Permanent Vacation (1980)

User Rating:

6.1/10   

Director:

Jim Jarmusch

Writer:

Jim Jarmusch (written by)

Release Date:

26 July 1986 (Japan)

Genre:

Drama

Plot:

A young slacker wanders New York City searching for some meaning in life and encounters many idiosyncratic characters.

Plot Keywords:

Slacker | Manhattan | New York City | Mental Patient | Tribeca

Awards:

1 win

Cast

Richard Boes	...	War vet
Ruth Bolton	...	Mother
Sara Driver	...	Nurse
María Duval	...	Latin girl
Frankie Faison	...	Man in lobby
Jane Fire	...	Nurse
Suzanne Fletcher	...	Girl in car
Leila Gastil	...	Leila
Chris Hameon	...	French traveller
John Lurie	...	Sax player
Eric Mitchell	...	Car fence
Chris Parker	...	Allie
Lisa Rosen	...	Popcorn girl
Felice Rosser	...	Woman by mailbox
Evelyn Smith	...	Patient
Charlie Spademan	...	Patient

Directed by
Jim Jarmusch

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Jim Jarmusch		written by

Produced by
Jim Jarmusch	....	producer

Original Music by
Jim Jarmusch
John Lurie

Cinematography by
Tom DiCillo
James A. Lebovitz

Film Editing by
Jim Jarmusch

Production Management
Sara Driver	....	production manager

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Sara Driver	....	assistant director

Sound Department
Kevin Dowd	....	sound
Mike Hessing	....	additional sound
Lisa Kaplan	....	sound mixer: final mix
Virgil Morefield	....	additional sound
Shi Sun	....	additional sound

Camera and Electrical Department
Howard Brookner	....	gaffer
Ken Kalb	....	gaffer
Louis Suckle	....	assistant camera

Editorial Department
Tim Brennan	....	negative matcher

Music Department
John Lurie	....	musician: saxes

Other crew
Philippe Hagen	....	title designer
Skeezo	....	title designer

Production Companies

• Cinesthesia Productions

Distributors

• Criterion Collection, The (2007) (USA) (DVD)
• King Record Co. (2006) (Japan) (DVD)
• Kinowelt Home Entertainment (2006) (Germany) (DVD)
• Madman Entertainment (2005) (Australia) (all media)
• Madman Entertainment (2005) (New Zealand) (all media)
• Svenska Filminstitutet (SFI) (1987) (Sweden) (theatrical)

Also Known As:

Loputon loma (Finland) [fi]
Nieustajace wakacje (Poland) [pl]

Runtime:

75 min | Argentina:80 min (Buenos Aires Festival Internacional de Cine Independiente)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Australia:PG | Argentina:Atp | Sweden:Btl | Finland:S | Hong Kong:I | Switzerland:16

Filming Locations:

New York City, New York, USA

Company:

Cinesthesia Productions

Trivia:

The book Allie gives Leila is "Maldoror and Poems" by Lautreamont (Penguin Classics 1978), one of the earliest surrealist stories.

Goofs:

Errors made by characters (possibly deliberate errors by the filmmakers): When Allie reads to Leila from the book, he does not read continuously but instead takes snippets from the text, skipping sentences as he does.

Quotes:

Leila: Where have you been? I haven't seen you since Thursday.
Allie: Walking, just walking around. I can't seem to sleep at night, not in this city.
Leila: Doesn't seem like you sleep at all.
Allie: Well, I have my dreams while I'm awake.

Movie Connections:

Features Il buono, il brutto, il cattivo. (1966)

Soundtrack:

Up There in Orbit

Assured first film

Assured first film from Jarmusch is pretty tough viewing to begin with. Slow moving or not moving at all and ponderous, seeming inconsequential dialogue but then somewhere along the line we find ourselves captivated. Beautifully shot with ugly/beautiful still shots of back streets of New York. Apart from a scene showing the lead guy spray painting a sub title for the film and thereby seeming to plant the film within the late 70s or 80s, the rest of the 'action' gives more the impression of taking place in the late 60s/early 70s. It may well be that Jarmusch has not set the film in the past but that his cinematic influences are from that period. In any event this is well worth a watch and as with all the man's films there is a fiercely compassionate element. Even when the characters appear completely unappealing, we are somehow encouraged to feel some degree of empathy.