Customer Reviews

Mystery Train

5 star:		(14)
4 star:		(16)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

I recently got this DVD and was dismayed to find that the English subtitles were missing (as the last reviewer pointed out.) I just found a fix that may work for some people. The "Subtitles" screen lists only French and Spanish as choices. But the remote for my Toshiba 3109 player has a "Subtitles" button that can be used while the movie is playing. With "Mystery Train" this button brings up four choices: "1 Fre", "2 Spa", "3 Fre" and "4 Spa". The first two will bring up French or Spanish subtitles as expected. But choosing either "3 Fre" or "4 Spa" will cause English subtitles to appear for the Japanese portions of the film! So the disc is indeed bungled, but this workaround made it watchable for me. And yes, it's a great movie!

How my ratings work:
5 - I really liked/loved it
4 - I liked it
3 - Could've been better/worth a look
2 - Just didn't live up to the potential
1 - Simply awful

This is the second Jim Jarmusch film I've seen and is probably my favorite of his movies. The stories are so orginal and flat out hilarious, all three taking place in Memphis, Tennesee and involving Elvis Presley in some way. The best story is the first, Far From Yokohama, involving the young Japanese couple (Masatoshi Nagasai & Yuki Kudoh) visiting Memphis for the first time. Though the other two stories, A Ghost and Lost In Space are also funny. Music legend Screamin' Jay Hawkins is terrific as the night manager of a run down hotel. Highly recomended for any movie fan or Jarmusch fan who hasn't seen this movie.

A quirky minimalist movie by Jim Jarmusch that is well thought out and cleverly devised that will leave viewers either fascinated or cold. It takes place during a single night in Memphis, and revolves around three unconnected storylines: a Japanese couple on a "pilgrimage" to Elvis shrines, an Italian woman whose flight back to Rome has been delayed, and a trio of young sleazes who get drunk and shoot a liquor store owner. They all spend the night at a fleabag hotel (The Arcade, run by Screamin' Jay Hawkins!). Jarmusch's use of flashback, a la RASHOMON, is clever and inspired. But Jarmush also likes to use long takes of scenes in which virtually nothing happens, which can make the movie feel long and ponderous. It's still the best of his movies, though.

What "Mystery Train" gives us a dandy, light slice of indie noir. Here, three tales in a broken-down hotel. One about an Italian widow. Second, about a corrupt British Elvis impersonator and his American girlfriend. And lastly, about two Japanese tourists.

What makes "Mystery Train" so interesting and involving is the way the characters are portrayed and how they react to certain things. Example: The Italian widow speaking to the ghost of Elvis.

But it's Jarmusch's directing that makes this quirky, funny, and touching, which should have won him an Oscar for "Best Independent Film of the Year." Sumptuous, funny, touching, and offbeat, it's a delight from start to finish.

Rated R for language and some nudity.

Yes, there are english subtitles on the 3rd and 4th subtitle channels. BUT...and here's the rub. I'm pretty sure, the subtitles are not accurate and the subtlety of Jarmusch's dialogue is ruined. Some of the humour is not there.

Jim Jarmusch hit the nail on the head with this film. I happened to come across it years ago while browsing in a video store. I was so captivated by it, I went out and rented another VCR so I could dub the copy of it on to a VHS tape. Perhaps that will shed some light on how good this movie is. Perhaps.

I now have it on DVD and, since purchasing it, have watched it repeatedly. This movie sucks you in and never lets you go from the very opening shot. The cinematography, the dialogue, the direction...all are simply amazing. The humor too...it's a level of humor that is never loud or brash or "in your face." It's a witty sense of humor and it fits perfectly.

Another thing that bears mentioning is the cast. The actors are amazing. Screamin' Jay, Joe Strummer, et al. All are just incredible.

Definitely check this movie out. It has a very "Night on Earth" feel to it, if you've seen that movie. Basically four different story-lines, all inter-woven and inter-related, that sort of all come together in the end. Things happen from one point of you (i.e., the Japanese tourists hearing the gun shot while in the hotel room), then later you see what has happened from the other individual's point of view (i.e. the gun shot "victim"). Maybe that's done nothing but confused you, but take my word (for what it's worth) that it all comes together perfectly.

I'm certain you will enjoy this one. Also, Tom Waits fans take note...you'll get to hear him in this flick. As an aside, I mentioned "Night on Earth"....if you like Tom Waits, get that movie as well.

Enjoy kiddies.

The roads to a town usually bring people home or people away from home. The road in Mystery Train is a railroad where the Amtrak delivers people through a city where some get off. People arriving to the town come there for different reasons and they leave for different reasons. Mystery Train is a study of people in the same place at the same time.

Memphis, Tennessee, is the destination for a young Japanese couple that arrives to see Graceland and other tourist attractions of the 1950s American music. Disoriented and detached from the American society, Jun (Masatoshi Nagase) and Mitsuko (Youki Kudoh) experience a drastic culture clash, as they compare their home Yokohama with Memphis. The space between them and Memphis continues to grow, as they speak broken English muddled by their Japanese accents. Nonetheless, Jun and Mitsuko find a dirty and shabby hotel where they decide to spend the night.

Stuck for a night in Memphis the audience gets to follow the Italian woman Luisa (Nicoletta Braschi) who attempts to find a way to pass time while wandering around in the town. People try to take advantage of her innocence while preying on her kindness and the dollar bills in her purse. In order to escape a possible dangerous situation she arrives in the same shabby hotel where the young Japanese couple is spending the night.

The third story that the audience gets to follow is about Johnny (Joe Strummer) who recently has lost his job and his wife. In drunkenness Johnny escapes the reality of Memphis, as the pain that he suffers is all too real while hiding a gun tucked away in his belt. An acquaintance calls his friend Will (Rick Aviles) who calls his brother-in-law Charlie (Steve Buscemi), as they are worried about him being drunk and having a gun. Johnny brings his two friends on a hazardous journey with the gun, which ends at the shabby hotel where the foreigners are spending their night.

Mystery Train provides an insightful and thoughtful venture for the audience while three different stories converge in the same hotel. Some are arriving to Memphis as others are trying to leave while some are stuck there without the notion of leaving. The different characters are all unique. Their uniqueness brings them all different experiences despite being at the same location at the same time. Jim Jarmusch provides an outmost clever depiction of the convergence of people in time and place, which of course provides an unique experience to all the people involved due to their own uniqueness. This trivial notion turns into an existential philosophical debate through Jarmusch's eye, which offers something for all to contemplate.

Well, I've bought 2 copies from Amazon.com, and one from my local retailer (Tower) and all I have to say is I wished I could WATCH it! I've heard similar complaints from others I work with who've bought this disc: IT DOESN'T PLAY! I mean, literally--it won't play in the average DVD player! Strange, but true. MGM: WHAT'S GOING ON?

Released in 1989, MYSTERY TRAIN was Jim Jarmusch's third film. The film consists of three independent but interlocking vignettes which take place in a Memphis hotel run by Screamin' Jay Hawkins with the help of bellboy Cinque Lee.

In the first scene, young Japanese tourists Mitsuko (Youki Kudoh) and Jun (Matsatoshi Nagase) pass through Memphis to see the monuments of 1950s rock 'n' roll. Their relationship isn't going so well, evoking tragedy. The second vignette introduces us to a recently widowed Italian woman (Nicoletta Braschi) who has to spend a night in town before she can depart with her husband's coffin. Finally, the third vignette follows the post-layoff bender of a couple of newly unemployed locals (Joe Strummer, Rick Aviles) and a local barber (Steve Buscemi). In spite of armed robbery and murder, this is actually the most straight-up funny portion of the film. It's a typical Buscemi part of a nice guy caught up in scandalous events beyond his control, and Joe Strummer has a gift for comedic acting. Between these three plotlines, we are treated to great deadpan interludes between Hawkins and the bellboy.

Some filmmakers evoke the natural beauty of their country. Who doesn't want to visit the windswept coasts of Bergman's Sweden or the feverish urban nights of the Italian auteurs? Jarmusch's first three films, on the other hand, portray the United States as a blight of weeds, empty streets, grafitti and failing infrastructure. American by birth, I left the US years ago and this film only makes me grateful I did. But even if the landscape is hideous, with its fairly harmonious relationship of characters of different races, MYSTERY TRAIN does depict a beautiful society that I hope is out there somewhere.

I wouldn't rank MYSTERY TRAIN as highly as certain other Jarmusch films. The three stories here are clearly independently conceived, and though they are reconciled into a single plot, the film as a whole doesn't seem so epic. The middle vignette is rather lightweight, although Tom Noonan's bit as a scam artist is creepy and memorable. Still, the film is entertaining and fairly well put-together, and the visuals provide a new strong aspect that one doesn't find in the two earlier efforts. MYSTERY TRAIN was Jarmusch's first film in colour and he chose a lovely cool palette that jars with Screamin' Jay Hawkins' electric red suit.

I love this movie, had it on video years ago. However, I just ordered the DVD and put it in today. There is some confusion caused by the fact that the DVD did not play the English subtitles for the Japanese dialogue in the first part of the movie.

I've seen other reviews here on this site that address the subtitle problem, and indeed, the subtitles are on the disc but must be found indirectly with the player settings for alternate subtitles. No worries now!

There's something undescribable about this movie that makes it so interesting and appealing, and I recommend it as a great watch. It looks great and I really enjoy seeing it again in better quality.