Jim Jarmusch: Music, Words and Noise

Jim Jarmusch: Music, Words and Noise is the first book to examine the films of Jim Jarmusch from a sound-oriented perspective. Exploring the director’s extensive filmography, including Stranger Than Paradise (1984), Down By Law (1986), Dead Man (1995) and Only Lovers Left Alive (2013), Sara Piazza identifies the three essential acoustic elements that structure film: music, words and noise. Through this unique reading, she reveals how Jarmusch created a form of ‘sound democracy’ in film, in which the audible and visual are equally important and different acoustic layers can infiltrate each other. In his cultural melting pot, ‘high’ and ‘low’ coexist: Schubert and Japanese noise bands, Christopher Marlowe and Betty Boop, Bartók and the Wu-Tang Clan. Jarmusch’s distinctive reputation, consolidated over the course of a 30-year career and created by drawing together music, cinema, visual art and literature, is deeply connected to his treatment of sound. Based in New York, Jarmusch was able to develop a fiercely personal vision far from the commercial pressures of Hollywood. This book features original, illuminating interviews with many prominent figures from the film, literary and music worlds, including Ennio Morricone, Luc Sante, Roberto Benigni, John Lurie and Jim Jarmusch himself. A fascinating account of a much-admired body of work, Jim Jarmusch will appeal not only to fans of his work but to all those interested in the connections between sound and film. To visit Sara Piazza’s Jim Jarmusch website please visit: https://jimjarmusch-musicwordsandnoise.com