‎Night on Earth (1991) directed by Jim Jarmusch • Reviews, film + cast • Letterboxd

Night on Earth

1991 Directed by Jim Jarmusch

Five Taxis. Five Cities. One Night.

An anthology of 5 different cab drivers in 5 American and European cities and their remarkable fares on the same eventful night.

Winona Ryder Gena Rowlands Lisanne Falk Alan Randolph Scott Anthony Portillo Giancarlo Esposito Armin Mueller-Stahl Rosie Perez Richard Boes Isaach De Bankolé Béatrice Dalle Pascal N'Zonzi Emile Abossolo M'bo Noel Kaufmann Stéphane Boucher Roberto Benigni Paolo Bonacelli Gianni Schettino Antonio Ragusa Nicola Facondo Camilla Begnoni Romolo Di Biasi Donatella Servadio Matti Pellonpää Kari Väänänen Sakari Kuosmanen Tomi Salmela Eija Vilpas Jaakko Talaskivi Show All… Klaus Heydemann

129 mins More details at IMDb TMDb Report this film

Popular reviews

Review by Katie ★★★★½ 2

Winona Ryder, Date Me Please
Review by Eli Hayes ★★★★★ 18

10/10 for the Benigni sequence alone.
Review by Leo (Willem) van der Zanden 🔥⬇🏠 ★★★★★ 7

The Ultimate Challenge - Film #2
Added to: People-being-People List

It's clear that I haven't watched enough Jarmusch yet. Night on Earth is one of the most enjoyable cinematic experiences I've ever had and that only comes from one thing: it's unbridled realism. Yes, there are some overtly expressive characters in here and some ridiculous cases of black humor but I feel (feel, as this is only my second Jarmusch) that this is exactly the thing that makes his films so worthwhile.

My only other experience with his cinema was his 2014 feature Only Lovers Left Alive, a bleak interpretation of the vampire myth, that lives on its humane undertone in these inexplicable creatures. With Night on Earth this is…
Review by Hollie Horror ★★★★★ 2

Night on Earth surpassed my expectations. I always love character studies and this is like having five, mini-character studies in one film. Each segment as good as the last.

We are taken to Los Angeles, NYC, Paris, Rome and Helsinki. Each story has it's own personality, much like the individual person driving the taxi, the individuals as passengers and the city themselves are given a perfect opportunity to show their individual personalities too, through the people who live and work there and not to mention the beautiful shots captured on film, city landscapes from the hood of the car and wide shots of the city itself.

Jim Jarmusch did a wonderful job filming each city too, the audience feels as…
Review by Varghese Eapen ★★★★½

Taxi #1 - Always follow your dreams

Taxi #2 - The Funniest of the 5.

Taxi #3 - Never Judge Others

Taxi #4 - Life is too short, so enjoy while you can!

Taxi #5 - Life can be cruel and unfair.
Review by CinemaShadow ★★★★

Using his typical comic-philosophical method, Jarmusch shows us how despite the differences in language, culture, geography and politics the humanity is the same world over. Jarmusch has explored this theme on other occasions as well but this feels like the most obvious representation of it. Watching it for the first time now also makes me wonder whether it led the way for the confessional hidden camera stuff that became popular many year ago. Anywho, this is a funny yet poignant journey with some great music, photography and performances.

Recent reviews

Review by Josh Welch-Larson ★★★★

Jim Jarmusch, do my city next (Chicago or Sheboygan)!
Review by Sarah Welch-Larson ★★★★

Night on Earth locations, ranked:
5) Rome
4) New York
3) Los Angeles (might be higher if Winona Ryder didn’t smack her gum)
2) Helsinki
1) Paris
Review by Jay ★★★★

Story Ranking:
1st: 7/10
2nd: 9/10
3rd: 5/10
4th: 10/10
5th: 9/10
Review by MAD_Matt_Review ★★★★½

I have to disagree with those who say the five vignettes don't connect well enough to make one well-rounded feature. They deal with different people, places and concerns, but the themes and tone remain prevalent throughout, reflecting on humanity's similarities and differences across differing nations and cultures. This was a really engrossing and unique type of film.
Review by leeya ★★★★½

I dunno exactly why but I love this film! so much! I love how the colors and lights of each city are each so different and how the cities light up the cabs. Paris, Rome, and Helsinki are my favorites (in that order).
Review by boob girl ★★★★

This review may contain spoilers. I can handle the truth.

oh dear it’s roberto benigni and this time he drives a car without any fear whatsoever and also gives a man a heart attack all because he was smoking in said car (now that i think about it, he should’ve had fear when he made pinocchio)
Review by Raster Image

5 stories set in taxis in 5 different cities, varying in mood, all of them super-cool, i like them all and they go together nicely. some of them are hilarious, i haven't laughed this much in a cinema for ages. nice to see lots of familiar faces in it, not to mention superb characters. the ace soundtrack by Tom Waites works brilliantly.

they say 'taxi' is the word shared by the most languages around the world. today i leaned that in Finnish it's 'taksi', which is adorable.
Review by Kirk Percival ★★★★½

Love this movie. Might be my favourite Jarmusch along with Down by Law.
Review by Kim Hart ★★★★½

not to sound like an 18-year-old who just got accepted into the undergraduate film program at NYU Tisch but i would literally die for Jim Jarmusch