Paterson is a 2016 drama film written and directed by Jim Jarmusch. The film stars Adam Driver as a bus driver and poet named Paterson, and Golshifteh Farahani as his wife, who dreams of being a country music star and opening a cupcake business.

Paterson
Theatrical release poster
Directed byJim Jarmusch
Written byJim Jarmusch
Produced by
Starring
CinematographyFrederick Elmes
Edited byAffonso Gonçalves
Music byCarter Logan
Production
companies
  • K5 International
  • Le Pacte
  • Animal Kingdom
  • Inkjet Productions
Distributed by
Release dates
  • May 16, 2016 (2016-05-16) (Cannes)
  • November 17, 2016 (2016-11-17) (Germany)
  • December 21, 2016 (2016-12-21) (France)
  • December 28, 2016 (2016-12-28) (United States)
Running time
118 minutes[1]
Countries
  • United States
  • Germany
  • France
LanguageEnglish
Budget$5 million[2]
Box office$10.8 million[2]

Paterson was selected to compete for the Palme d'Or at the 2016 Cannes Film Festival, where it won the Palm Dog Award.[3][4][5] It was released in Germany on November 17, 2016, by K5 International; in France on December 21, 2016, by Le Pacte; and in the United States on December 28, 2016, by Amazon Studios and Bleecker Street.

Plot

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The film spans one week, beginning with Monday, in the life of Paterson, a NJ Transit driver in the city of Paterson. Every day follows much the same pattern: Paterson gets up early and goes to work, where he listens to passengers talking and, during breaks at work, writes poetry in a notebook he carries with him. After work he walks Marvin, the family dog, and stops for a beer at Shades Bar, where he interacts with the other patrons and the owner, Doc.

Paterson's wife, Laura, loves his poems and is apparently their only audience. She has long urged him to publish them or at least make copies. He finally promises to go to the copy shop on the weekend. But when Paterson and Laura come home from a movie on Saturday night, they find that Marvin has shredded his notebook, destroying his poems.

The next day, a dejected Paterson goes for a walk and sits down at his favorite site, the Great Falls of the Passaic River. There, a Japanese man takes a seat beside him and begins a conversation about poetry after Paterson notices that the man is reading the book-length poem Paterson by William Carlos Williams. The man seems to know that Paterson himself is a poet even though he denies it and hands him a gift, an empty notebook. The film ends with Paterson writing a poem in his new notebook.

Cast

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Production

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In April 2014, it was announced that Jim Jarmusch would write and direct a film about a poet living in Paterson, New Jersey.[6] In January 2016, it was revealed that Adam Driver and Golshifteh Farahani had been cast in the film, with Oliver Simon and Daniel Baur serving as executive producers under their K5 Film banner, while Joshua Astrachan and Carter Logan would produce under their Animal Kingdom and Inkjet banners respectively.[7]

The film was shot over 30 days in fall 2015, in Paterson, New Jersey, and various locations in New York.[8] Adam Driver obtained his commercial bus driver's license for the film.[9]

The poet Ron Padgett provided the poems attributed to the character Paterson, while Jarmusch wrote the poem "Water Falls" attributed to a young girl in the film.[10] The film features four of Padgett's existing poems and three new poems written for the film.[11]

Release

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Adam Driver, Golshifteh Farahani and Jim Jarmusch at the 2016 Cannes Film Festival

The film had its world premiere on May 16, 2016, at the 2016 Cannes Film Festival, where it competed for the Palme d'Or.[3][4] Amazon Studios distributed the film in the United States.[12] It was later announced that Bleecker Street was partnering with Amazon on releasing the film, on December 28, 2016.[13] It was released in Germany on November 17, 2016[14] and in France on December 21, 2016.[15] It opened for a limited run in the eponymous city on January 27, 2017.[16]

Critical reception

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On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 96%, based on 256 reviews, with an average rating of 8.49/10. The site's critical consensus reads, "Paterson adds another refreshingly unvarnished entry to Jim Jarmusch's filmography—and another outstanding performance to Adam Driver's career credits."[17] On Metacritic, the film has a score of 90 out of 100, based on 41 critics.[18]

Todd McCarthy of The Hollywood Reporter gave a positive review, writing of Jarmusch: "A mild-mannered, almost startlingly undramatic work that offers discreet pleasures to longtime fans of the New York indie-scene veteran, who can always be counted on to go his own way."[19] Eric Kohn of Indiewire also gave a positive review, writing: "But Paterson has too much clarity of mind to fall into a similar category. The story builds to an accidental circumstance that, on the surface, might not seem like a big deal—but in the context of Paterson’s tiny universe, resonates with tragic connotations. The brilliantly cryptic finale explores what it means to work back from personal setbacks to find a new source of inspiration. It’s an apt statement from Jarmusch, a filmmaker who continues to surprise and innovate while remaining true to his singular voice, and who here seems to have delivered its purest manifestation."[20] David Edelstein noted the film's unreality, writing: "What Jarmusch hasn't attempted in his Paterson is to explore the part of the city that was called, when Williams wrote about it, 'the slums.' Perhaps he felt that abject poverty wouldn't suit his slightly ironic distance, that it would rip the film's fragile fabric. It might have, but without that edge this Paterson comes close to seeming twee, like one of Wes Anderson's dollhouse communities. The poems make all the difference, transforming the most amorphous yearnings into something hard and beautiful and real."[21]

Accolades

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List of awards and nominations
Award Date of ceremony Category Recipient(s) Result Ref.
Belgian Film Critics Association January 7, 2017 Grand Prix Paterson Nominated [22]
Boston Society of Film Critics Awards December 11, 2016 Best Screenplay Jim Jarmusch Runner-up [23]
Cannes Film Festival May 22, 2016 Palm Dog Award Nellie (posthumous award) Won [5][3]
Palme d'Or Jim Jarmusch Nominated
Chicago Film Critics Association December 15, 2016 Best Actor Adam Driver Nominated [24]
Gotham Awards November 28, 2016 Best Feature Paterson Nominated [25]
Best Actor Adam Driver Nominated
Best Screenplay Jim Jarmusch Nominated
Audience Award Paterson Nominated
IndieWire Critics Poll December 19, 2016 Best Film Paterson 6th Place [26]
Best Actor Adam Driver Runner-up
Best Screenplay Paterson 9th Place
London Film Critics' Circle January 22, 2017 Actor of the Year Adam Driver Nominated [27]
Los Angeles Film Critics Association December 4, 2016 Best Actor Adam Driver Won [28]
National Society of Film Critics January 7, 2017 Best Actor Adam Driver 3rd Place [29]
Online Film Critics Society January 3, 2017 Best Picture Paterson Nominated [30]
Best Actor Adam Driver Nominated
San Diego Film Critics Society December 12, 2016 Best Actor Adam Driver Nominated [31][32]
Toronto Film Critics Association December 11, 2016 Best Actor Adam Driver Won [33]
Women Film Critics Circle December 19, 2016 Best Male Image in a Movie Paterson Nominated [34]
Best Screen Couple Paterson Nominated
Best Equality of the Sexes Paterson Nominated

References

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  1. ^ "Paterson (15)". British Board of Film Classification. November 9, 2016. Retrieved November 9, 2016.
  2. ^ a b "Paterson (2016)". The Numbers. Retrieved February 10, 2018.
  3. ^ a b c "2016 Cannes Film Festival Announces Lineup". IndieWire. April 14, 2016. Retrieved April 14, 2016.
  4. ^ a b "Cannes 2016: Film Festival Unveils Official Selection Lineup". Variety. April 14, 2016. Retrieved April 14, 2016.
  5. ^ a b Vikram Murthi (May 20, 2016). "The 2016 Palm Dog Posthumously Awarded to Nellie, The Dog From Jim Jarmusch's 'Paterson'". Indiewire. Retrieved May 20, 2016.
  6. ^ Davis, Edward (April 4, 2014). "Jim Jarmusch's Next Film Is About A Bus Driver & Poet In Paterson, New Jersey". Indiewire.com. Retrieved December 30, 2016.
  7. ^ Jafaar, Ali (January 13, 2016). "Adam Driver To Star In Jim Jarmusch's 'Paterson', Amazon And K5 To Co-Finance". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved May 5, 2016.
  8. ^ Brooks, Brian (December 28, 2016). "'20th Century Women' & 'Paterson' Join Year-End Awards-Season Fray – Specialty Preview". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved December 30, 2016.
  9. ^ Shattuck, Kathryn (December 28, 2016). "Adam Driver Takes the Wheel (Published 2016)". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved March 4, 2021.
  10. ^ Crust, Kevin (January 18, 2017). "Jim Jarmusch, Ron Padgett and the sublime poetry of 'Paterson'". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved January 30, 2017.
  11. ^ "Poetry Stars in a Movie". Poetry Foundation. January 24, 2017. Retrieved January 30, 2017.
  12. ^ Robinson, Will (January 12, 2016). "Casting Net: Adam Driver joins Jim Jarmusch comedy Paterson". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved May 5, 2016.
  13. ^ Lang, Brent (July 25, 2016). "Adam Driver's 'Paterson' Gets Awards-Season Release Date (EXCLUSIVE)". Variety. Retrieved July 25, 2016.
  14. ^ "Paterson". IMP Awards. October 3, 2016. Retrieved October 3, 2016.
  15. ^ "Le Pacte Line Up 2016" (PDF). Le Pacte. Archived from the original (PDF) on November 18, 2016. Retrieved September 14, 2016.
  16. ^ "'Paterson' movie finally coming to Paterson". NJ.com. January 12, 2017. Retrieved January 12, 2017.
  17. ^ "Paterson (2016)". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved June 30, 2020.
  18. ^ "Paterson". Metacritic. Retrieved September 14, 2016.
  19. ^ McCarthy, Todd (May 15, 2016). "'Paterson': Cannes Review". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved December 27, 2016.
  20. ^ Kohn, Eric (May 15, 2016). "Cannes Review: Adam Driver Stars in Jim Jarmusch's 'Paterson,' His Most Intimate Film". Indiewire. Retrieved December 27, 2016.
  21. ^ Edelstein, David (December 26, 2016). "Paterson Evokes the Inner World of the Artist But Flirts With Twee". New York Magazine. Retrieved September 9, 2022.
  22. ^ ""Carol" désigné film de l'année 2016 par les critiques belges". 7sur7 (in French). De Persgroep. January 7, 2017. Archived from the original on January 8, 2017. Retrieved January 8, 2017.
  23. ^ Shanley, Patrick (December 11, 2016). "'La La Land' Named Best Picture by Boston Society of Film Critics". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved December 11, 2016.
  24. ^ "The 2016 Chicago Film Critics Association Award Nominees". Chicago Film Critics Association. December 11, 2016. Retrieved December 12, 2016.
  25. ^ "2016 Gotham Independent Awards Nominations". Rotten Tomatoes. October 20, 2016. Retrieved October 24, 2016.
  26. ^ Greene, Steve (December 19, 2016). "2016 IndieWire Critics Poll: Full List of Results". IndieWire. Retrieved December 27, 2016.
  27. ^ "'Moonlight' and 'Love and Friendship' Lead London Film Critics' Circle Nominations". Variety. December 20, 2016. Retrieved December 20, 2016.
  28. ^ "42nd Annual Los Angeles Film Critics Association Awards 2016 Winners". Los Angeles Film Critics Association. December 4, 2016. Archived from the original on December 21, 2016. Retrieved December 5, 2016.
  29. ^ "Awards for 2016". National Society of Film Critics. January 7, 2017. Retrieved January 7, 2017.
  30. ^ "20th Annual Online Film Critics Society Awards Nominations". Online Film Critics Society. December 27, 2016. Retrieved December 27, 2016.
  31. ^ "2016 San Diego Film Critics Society's Award Nominations". December 9, 2016. Archived from the original on December 21, 2016. Retrieved December 9, 2016.
  32. ^ "San Diego Film Critics Society's 2016 Award Winners". December 12, 2016. Archived from the original on December 20, 2016. Retrieved December 12, 2016.
  33. ^ Vlessing, Etan (December 12, 2016). "'Moonlight' Named Best Film by Toronto Film Critics". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved December 12, 2016.
  34. ^ "Women Film Critics Circle Nominations: "Hidden Figures," "13th," & More". Women and Hollywood. December 19, 2016. Retrieved December 15, 2016.
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