When Jim Jarmusch showed his 1989 film, “Mystery Train” at the Criterion Collection curated screening room at the All Tomorrow’s Parties indie-rock festival in New York earlier this year, we assumed this was a good sign.
And it turns out it was more than just wishful thinking on our side. Criterion has announced via Facebook that “Mystery Train” will indeed come to the collection next summer.
When we released Jim Jarmusch’s films Down by Law and Night on Earth, the supplement Ask Jim, in which he answered questions viewers wrote in about his films, was so popular that we’ve decided to do it again. We are currently working on the special edition of Jarmusch’s Mystery Train, and we are wondering what questions you would like answered about the film. We can’t guarantee he will answer all (or any) of your questions on the release, but please post them in the comments here. Thanks for participating and look out for Criterion’s edition of Mystery Train this summer!
Jarmusch’s oblique, Memphis-set “Mystery Train,” focuses on three stories connected by a local hotel and the spirit of Elvis Presley and also features acting turns from the Clash’s Joe Strummer and a pair of late R&B greats, Screamin’ Jay Hawkins and Rufus Thomas. The film is divided into three sections “Far From Yokohama” (which features the Asian couple Masatoshi Nagase and Youki Kudoh — more than a decade later she would appear in Jarmusch’s “The Limits of Control”); “A Ghost” (starting Roberto Begnini’s wife Nicoletta Braschi and Elizabeth Bracco) and the final story “Lost In Space” which stars Steve Buscemi, a drunken Joe Strummer and Rick Aviles in a botched robbery attempt.
Truthfully, and other Playlisters may disagree, this is actually this writer’s least favorite Jarmusch film, but whatever, that’s relative, the more the merrier really. All of his films should get that fine Criterion treatment.
Other recent Criterion confirmations on their Facebook include Jean-Luc Godard’s 1967 film, “Week End” — perhaps his last great ’60s classic and upcoming films by Jacques Rivette. We would give our left nut if they would finally release his elliptical 3 hours-plus classic, “Celine and Julie Go Boating,” but it sounds like some Rivette is eventually coming (though some are taking this post as confirmation of Rivette’s 12 hour and 45 minute opus, “Out 1” but that’s pretty flimsy confirmation in our book). As always, the Criterion forum has an excellent list of potential titles. If the unsourced listing seems dubious, you can rest assured that many of the titles are hints that come from Criterion insiders or associates, and further details for many of them can be found in the Rumors And News section of the forum.