8 March 2010
Fishing with John: Jim Jarmusch (1991)
The first episode of Fishing with John is by far the best. You are simply not prepared for the interplay between the fishers and the narrative (Oh. My. God.), particularly given the whole tone of the fishing sequences is correct, minus the fisherman. They have quiet, introspect conversation while fishing. Jim and John are fishing for a shark in the first episode, out in Montauk. They discuss what they’re going to eat out there on the boat. What makes this first episode so effective is that it’s not quite so invested in the specter of otherness – all the other locales are pretty heavily invested in the exotic. Here, it’s just the men, waking up excited to be alive, hoping for good fortune in their expedition. They are covered in sores and boners.
See all the Fishing with John posts.
Other movies* you might want to read about:
- Fishing with John: Dennis Hopper (1991)
- Fishing with John: Matt Dillon (1991)
- Fishing with John: Tom Waits (1991)
- Fishing with John: Willem Dafoe (1991)
- Berlin Alexanderplatz: The Punishment Begins [Die Strafe beginnt] (1980)