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 & 1 nomination.

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

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:

Brooklyn Bridge, New York City, New York, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$3,500,000 (estimated)

Gross USA:

$2,015,810

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

Did You Know?

Trivia

Much of Roberto Benigni's dialogue was unscripted and was spontaneously improvised by the actor.

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Goofs

Winona Ryder's character opens the trunk through the missing rear window, but from the inside of the car it appears that the window is not missing.

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Quotes

Yoyo: What's you name, man?
Helmut Grokenberger: Helmut Grokenberger.
[pointing to his cab license]
Helmut Grokenberger: Here, you can read it. That's me.
Yoyo: Helmet?
Helmut Grokenberger: Helmut.
Yoyo: That's your name?
Helmut Grokenberger: Yeah.
Yoyo: Ha ha ha ha ha. That's a fucked up name to be namin' your kid! Helmet! See, 'cause in English, a helmet would be like, you know, like something you would wear on your head, you know? You a... a helmet! Ha ha ha! In English, that would be like callin' your kid, uh, "Lampshade" or some shit like that: 'Hey, Lampshade! Come here and clean up your room!' ...
[...]

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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

Referenced in Brows Held High: Dead Man (2013)

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Soundtracks

Cycle-Delic
Performed by Davie Allan & The Arrows
Written by Davie Allan
Courtesy of Capital Records, Inc.
By Arrangement with CEMA Special Markets and Curb Records, A California Corporation
Mike Curb Music (BMI)

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!