“I always start with characters rather than with a plot, which many critics would say is very obvious from the lack of plot in my films - although I think they do have plots - but the plot is not of primary importance to me, the characters are.” ThinkingCharacterFilmImportanceCriticsObviousPrimariesPlot Author:Jim Jarmusch
“I like repetition, but I really, really like variations, synchronistic things that happen where you're not really thinking about them.” ThinkingHappensRepetitionVariation Author:Jim Jarmusch
“I have a real respect for tobacco as a substance, and it just seems very funny how the Western attitude is, "Wow, people are addicted to this, think of all the money you can make off it."” PeopleThinkingRealSeemsAttitudeWesternSubstanceWowTobacco Author:Jim Jarmusch
“I think people should have the right to bear arms, but they should be limited as to what kinds of guns they can have.” PeopleThinkingShouldKindArmsBearsGunShould HaveRight To Bear Arms Author:Jim Jarmusch
“I think we need to sort of broaden our definition of poetry, which maybe it's a good thing that they just gave this Nobel Prize to [Bob] Dylan because blurring the lines of song lyrics and also hip-hop for me is like some of the greatest uses - most innovative uses of language in my lifetime.” ThinkingNeedsUseSongLanguageLinesGood ThingsLifetimeDefinitionsHip HopHipsHopsPrizeBobInnovativeDylanNobelNobel PrizeUse Of Language Author:Jim Jarmusch
“I like marginal characters, I like real people. I learn more from talking to my plumber when he comes to fix my toilet than I do from meeting a movie star. I think my movies are in the same vein as that.” PeopleThinkingRealCharacterStarsTalkingMeetingsVeinsMovie StarToiletsPlumber Author:Jim Jarmusch
“Now in the States if you look at the TV, you see the advertisements, the TV programmes, the pop videos, and the movies, they're all the same style. I think it's very condescending to the audience to assume they only have a three second attention span and so they don't leave anything on the screen for any longer. I don't understand that.” IfsThinkingLooksStatesThreeAttentionAudienceStyleTvsAssumingPopsScreensVideoProgrammesAdvertisementsAttention SpanCondescending Author:Jim Jarmusch
“I like to work with actors that have varied experiences. But I don't choose them because of their experience, I choose them because of qualities I think would make an interesting character and to me there is no one way to direct actors, there is only one way to collaborate with one person.” ThinkingWayPersonsCharacterActorsInterestingQualityDirectOne WayInteresting Characters Author:Jim Jarmusch
“I think you can only be nostalgic for something you've lost.” ThinkingLostNostalgic Author:Jim Jarmusch
“I'm not interested in stories. Stories are interesting but I don't think my head works that way. I remember at age 10 I dreamt of making animated cartoons as loops, something you could just project on your wall and look at from time to time. Kind of, something to stare at, something that's always there.” ThinkingWayLooksKindStoriesAgeRememberInterestingWallProjectsStaringNot InterestedCartoonAnimatedLoopsYour Wall Author:Jim Jarmusch
“I realized, "Gee, you're making the same film over and over here." I just kept making them for my own amusement, but also with this thought in my head that I could collect enough songs to make an album out of it. I am attracted to non-dramatic moments in life. The idea of a coffee break is not something you'd think of as being an important part of your day, so these shorts were like little free zones in which we could just play around.” ThinkingLittlesImportantIdeasEnoughPlayMomentsFilmSongMy OwnBreakAlbumsCoffeeI RealizedDramaticZoneAmusementShortsCoffee Break Author:Jim Jarmusch
“If you make a film, that magic is not there, because you were there while shooting it. After writing a film and shooting it and being in the editing room every day, you can never see it clearly. I think other people's perception of your film is more valid than your own, because they have that ability to see it for the first time.” PeopleIfsThinkingWritingFirstsFilmAbilityRoomsMagicPerceptionFirst TimeShootingEditingAbility To See Author:Jim Jarmusch
“I even think the commercial element of new American directors is really fertile right now. There are a lot of filmmakers with very particular visions, like Sofia Coppola and Wes Anderson and P.T. Anderson and Alexander Payne and Peter Sollett and Harmony Korine and Vincent Gallo. At least they're making films that they choose to make, and they're on their own. That's positive to me. This is not a dead period for American cinema at all.” ThinkingFilmVisionParticularPeriodsRight NowDirectorsElementsHarmonyCinemaFilmmakerPeterFertile Author:Jim Jarmusch
“I think of myself as an amateur filmmaker, not a professional, in the sense that "amateur" means love of something, for the form.” ThinkingMeanFormFilmmakerMean Love Author:Jim Jarmusch
“Music, to me, is the most beautiful form, and I love film because film is very related to music. It moves by you in its own rhythm. It's not like reading a book or looking at a painting. It gives you its own time frame, like music, so they are very connected for me. But music to me is the biggest inspiration. When I get depressed, or anything, I go "think of all the music I haven't even heard yet!" So, it's the one thing. Imagine the world without music. Man, just hand me a gun, will you?” ThinkingMenWorldGivingBookHandsInspirationBeautifulFilmMovingFormReadingImagineOne ThingHeardHavensPaintingGunConnectedRhythmRelatedWithout MusicLove FilmsMusic Man Author:Jim Jarmusch
“I don't like American football. I think it's boring and ridiculous and predictable. But baseball is very beautiful. It's played on a diamond.” ThinkingBeautifulFootballBaseballBoringRidiculousDiamondPredictableAmerican FootballVery Beautiful Author:Jim Jarmusch
“When I get depressed, or anything, I go 'think of all the music I haven't even heard yet!' So, it's the one thing. Imagine the world without music. Man, just hand me a gun, will you?” ThinkingMenWorldHandsImagineOne ThingHeardHavensGunWithout MusicMusic Man Author:Jim Jarmusch
“The beauty of ideas is that they are like waves in the ocean and they connect with things that came before them, and I think it is very important to embrace things that interest you and influence you, and incorporate them into what you do, as all artists have always done. The ones that say they don’t, are lying. Or are afraid that their work won’t be seen as being original, somehow.” ThinkingImportantIdeasDoneLyingArtistInterestInfluenceOceanOriginalsEmbraceWaveBeing Original Author:Jim Jarmusch
“I always think the Sex Pistols and the Ramones as very, very important because they stripped things down.” ThinkingImportantSexPistolsRamonesSex Pistols Author:Jim Jarmusch
“I think of poets as outlaw visionaries in a way.” ThinkingWayPoetryPoetVisionariesOutlaw Author:Jim Jarmusch
