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Jim Jarmusch is marveling at the view outside the windows of the hotel room where we meet.
(Our David Edelsteinwas not a fan.
Our Nate Jonessort of was.)
I dont want to harp on it, but we didnt have enough time.
We had to shoot Adam Driver out in three weeks.
The first AD is a very, very difficult job no matter what, but he was fantastic.
He lived up to his name Attila; hes a real warrior, but so polite.
Instead of saying, Okay, roll camera!
he would always say, Would anyone object if we roll camera?
Id be like, I want the camera moved over there!
What are we waiting for?
Could you try that again in a different tone?
Atilla, I think we need to place the camera here as soon as possible.
He was never screaming at anyone, ever.
He got screamedatby people.
The producers would freak out; some of the actors would freak out.
Every AD has back problems.
They have high blood pressure.
Its the roughest job on a film.
Focus Features were great to us.
And we had very limited time due to the actors schedules and the weather.
It rained every day.
Ive always tried to use limitations, to look at them as strengths.
I broke my toe; I had to keep working.
It was like the Book of Job.
I got such a sense of despair from the movie.
Even though its lighthearted in many ways, it has a sense of overwhelming sadness.
It definitely has a sociopolitical thread in it, which is reflective and therefore dark.
But hey, everyone, wake up!
Were in the sixth mass extinction on this planet.
To not have that darkness would have been a little superficial.
Romero does a lot of fascinating things: The zombies are monsters, but theyre not Godzilla.
They dont come from outside the social order.
They come fromwithina collapsing social order.
Its because of some stupid shit humans did that caused them to become undead.
But the zombie concept is already so inherently metaphorical.
So why would you oughta push it?
Were at a crisis because of what his films were warning.
And now were at the endgame of that.
What is more terrifying than having 1 million species going extinct in the last decade?
You also deny the viewer the traditional idea of suspense and conventions like that.
So that were left facing the metaphorical element straight-on.
Youre very in-your-face about what the zombies represent.There arent plot twists or formulaic suspense; its just a progression.
And to me its a character-driven comedy that gets dark.
But Im not big on those formulas.
Everybody else does that.
We werent trying to makeThe Walking Dead.
I dont know if you sawTrain to Busan, the Korean film.
That is a badass zombie film.
And that has terror and suspense.
I love that film for what it is, but this is not that.
It was intended to leave you with the thought,What a fucked-up world.
Thats a little out of my normal … Im not really into being didactic.
I didnt want to hide from it.
Ron Padgett wrote the poems forPaterson.
They embrace all forms of expression: painting, poetry, architecture, anything that moves them.
They are very aware of the importance of humor in the poems.
These have been, in a way, my masters as a filmmaker.
Was that the case here as well?This is a little different.
It kind of got darker.
Thats also why it feels so despairing.
The real problem on this whole planet is divisiveness.
Thats the premier tactic of totalitarianism.
So I dont like the divisive thing.
So we need empathy and togetherness somehow.
Because were all in this together.
Its coming for everybody.
Heres a thing I struggle with, and youre a parent so you probably do, too.
Its paralyzing.Theres a philosophy expressed by RZA inThe Dead Dont Die.
And if you realize the world is perfect, you do appreciate the details of having a consciousness.
Thats not just throwaway to me.
For me, I dont want to put the fear out.
I dont want looming darkness, fear, and paranoia, but I want younger people to be aware.
In fact, the younger people are the leaders now.
Greta Thunberg is one of my leaders.
Teenagers are extremely important to me in many, many ways.
Culturally, they define us, our music, our sense of style.
When they land in Centerville, they are like exotic creatures out of a Guess jeans ad.
I loved Selena inSpring Breakers, Harmony Korines film.
Shes a radiant person, and a very powerful, positive force, especially for young females.
Shes very strong about body shaming, about not trusting social media, that sort of thing.
As well as quite an interesting pop musician.
I love a few of her songs: Bad Liar and It Aint Me are really classic pop songs.
Do you knowBillie Eilish?
What I find really interesting sorry to divert briefly but current pop music is dominated by femininity.
Its very, very female.
Hip-hops a little harder and dominated by the male thing, though there are great female hip-hoppers, too.
I just thought,God, thats a beautiful song.
Im not really a Taylor Swift fan, but when you see strong stuff, its strong.
I got about halfway through, and then I never really finished learning it completely.
Its been growing for a while.
At the time I was like, Gee, Britney Spears.
Now, I see.
Baby One More Time, thats a very important turning point of pop music.
He had a picture of her with her head shaved, saying, She is an artist.
I dont care what you think of her art; she is an artist.
It comes out of her soul.
Give her a break.
All artists are susceptible to a breakdown because of what they give us.
Jonas Mekas, the king of experimental, avant-garde film, standing up for Britney Spears.
I thought that was really beautiful.
The lesser of two evils does not appeal to me, and I dont like the two-party system anyway.
I dont know why people arent all over the Electoral College and this nonsense.
Well, I do know why, because its the corporate media.
Theyre all the same; its just the Trump channels.
I like some things about Elizabeth Warren.
I, of course, like Bernie Sanders.
And, of course, I like AOC; shes too young.
But Im trying to stay away from it right now because the Joe Biden thing makes me deeply depressed.
Do you read your reviews?I try not to.
I really love bad reviews, so I read the really negative ones.
Jarmusch is 33 years old, the age Christ was when he was crucified.
We can only hope the same for his film career.
I loved that one, man!
Youve gotten some bad reviews for this one.Weve got some, especially from the trades.
I read a few.
I also know hard-core horror nerds may not like this film.
Trump people arent going to like this film, and thats a lot of people already.
Were apparently really strong in France.
And we apparently got nice things here, inTimeandThe Wall Street Journal, places I wouldnt expect.
I did read the nice thing by Richard Brody inThe New Yorker, where they have the little picks.
What are the films you watch these days?Oh boy, I watch a lot of films.
I saw a lot of beautiful ones that were almost mainstream last year, likeRomaandThe Favourite.
I really liked, except for the music,At Eternitys Gate, Julian Schnabels film with Willem Dafoe.
I likedHigh Life, a very strange Claire Denis film.
I likedShoplifters,BlacKkKlansman,Death of Stalin,Minding the Gap.
That is a masterpiece.
Why cant they just give David Lynch whatever money he needs?
Why cant you give Terry Gilliam?
He needs money to make something; just give it to him!
This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.
