...	Passenger #2 (as Émile Abossolo-M'bo)
Stéphane Boucher	...	Man in Accident (segment "Paris") (as Stephane Boucher)
Noel Kaufmann	...	Man on Motorcycle (segment "Paris")

Storyline

A collection of five stories involving cab drivers in five different cities. Los Angeles - A talent agent for the movies discovers her cab driver would be perfect to cast, but the cabbie is reluctant to give up her solid cab driver's career. New York - An immigrant cab driver is continually lost in a city and culture he doesn't understand. Paris - A blind girl takes a ride with a cab driver from the Ivory Coast and they talk about life and blindness. Rome - A gregarious cabbie picks up an ailing man and virtually talks him to death. Helsinki - an industrial worker gets laid off and he and his compatriots discuss the bleakness and unfairness of love and life and death.

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Plot Keywords:

taxi | episodic structure | immigration | night | anthology | 

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Taglines:

Five Taxis. Five Cities. One Night.

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Genres:

Comedy | Drama

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for violence, language, and some drug use

Did You Know?

Trivia

Cinematographer Fred Elmes said that the best thing about shooting overnight in Paris was that the bakeries would just be opening as the crew wrapped every morning. So he could cap of his work day with a cup of coffee and a nice, fresh pastry.

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Goofs

This film takes place sometime during the winter, and the opening story takes place in Los Angeles starting at 7:07 PM. At no time during the winter would Los Angeles be this sunny at 7:07 PM. In fact, the latest time of day the sun would set during the winter would be at 6:07 PM on March 20, the last day of winter. (Currently, March 20 would occur during Daylight Savings Time, but, in 1991, Daylight Savings Time did not begin until April.)

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Quotes

Yoyo: Taxi! Yo, man! Right here. Right here. Whoa! Right! Hey, what's up? Brooklyn.
[cab driver drives off without letting Yoyo in the cab]
Yoyo: Brooklyn! Yo! Yo, man! You suck, man! I got your plate number. I'm gonna call the TLC! Come on, man. Somebody pick me up! Yeah, come on, pick me up! What? Look at all the fuckin' cabs out here. Shit. Get my ass home, man. I got cash, man! Taxi! Look, I got the cash right here! Taxi! Come on, man. Come on, man! Fuck all, you all!

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Crazy Credits

During the end credits, the titles of the crew members are in the language of the place/unit they worked in (ie the Helsinki unit's credits are in Finnish, and so on).

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Connections

References Goodfellas (1990)

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Soundtracks

Back in the Good Old World
Written by Tom Waits and Kathleen Brennan
Produced by Tom Waits
Arranged by Tom Waits and Francis Thumm
Jalma Music, Inc.
Administered by Ackee Music, Inc. (ASCAP)
Tom Waits performs courtesy of Island Records, Inc.

User Reviews

The good old world

Jim Jarmusch does for movies as Tom Waits does for music, no wonder he uses his music in his films. I've seen this movie over and over, its truly wonderful. We glimpse A side of the world that is the same no matter where you go. The world is round so no matter where you go you are always in the center of it. Here we catch a Taxi in different cities around the globe and although the cultures are clearly different , there is something of the blues in each act. I can't make out which one is my favorite, they all have a certain magic to them that totally captures to mood of the country we are in although the mood itself is that of the night where not much seems to be going on really except in our taxis. Each scene in this film is a masterpiece, no matter which country Jarmusch takes us too. Of course Benigni needless I mention is that little bit more of a of a superstar but for that matter so is the blind girl in Paris. Great music, great photography, great acting, its all good. Its magic!

Details

Country:

France UK Germany USA Japan

Language:

English French Finnish Italian German

Release Date:

12 December 1991 (Germany)

Also Known As:

LANewYorkParisRomeHelsinki

Filming Locations:

Finland

Box Office

Budget:

$3,500,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$34,039, 3 May 1992

Gross USA:

$2,015,810

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$2,023,808

Company Credits

Production Co:

Victor Company of Japan (JVC), Victor Musical Industries, Pyramide Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

129 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1