Down by Law

Once again, a classic Jarmusch film, where the plot is overshadowed by the atmosphere and psychology of the director's characters. As is usual for Jarmusch, he challenges the viewers' perception (by watching TV series) of the successful middle class or the newly rich, and instead shows life in ghettos, endless poor suburbs full of waste and obvious signs of decay, where the police reign. His characters are outsiders and eccentrics who operate on the fringes of the law. Jarmusch consistently undermines the viewers' expectations of traditional genre films set in prison environments and stories of famous escapes from them. He is more interested in observing his characters in a heightened environment and a hopeless situation. The prolonged sequences set in the endless swamps around the Mississippi are particularly powerful. The film is black and white, which only intensifies the impression of hopelessness and a country stripped of its glamour. Overall impression: 80%. (23/07/2009)

A truly magical contribution to escape films. I already liked the classic Jarmusch-esque taciturn atmosphere, but as soon as Roberto Benigni began to disrupt it in his inimitable Italian-English babbling way, it was clear who would be the main star of the evening. The black and white Louisiana swamps, the three fugitives lost in them, the darkness... And maybe a light somewhere up ahead. "Most of all, I'm afraid of water and dogs. The water is in front of me, the dogs behind me." Excellent. (02/06/2013)

I'm not that disappointed, but I was definitely expecting a bit more. Dead Man showed me what an idiosyncratic director Jarmusch is, with the ability to make his films an extremely intoxicating and unprecedented experience thanks to the specific and black-and-white production design. Unfortunately, that impressive stylisation and bittersweet story about the coexistence of three runaway prisoners was marred by the rather bland and monotonous execution, which did not appeal to me, but mainly because it was a bit boring at times. Benigni saves things a lot, he’s unmissable from the first moment with his irresistible English and tousled moustache. I have nothing against this film, on the contrary it has a nice poetry and tries to give a different perspective on the subject of prison breaks, but I just prefer "action scenes and spectacular escapes" in this respect. For me 65% (30/01/2013)

Jim Jarmusch does his own thing and it usually works out quite well for him. This is also an interesting film. At the very least, its visual side will captivate you, even though Jarmusch tends to favor black and white in his repertoire more often. The actors were excellently chosen, as they both clicked and clashed at the same time. The story itself is not that extraordinary, but it is presented and carried out with brilliance. (15/01/2016)