My film education formally began the day I was introduced to Jim Jarmusch. Of course, I’m not the only one who has found the director to be both an inspiration and an influence. Hailed as the last true independent American filmmaker, he is also arguably the most European of American directors: His use of the distinct American landscape as a backdrop for his loose narratives echoes the films of Jean-Luc Godard and François Truffaut. At a time when MTV was being launched and filmgoers had short attention spans, Jarmusch’s Stranger Than Paradise stood out.
