Stranger Than Paradise

Synopsis: A self-styled New York hipster is paid a surprise visit by his younger cousin from Budapest. From initial hostility and indifference a small degree of affection grows between the two. Along with a friend, they eventually end up visiting their aunt in the wastelands of Cleveland and then proceed to Florida where they lose all their money gambling before unwittingly gaining a fortune.
Genre: Comedy, Drama
Director(s): Jim Jarmusch
Production: Criterion Collection
  8 wins & 2 nominations.
 
IMDB:
7.6
Metacritic:
86
Rotten Tomatoes:
95%
R
Year:
1984
89 min
1,143 Views


Yeah.

Oh. Hello, Aunt Lotte.

Don't speak to me in Hungarian, please.

No, I haven't heard from them...

not for 10 years.

Yeah, I got your letter.

Speak English, please.

Yeah, my little cousin Eva.

Yeah, I know. She's gonna come here,

and she's gonna stay overnight.

When is she coming?

Today?

Straight from Budapest today?

Oh, no!

No, I never agreed to that.

I can't possibly babysit her

for 10 days.

No, look.

It's disrupting my whole life.

I don't even consider myself

a part of the family.

Do you understand?

No, I'm sorry you have to

go into the hospital.

Yeah.

Yeah.

- Bye-bye.

- Okay. Bye-bye.

Bye.

Damn.

Sh...

Yeah?

Jesus.

Hello. I'm Eva Molnar.

Yeah, no kidding.

Are you Bela Molnar?

No.

I used to be. Call me Willie

if you gotta call me something, all right?

Oh! Don't speak Hungarian at all.

Only English, all right, while you're here?

Only English.

Yeah, well, come in!

Tomorrow I must go

to Cleveland in Ohio by train.

Yeah, well, you can't go

to Cleveland in Ohio tomorrow.

Aunt Lotte has to go

into the hospital for 10 days.

So you can stay here tonight, and I don't

know what you're gonna do after that.

- For 10 days?

- Yeah.

Ten days?

Willie?

Willie.

Hello?

Yes, he's sleeping.

What? Excuse me?

I don't understand.

Yeah, I am his cousin.

I am really his cousin.

Excuse me?

Could you speak

a little slower, please?

Yes. Courguy?

Okay. I will tell him.

Who rang?

Yes, the telephone rang.

No, I mean, who was on the phone?

Courguy.

He said his name was Courguy.

- What?

- He said his name was Courguy.

I don't know anybody

named Courguy.

That's what he said his name was.

Don't answer my f***in' phone,

all right?

Courguy.

- Hey, Eva? You goin' out?

- Yeah.

Look, um, Clinton Street

is two blocks south of here.

I wouldn't go any further south

than Clinton Street.

- Why?

- It's really dangerous there.

I can take care of myself.

Man, listen. You come here,

you don't know what's going on in this city.

You never been here before.

You come and stay in my apartment.

I don't even want you here, and you're just,

like, "Yeah, I know what's going on."

You think you're

so motherfucking together.

I'm going alone.

Oh. Okay. Go alone.

You sure you don't want a TV dinner?

Yes. I'm not hungry.

Why is it called "TV dinner"?

Um, you're supposed to eat it

while you watch TV.

- Television.

- I know what a TV is.

Where does that meat come from?

What do you mean?

What does that meat come from?

I guess it comes from a cow.

From a cow?

It doesn't even look like meat.

Eva, stop bugging me, will you?

You know,

this is the way we eat in America.

I got my meat,

I got my potatoes...

I got my vegetables,

I got my dessert.

And I don't even have to

wash the dishes.

Yeah.

- Hi.

- Hey, Willie. How you doin'?

- Hey, man. How you doin'?

- Pretty good.

I didn't know you had company.

- That's my cousin.

- Yeah?

She's from Hungary.

- She's cute.

- Shut up, man.

- Hi.

- Hi.

- I'm Eddie.

- Eva.

- How do you do?

- Okay.

Hungary?

- Yeah.

- You been here in, uh, New York, uh, long?

For two days only.

- You like it?

- Yes.

I'm going to Cleveland

in about a week.

Cleveland.

It's a beautiful city.

- Yes?

- Yeah.

It's got a big, beautiful lake.

You'll love it there.

- Have you been there?

- No, no.

Who's running in the second race?

Ah, we have Indian Giver,

Face the Music...

Inside Dope, Off the Wall,

Cat Fight, Late Spring...

Passing Fancy

and, uh, Tokyo Story.

- Tokyo Story. It's a good one.

- That's what I like to hear.

It's a good one.

- Get off my shirt, man.

- Oh, sorry.

Who's in the third?

Song and Dance,

Last McCoy, the Real McCoy...

Square Deal, Female Touch.

- That's a good one. Female Touch.

- I don't want to bet on that race.

- Are we gonna take Eva?

- No, we're not gonna take Eva.

He bugs me.

You should come with us.

You'd have a good time.

- Is it nice?

- Oh, it's fun, yeah. Yeah.

Okay. I'm ready.

- Why don't we take Eva with us?

- Huh?

Why don't we take Eva?

- I don't want to take Eva with us.

- She'd have a good time.

Look, Eva, stay out of trouble, all right?

Just stay here while I'm out.

All right?

Let's go, man.

Why don't we take her with us?

Come on, man.

- Bye.

- See you later, Eva.

I'll see you again sometime.

The ball is in the air.

It's pass interference, and the ball

will be spotted at the 15.

- So, you see the guy who's got the ball?

- Mm-hmm.

That's the quarterback.

He can either hand off to one of the runners

or he can pass it downfield.

It's kind of like, you know,

he's, um -

The ball is in the air,

just out of the left...

He's, uh, like the general, you know.

He's sort of like- he's in charge of the offense.

The quarterback is in charge

of the whole offense.

That'll make it first down,

Cincinnati, at the San Francisco 15.

Clock running.

So what does the quarterback do

when he becomes the defense?

What?

What does the quarterback do

when his team becomes the defense?

The quarter...

The quarter... The quarterback's

not on the defense ever. Uh...

I - Uh, I don't know how

to explain this to you.

That's a close one.

Just watch the game.

The closest men

were two offensive linemen.

I think this game is really stupid.

That really shouldn't be a penalty

for throwing the ball away.

The Bengals get a break here.

Watch this pass rush.

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Jim Jarmusch

James Robert Jarmusch (born January 22, 1953) is an American film director, screenwriter, actor, producer, editor, and composer. He has been a major proponent of independent cinema since the 1980s, directing such films as Stranger Than Paradise (1984), Down by Law (1986), Mystery Train (1989), Dead Man (1995), Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai (1999), Coffee and Cigarettes (2003), Broken Flowers (2005), Only Lovers Left Alive (2013), and Paterson (2016). Stranger Than Paradise was added to the National Film Registry in December 2002. As a musician, Jarmusch has composed music for his films and released two albums with Jozef van Wissem. more…

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Submitted on August 05, 2018

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