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Gena Rowlands, Winona Ryder, Rosie Perez, Giancarlo Esposito, Armin Mueller-Stahl ... see more see more... , Roberto Benigni , Beatrice Dalle , Lisanne Falk , Alan Randolph Scott , Paolo Bonacelli , Matti Pellonpää , Emile Abossolo-M'bo , Richard Boes , Stéphane Boucher , Isaach De Bankolé , Romolo di Biasi , Nicola Facondo , Noel Kaufmann , Sakari Kuosmanen , Pascal Nzonzi , Anthony Portillo , Antonino Ragusa , Tomi Salmela , Gianni Schettino , Donatella Servadio , Jaakko Talaskivi , Kari Väänänen , Eija Vilpas , Klaus Heydemann

Jim Jarmusch's deadpan comedy-of-the-night is a collection of five vignettes taking place in the enclosed space of a cab ride, each occurring simultaneously in five different cities and five different... read more read more... time zones -- Los Angeles, New York City, Paris, Rome, and Helsinki. The Los Angeles episode takes place at dusk, as high-powered casting agent Victoria (Gena Rowlands) gets a ride from L.A. International Airport with tomboy driver Corky (Winona Ryder), who would rather go on driving her cab than take up Victoria's offer to make her a superstar. In New York City, novice East German cabbie Helmut Grokenberger (Armin Mueller-Stahl) has difficulty working the foot pedals to his hack, and his passenger, YoYo (Giancarlo Esposito), ends up driving himself to Brooklyn, picking up the shrill-voiced Angela (Rosie Perez) along the way. In Paris, an African cab driver (Isaach De Bankolé) ejects a collection of drunken African diplomats from his cab and picks up a beautiful but surly blind girl (Béatrice Dalle). In Rome, cab driver Gino (Roberto Benigni) engages in a heartfelt monologue confessing his past sexual exploits to his passenger, a priest who is dying of a heart attack in the back seat. The film winds down in the last melancholy vignette, taking place in Helsinki, as taxi driver Mika (Matti Pellonpää) picks up three inebriated workmen who regale him with hard-luck stories. But Mika has a much harsher story of his own to tell. ~ Paul Brenner, Rovi

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90% liked it

19,393 ratings

Critics

71% liked it

21 critics

R, 2 hr. 5 min.

Directed by: Jim Jarmusch

Release Date: December 12, 1991

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DVD Release Date: September 4, 2007

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Flixster Reviews (1,042)

  • fb1664868775
    October 27, 2011
    fb1664868775
    With this collection of shorts Jarmusch still has done no wrong. I especially love the first sequence with Gena Rowlands and Winona Ryder as well as the sequence with Giancarlo Esposito and Rosie Perez.
  • jennifxu
    April 29, 2011
    jennifxu
    I so don't believe Winona Ryder as a cab driver but I think that's the point.
  • SirPant
    December 31, 2010
    SirPant
    Jarmusch once said "The beauty of life is in small details, not in big events". Watch Night on Earth to understand exactly what he means by that. A great cast in a great collection of short films, brilliant, the best of American independent cinema.
  • kenstachnik
    May 18, 2009
    kenstachnik
    Very funny and even touching at times. An odd cult film made in the way only Jarmusch can. Worth it for Benigni's segment alone.
  • cosmo313
    February 28, 2009
    cosmo313
    I may be overinflating the rating by just a bit (maybe a half-star too many), but this movie, or better yet, collection of five related vignettes really got to be on a deep level. This ended up being the perfect movie for a stay at home dinne/movie date. The connection between th... read moree five stories is that they all take place on the same night in five different cities around the world, and each story looks at the interaction between a cabbie and their passenger(s). In the end, this becomes a connection of character studies, of life itself, and how itr seems that only at night are people truly open with their words and feelings. It's quriky, funny (at times down right hilarious), and ultimately moving and heartfelt. Check this one out. Unlike Rachel Getting Married (among others), this is an indie film that doesn't suck.
  • YLOWBSTARDreturns
    March 23, 2008
    YLOWBSTARDreturns
    Jarmusch's best work. A masterpiece.

    *On my "best of the 1990s" list.
  • RossCollinsUK
    May 29, 2007
    RossCollinsUK
    5 cities, 5 cabs, 1 night. A mixture of philosophical sketches that only briefly makes one ponder and comedy sketches that work better. It may once have been an original comparison of cultures, but nowadays just seems very dated.
  • garyX
    March 6, 2007
    garyX
    Nicely shot but ultimately superficial collection of shorts by Jim Jarmusch. Some stories impress more than others, but the stories are never fleshed out as they are just TOO short. A case of style over substance.
  • mjgildea
    November 5, 2006
    mjgildea
    A funny and touching movie.
  • ryguy4738
    December 21, 2011
    ryguy4738
    **** out of ****

    Jim Jarmusch understands human beings. The way I see it, he has lived out his life observing them; forever fascinated by the things they say, the ways in which they move, and how they think. A born filmmaker; he brings his general interest in mankind to the sc... read morereen with much passion. It's what he's been doing since "Stranger Than Paradise" and "Mystery Train"; and it's what he's doing in "Night on Earth" - which is one of my personal favorites from the director. It's an anthology film told in five acts; each one bearing both differences and similarities in both setting and characters (they all take place in taxi cabs and depict the relationship/bond shared between driver and passenger). This is not much unlike "Mystery Train"; which only took about three separate anthology pieces to tell the story - but at least it doesn't feel as if Jarmusch is filling his vision to the top with ideas that he can't properly execute. He has one main focus and his grasp is - to say the least - rather tight.

    Part one of five - the driver is Corky (Winona Ryder), the passenger is Hollywood executive Victoria Snelling (Gena Rowlands), and the city is Los Angeles. When the journey begins, it is the evening; the taxi ride goes well into the night. Since there isn't much to do in a cab (unless you've got a cellular phone, like Victoria does *shocker*); the two women decide to engage in some prolonged, thoughtful chats. Initially off-put by Corky's tomboyish and often times unfiltered - vulgar - attitude; Victoria soon learns to appreciate the youngster, and once they arrive at their destination, Jarmusch finds it the perfect moment for an honest, all too human end-of-the-road dialogue exchange between these two characters; and for the night, it shall be their last.

    The city is now New York. A determined black man - whose name is revealed to be "Yo Yo" (Giancarlo Esposito) - calls for just a single cab to pick him up, even when the city that never sleeps happens to be filled with them. Not one will pick him up; it's most likely a racial thing, in this instance. But then, one taxi pulls over and the driver - an older man with the peculiar name of Helmut Grokenberger (Armin Mueller-Stahl) - offers Yo Yo a lift. He accepts, but then considers declining the offer any further when he discovers the position of his driver; an immigrant from Slovakia with little experience as a taxi driver and much more as a clown in his homeland. Like the first unlikely two taxi-occupants, these two get increasingly bored over time and find solace in each-other through conversation. And as can be expected from Jarmusch - a talented and inspired storyteller - the dialogue is engaging.

    Smack dab in the middle we've got Paris, France. We open on the driver (Isaach De Bankole) - who goes unnamed - as he is harassed by two businessmen, and think of it, in the comfort of his own cab! He kicks them out, leaves them in the streets, and looks for new business; ultimately finding it in a blind woman (Beatrice Dalle), with whom he would much like to swap personal life philosophies. But she's a tough cookie; and it isn't going to be particularly easy to reach her. The driver - who is from the Ivory Coast - will find that the racial gap between the two is larger and far more significant than initially predicted.

    Next to last, we end up in Rome, Italy. From the clocks that are shown between each individual segment (and in the beginning of the film), we learn that it is early morning. The cab driver in the fourth part of the story is Gino (Roberto Benigni). He spends his nights and early mornings having lonely - but very funny - conversations with the two-way radio; in which he describes disturbing - but again, quite amusing - sexual fantasies. After his first attempt at this, he finally finds himself a customer; a priest (Paolo Bonacelli). Things just get even weirder than they already were once the priest steps into the cab; as Gino decides this would be a good time to confess his sins to the holy man - some of which include sexual encounters with pumpkins and sheep, and a romantic affair with his brother's wife. His description of such things proves too much for the priest; in the end leaving the driver in a sticky situation.

    Finally, we arrive in Helsinki; where taxi driver Mika (Matt Pellonpaa) feels as desolate and alone as any cab driver working the late night shift; that is until he assigns himself to picking up three good ol' boys. And while one of them is far from OK mentally or physically, they're still, well, good ol' boys. You see, the one who isn't quite right has just had the worst day of his life; he lost his job, his car, his wife, and his daughter is pregnant. It would seem that his buddies tried to aid him and ultimately drowned their collective sorrows in alcohol; which, as we can see, lead to not much of anything at all. However, in telling their friend's sad story; Mika decides to share his own, which is melancholic on a whole new level - but at the same time, entirely heartfelt.

    I've said too much about each fifth that makes up the film's plot; I just couldn't help myself. Now you know all that you NEED to know if you plan on watching this film; which is, in my opinion, a triumph in the understanding of human nature. The dialogue is rich and very...real. The situation are believable and often times, they have some sort of payoff which comes in both the emotional and intellectual variety. As with the best films from writer-director Jarmusch; "Night on Earth" has a philosophy and a purpose, both of which run deep in spite of the lack of a "moral message". But...must all films have one? I don't think so; of course, a pointless film is needless, but one that is good on its own without a distraction of message-making is just fine by me. For fans of Jarmusch, this one pulls very few punches; it's what you'd expect from one of modern independent cinema's pioneers. You will either find each segment intoxicating and involving or slow and plodding. But that is, ultimately, where the beauty is at.

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Critic Reviews

Vincent Canby
May 20, 2003
Vincent Canby, New York Times

With this, his fourth commercially released feature, Mr. Jarmusch again demonstrates his mastery of comedy of the oblique. Full Review

Roger Ebert
January 1, 2000
Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times

At the end, we have learned no great lessons and arrived at no thrilling conclusions, but we have shared the community of the night, when people are unbuttoned and vulnerable - more ready to speak abo... Full Review

Hal Hinson
January 1, 2000
Hal Hinson, Washington Post

Unfortunately, Jarmusch's lackadaisical minimalist aesthetic and his chronic lack of energy are the only unifying elements. Full Review

Desson Thomson
January 1, 2000
Desson Thomson, Washington Post

"Night on Earth" sounds better than it turns out to be. Full Review

Owen Gleiberman
December 12, 1991
Owen Gleiberman, Entertainment Weekly

Night on Earth dawdles a bit, and a couple of the segments, notably the one in Helsinki, feel like half-baked epiphanies. Throughout, though, there are moments that catch you delightfully off guard. Full Review

Dennis Schwartz
October 26, 2008
Dennis Schwartz, Ozus' World Movie Reviews

Takes us to places most other filmmakers never do. Full Review

Chris Cabin
February 13, 2008
Chris Cabin, Filmcritic.com

Jarmusch's most accessible exercise to date while also his least seen Full Review

Emanuel Levy
September 16, 2006
Emanuel Levy, EmanuelLevy.Com

Revisiting his interest in oblique comedy, Jarmusch explores a primal relationship, that of a passenger and taxi driver, using the cab as a temporary shared world, from which one party may emerge shak... Full Review

Geoff Andrew
January 26, 2006
Geoff Andrew, Time Out

Though it may take a while to get Jarmusch's gist, hang in there; by the time Tom Waits growls his lovely closing waltz over the credits, Jarmusch has shown us moments most filmmakers don't even notice. Full Review

Cole Smithey
November 14, 2005
Cole Smithey, ColeSmithey.com

Almost good, but not quite there.

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    • Gino: A bishop; he weighs more like a cardinal!
    • Gino: I shouldn't have told him about the sheep and Monica.
    • YoYo: Helmet, that's a fucked up name.
    • Helmut Grokenberger: I was a circus clown.
    • Helmut Grokenberger: We have the same head.
    • Victoria Snelling: [speaking to her ringing cell phone] Oh shut up!
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Night on Earth Trivia

  • In what movie does a UFO land on halloween night, thinking they can destroy earth ?  Answer »
  • Winona Ryder was a Taxidriver in what movie?  Answer »
  • Which actress is said to have been discovered by Jim Jarmusch in a park in Paris and put her in his film, Night On Earth?  Answer »
  • Who directed "Night on Earth"?  Answer »
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