Mystery Train was director Jim Jarmusch’s 4th film and his first since his low-budget debut, Permanent Vacation, to be shot in colour. His previous two were strikingly shot in black and white, which suggests that Jarmusch wished to visually capture Memphis in the best way that he could. Despite being portrayed as a city desperately living off its former glories, Mystery Train mainly portrays Memphis as glamorous in its own quirky way. Right from the opening scene of the film’s first segment, Far from Yokohama, the characters of Japanese tourists Mitzuko and Jun immediately have their idealistic view of the city shattered by the train window view of a scrapyard. However, Mitzuko’s optimism helps to highlight the remaining beauty of the city.
All three segments of the film are connected through one night/morning, the setting of the rundown Arcade Hotel, and the duo of Screamin’ Jay Hawkins’ night clerk and Cinqué Lee’s bellboy, who provide some excellent comedic moments throughout. Comedy is also present in the clashing personalities of Jun and Mitzuko, with Jun being much blunter and expressing his preference for Carl Perkins whenever Elvis Presley is mentioned. The second segment, A Ghost, takes more of a fantastical approach with Nicoletta Braschi’s Luisa being bothered and possibly scammed by multiple strange men who she encounters in the city. Including a man played by Tom Noonan, claiming to have seen the ghost of Elvis himself. The third and final segment, Lost in Space, is easily the most downtrodden of the three, if only because it gives up on any of the glamour shown in the previous segments. Here, The Clash frontman Joe Strummer plays British ex-pat Johnny. All three segments focus on foreign protagonists, giving it a very international feel.
Jarmusch effectively paints a picture of not only his characters but also their surroundings, and here they are blended magnificently.
Jarmusch’s portrayal of Memphis is unique in that it is far from attractive yet he wishes to show its beauty as seen by the city’s inhabitants. John Lurie’s score, combining blues with the spirit of rock n roll, helps personify this. Tom Waits, possibly reprising his role of Zack from Jarmusch’s earlier Down by Law, also makes voice-only cameos as a radio DJ throughout the anthology. The characters focused on in Lost in Space either appear or are mentioned in the previous two segments, giving extra significance to the film’s interconnectedness and the urgency of the last segment. When I first watched Mystery Train, I was thrown off by the contrast of Lost in Space to the other two vignettes, with the plot suddenly turning to a crime theme and with Memphis looking even more dilapidated. To me, it comes across as a reflection of the personalities of the main characters of each segment. Mitzuko is full of optimism and wonder, Luisa is cautious yet caring, whilst Johnny is reckless and self-destructive. Jarmusch effectively paints a picture of not only his characters but also their surroundings, and here they are blended magnificently.
Mystery Train is a thoughtful, and very funny look at the city of Memphis, and more importantly its past glories. At one point, Braschi’s Luisa refers to “Elvis Presley. The dead singer”, beforehand being referred to as the King or similar, which suggests that the city is trying too hard to maintain its legacy. However, Jarmusch retains an endearing viewpoint for most of the runtime.
Criterion’s release of Mystery Train, making its UK debut, spouts a gorgeous and colourful transfer, and a generous helping of extras such as a lengthy Q&A with Jarmusch, on-set polaroids taken by Cinqué Lee, and a location retrospective, all of which give a fascinating glimpse into what went into making the feature, and Jarmusch’s outlook on filmmaking.
Mystery Train is out now on Criterion Collection (UK) Blu-Ray
