Stranger Than Paradise

Infobox Film
name = Stranger Than Paradise


caption =
director = Jim Jarmusch
producer = Sara Driver
writer = Jim Jarmusch
narrator =
starring = John Lurie Eszter Balint Richard Edson Cecillia Stark Danny Rosen
music = Drew Kunin John Lurie
cinematography = Tom DiCillo
editing = Jim Jarmusch
distributor =
released = 1984
runtime = 95 min.
country = USA West Germany
language = English
budget =
preceded_by =
followed_by =
website =
amg_id = 1:47216
imdb_id = 0088184

"Stranger Than Paradise" is an absurdist comedy film written and directed by American director Jim Jarmusch in 1984. It starred jazz musician John Lurie, former Sonic Youth drummer-turned-actor Richard Edson and Hungarian-born actress Eszter Balint. Shooting was begun using leftover film stock from the production of Wim Wenders' Der Stand der Dinge in (1982). It started out as a 30-minute short subject film and was later expanded into a three-act feature. This short film was shown as "Stranger Than Paradise" at the 1983 International Film Festival Rotterdam. When it was used for the three-act feature it was renamed "The New World".

The first act, "The New World," takes place in New York, the second act, "One Year Later," in Cleveland, and the third act, "Paradise," in Florida.

The film tells the story of a self-identified "hipster" (John Lurie) living in New York City when his Hungarian cousin comes to visit. Her visit makes up the first act. The second act focuses on Lurie and his friend (played by Richard Edson) going to visit the cousin at her new home in Cleveland, Ohio. The third and final act focuses on the journey that the three of them make from Cleveland, to Florida.

The entire film consists of long takes; each of the film's scenes is contained within a single shot, followed by a few seconds of black leader.

The song "I Put a Spell on You" by Screamin' Jay Hawkins features prominently in the soundtrack.

Jim Jarmusch's girlfriend Sara Driver is on the production credits as the producer and she also appears in the movie as 'the woman with a hat.'

In 2002, "Stranger Than Paradise" was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant".

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