Coffee and Cigarettes (5 September 2003)
directed by Jim Jarmusch
starring Roberto Benigni, Steven Wright, Joie Lee, Cinqué Lee, Steve Buscemi, Iggy Pop, Tom Waits, Joseph Rigano, Vinny Vella, Vinny Vella Jr., Renee French, E. J. Rodriguez, Alex Descas, Isaach De Bankolé, Cate Blanchett, Jack White, Meg White, Alfred Molina, Steve Coogan, Katy Hansz, GZA, RZA, Bill Murray, William Rice, Taylor Mead
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MPAA rating: Studio: Smokscreen Inc., Asmik Ace Entertainment, BIM Script: Jim Jarmusch Music: Richard Berry Running time: 95 minutes Tags: Black & White; cigarettes; coffee; Comedy; diners Tactical strength: [5/10]
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for language
Coffee and Cigarettes compiles eleven vignettes each set in a diner or coffee shop and shot in black and white. The meetings range from the bizarre to the mundane, and usually involve some level of discomfort for the patrons. Meeting for coffee seems like a simple human transaction, but even in this simple setting, writer and director Jim Jarmusch shows that human communication often goes a different direction than the participants imagined.
Take the story "Cousins?" where Alfred Molina has invited Steve Coogan for tea with the implication that Alfred has a project in which he wants to involve Steve. It turns out that Alfred has discovered that he and Steve share a great-great grandfather, making them cousins. Alfred proposes that he and Steve make a film where two actors discover that they have a distant relative in common. Steve shows nothing but disdain toward Alfred and the project. When Alfred gets a call from Spike Jones, Steve shows immediate interest. Alfred makes arrangements with Spike to go on a hike. Alfred sees that Steve would like to get involved with the hike, but Alfred returns the cold attitude that Steve expressed about the cousins project. We see the characters go through various stages of wanting something from the other person, but each has a hard time coming out and directly saying what they want or mean. In some cases, Steve tries to beat around the bush that he has no interest in Alfred's project. At the end, neither character has gotten what he wanted in the first place, and each leaves a bit disappointed in the other.
In the scene "No Problem," two friends Alex and Isaach meet for coffee. They haven't seen each other in two years, and Isaach assumes that if Alex has called, then Alex has some sort of problem. Instead of reminiscing over old times, Isaach repeatedly tries to assure Alex that Alex can relate his problem. Alex repeatedly denies that any problem exists. The entire meeting ends on a uncomfortable note with Isaach leaving with the feeling that Alex doesn't trust him enough to share the problem. Instead of having a meeting that reunites the bonds between two friends, the encounter places them even further apart.
Throughout each scene, we see the complicated choreography of the coffee table. Someone pours the coffee. Often the drinker modifies the coffee by adding sugar or cream. We see characterization in how the players stir the coffee or with the precision of the production. We often see the discomfort of the characters reflected in the overt attention they pay to their coffee cups.
Jarmusch has collected some weird and quirky stories that emphasize the variability of human nature, even over something as simple as coffee and cigarettes. In the stories we can often see ourselves, but we also see some weird and quirky behavior that just might take place in those coffee shops that we never enter. I don't see myself every needing to see Coffee and Cigarettes again, but I do think it merits at least one viewing, so I would recommend renting or borrowing a copy.
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