Jim Jarmusch’s new film about a poet in Paterson, New Jersey is one of my favorite films of 2016. I saw it twice at the Cannes Film Festival, wrote a glowing review (calling it “the rare perfect film“), and caught it again in Berlin a few weeks ago. As expected with pretty much every film that premieres to rave reviews at a festival, there will be a backlash. One of the most vocal complaints I’ve been hearing about Paterson has to do with the lead woman in the film, the wife of Adam Driver’s bus driver character. She is played by Iranian actress Golshifteh Farahani and has a major role in the story, as he wakes up with her every day and she encourages him to publish the poems he is writing in his notebook. I believe she is the perfect character, in a way that is off-putting perhaps (she’s “too” perfect), but it still works for this particular film. Let me explain. ›››
Continue reading Perfection: In Defense of Golshifteh Farahani’s Character in ‘Paterson’
