Post Modernist Director Jim Jarmusch Essay Example for Free

Post Modernist Director Jim Jarmusch EssayJim Jarmusch is wizard of the prominent post-modernist directors whose works produced a profound impression on the audience and often evoked preferably controversial emotions. His fills be very original and convey the authentic inwardness of the author, however the director often chooses such means of conveying his ideas that his works be get the pictured in contrary way by different deal. In fact, nearly instead a little enjoy his exposures and believe they are genius, while, on the opposite hand, in that respect are pile who do not really understand his works and are in truth vituperative in copulation to his works. At the analogous time, it should be said that his frivol aways are destined not precisely for specialists but also for the mass audience, though the directors ideas may be not forever clear for ordinary viewers. Nevertheless, the artistic value of his works is practically undeniable. As a rule, his exacts are stylistically and artistically rich. The director skillfully applies different stylistic devices which help him convey his message to the audience. Among characterisations created by Jim Jarmusch, it is assertable to single out his film D birth by Law, which depicts the tragedy of main characters who deplete to spin through serious challenges in the course of the film.At the same time, this film is a perfect judge of post-modernist films, w present main characters confront severe reality of the modern world and where it is really difficult to distinguish in the midst of good and evil, right and price. In his film the author guides that in the epoch of high technologies, there are still a lot of problems which affect the life of ordinary race and cast the life very difficult and purge tragic. On analyzing the film Down by Law by Jim Jarmusch, it is necessary to bulge with the deed of the film because it gives insight into the contents and message of the film .In fact, the agnomen of the film is rather symbolic, though it is practically directly indicates to the overwhelming power of rightfulness and its impact on an individualist. The title of the film all the way conveys the message that the police force ass affect the life of large number dramatically and, what is even more important, the integrity is not always right or good. Basically, it is affirmable to estimate that Jim Jarmusch attempts to moralize and analyze the blood amidst an individual and the law.Judging from the title, the director stands on the ground that the law basis oppress an individual, it can foray a person of freedom and punish severely. In this respect, the events depicted in the film are quite crystalline and basically support first ideas that the title of the film evoke. To put it more precisely, the main characters, tierce inmates, Zack, Jack and Bob, are cellmates and the director attempts to show that all of them are innocent and were wrongf ully acc employ of crimes they have never committed.Nevertheless, all of them are sentenced and, therefore, punished by the existing judicial system which executes the law effected in the society. In such a way, the author uses the title to prepare the audience to the erudition of the film and adequate interpretation of his main message and ideas. It gives insight concerning the problem raised in the film, but, at the same time, the title also creates certain emotional state or mood which prepares the audience to cognizance of the film in the way the director finds the most suitable.To put it more precisely, the title has quite a veto connotation of the law. Traditionally, the law is associated with legal expert. The modern society gets employ to perceive law as the basis of the hearty life, since laws regulate dealing amidst people and support the existing companionable order and social stability. The trespass of law naturally leads to the punishment of an individual thr ough which the individual is supposed to be corrected and modification his lifestyle and behavior.In separate words, the law is viewed as a tool of the adaptation of the behavior of an individual to socially appropriate and acceptable norms. In such a context, the law is viewed as a confident(p)(p) concept since it maintains justice and social stability that are highly appreciated in the modern society. However, the title of the film suggests an alternative view on the law. Implicitly, Down by Law tends to convince the audience that the law is the punishment above all and its power is used to get people down, while there is flyspeck indication to any kind of justice in the title of the film.On the contrary, such a title rather produces an impression that the law is not absolutely just, if not to say unjust. In actuality, the title of the film refers probably to one of the major themes of the film the relationship between a man and the law. Remarkably, the author attempts to s how that the law is really oppressive that may be seen from the title of the film. However, such a conclusion is logical and the title is only a tool with the help of which the director conveys this idea.In actuality, the entire film shows that the law, as a tool of human justice, is often blind. Jim Jarmusch shows that the law is not a synonym of justice. In relentless contrast, the law is shown as a powerful tool which has little in common with the concept of justice (Jilesen, 236). Even thought the concept of justice is not clearly defined by the director in the film, it is very difficult to get rid of impression that the law is wrong, at to the lowest degree in relation to the main characters, who got their sentences for crimes they had never committed.In actuality, the director manages to show that the concept of law, as a symbol of justice, is very conventional and it seems as if he wants to convince the audience that people should not totally rely on the law and the justice system at large, because there still remains the risk of errors and innocent people can go to prison. At the same time, Jim Jarmusch pays a lot of attention to interpersonal relations between people. In fact, it is even manageable to estimate that the director attempts to underline the significance of interpersonal relationships, which can surmount even the relationship between a man and the law.Unlike the relationship of a man and the law, the relationship between people is not conventional. In stark contrast, they are very personal and people can learn more more or less distributively other through communication and, in such a context, decisions of the judicial system made on the basis of law are absolutely irrelevant to people. What is meant here is the fact that the main characters of the film, the three cellmates, could perceive each other as criminals. Formally, all of them were accused and sentenced to different terms.Therefore, they could naturally perceive each other a s criminals because the law defined them as criminals. At the tooth root of the film, the director actually shows that such stereotyping on the basis of decisions of the judicial system can affect the perception of people. In such a situation, it seems to be quite natural that Zack and Jack soon drive to blows because they perceive each other as criminals and, in actuality, their conflict is, to a significant extent, provoked by stereotyping and dark-skinned attitudes of Zack and Jack to each other.In fact, it is the biases and stereotypes oblige on them by the law lead them to the conflict. However, the director of the film apparently does not really believe that the law and the existing judicial system is worth trusting. Jim Jarmusch lays fury on the importance of interpersonal relationships which actually define the life of people and their perception of each other (Jilesen, 218).In other words, the director puts human relationships consistently higher than any conventional norms or regulations imposed on people by laws, traditions, tc. In fact, it is through the interpersonal relationship between people their nature and character is revealed. In this respect, it should be said that from the point of view of the law all the three inmates are criminals, but through their interpersonal relationships, they reveal the fact that they are not as bad as they seem to be judging from their sentences and crimes they are accused of. On the other hand, the director avoids labeling his main characters as either positive or negative.He wants to show that his characters are real people, they are alive, they have their own feelings, emotions, ideals. Briefly speaking, they are humans and, therefore, they are imperfect. At any rate, Jim Jarmusch does not idealize his characters and shows that they have two positive and negative qualities. At the same time, he shows that the world, society get used to perceive people in such a way, i. e. through the antagonism between good and bad. In this respect, the use of dense and white colourise in the film is very symbolic.Traditionally, good and bad is associated with white and foul color respectively. Jim Jarmusch has shot the film in black and white intentionally in order to convey his message to the audience. In fact, it is possible to view his film as a kind of mirror where the traditional perception of the modern world is reflected. To put it more precisely, people get used to perceive each other either positively or negatively, people are either good or bad. Hence, the choice of colourise in the film is very original and unusual for the late 1980s, when there were quite a few films shot in black and white.The director attempted to convince the audience that people get used to perceive this world only in two colors (Hertzberg, 175). Therefore, the use of black and white was quite logical since the film just shows people the world in the colors people get used to perceive the world in. In such a way, the director also warns people about the danger of the loss of other colors since, on perceiving the life through the antagonism of black and white, bad and good, wrong and right, people forget about intermediary states and other colors and concepts.In such a context, when black and white dominates in the film, it is the complexity of interpersonal relationships of the main characters that makes the film really colorful and bright. And again it is possible to speak about a profound attention of the author to interpersonal relations between people which are extremely important to each individual. Moreover, it is relationships with other people that make human life resolute and brings in certain sense. However, the director creates quite an unusual relationship between the main characters.For instance, Zack and Jack do not speak to each other after the conflict which occurs at the beginning of the film. Nevertheless, it does not thwart them from the establishment of good relat ionships and it is even possible to speak about a strange but untouchable friendship between these two not very talkative men (Hertzberg, 153). Their friendship grows stronger as they come through all the hardships after the escape from the prison. In such a way, the author shows that human relations are very complicated and it is very difficult to understand what actually makes people help each other and become friends.At first glance, Zack and Jack have no chances to become friends, at least at the beginning of the film, but by the end of the film they cannot be viewed otherwise but friends, even though they do not talk to each other. Consequently, there should something else in humans that makes them feel confident in each other and become friends. In this respect, it is possible to speak about strong post-modernist trends that can be easily traced in the film, especially through the relationship between Zack and Jack.What is meant here is the fact that Jim Jarmusch actually cha llenges the existing social norms and purely materialistic view on human life. Obviously, he rejects the supremacy of the law as a synonym of justice. Moreover, he even rejects traditional views on human relations and denies the morose materialism of the conservative or traditional artists. His characters friendship cannot be rationally explained by a scientific theory or logic. Traditionally, normal or positive interpersonal relationships are established through literal communication, but Zack and Jack have none.Instead, it is rather a kind of weird unity or spiritual communication between the main characters. In fact, their friendship is, to a certain extent, almost mystical. At any rate, it is irrational and does not meet any scientific approach that is very typical for post-modernist art at large and films in particular. In this respect, it should be said that, being a post-modernist director, Jim Jarmusch is very skeptical about science as well as about existing stereotypes, social norms, and the law (Suarez, 186).Instead, he argues that people are spiritually rich and it is impossible to explain logically and rationally all their actions and behavior. They can make errors and they can suffer from errors of other people or the existing social or justice system, but still they remain people. Basically, it seems as if the director cannot fully understand human beings, this is why he shows that some of their actions are defined by their internal inclinations or spiritual world.At the same time, the entire film may be viewed as a post-modernist protest against the existing social norms, stereotypes and biases, which limit humans by boundaries of social and legal conventions, norms and regulations. In such a context, the successful escape of the main characters from the prison is very symbolic because, in such a way, they escaped from the social biases and stereotypes, they freed themselves not only literally as they got freedom to move wherever they wanted , but they also got moral and spiritual freedom.They escape from the prison of social stereotypes and unjust laws. Moreover, after the escape, Bob even found his love and became happy that implies that only freeing themselves people can become really happy. Thus, taking into account all above mentioned, it is possible to conclude that Jim Jarmusch is a successful post-modernist director, who attempted to convey his original ideas and his unique vision of the world and men through his works, among which it is possible to single out Down by Law.In this work, the author perfectly illustrated the imperfectness of the coeval world and humans. He lays emphasis on the erroneous nature of the existing laws, stereotypes and traditional views of people which firmly rely on materialism, rationalism and logic. Instead, he appeals to human nature, to human spirituality and he underlines that people should get through for their own freedom from their own biases and stereotypes. People, accordi ng to Jim Jarmusch should be really free as are his characters.