Paterson is a film that reflects upon the banality of daily life while also considering all of its aspects: love, relationships, our dreams and desires, the kindness of strangers, routine, identity, change (you get the gist).
Paterson (a nicely subtle performance from Adam Driver) leads an ordinary life; he lives with his wife Laura who is supportive of his daily poetry, wanting him to pursue it further and become one of the greats like William Carlos Williams, a renowned poet from Paterson, New Jersey. This is a significant theme in the film - how can we make a name for ourselves? Can our dreams become a reality? This idea is displayed through Laura (Golshifteh Farahani) who has dreams of becoming a country singer, she's a very artistic individual who paints curtains, dresses, furniture, only in black and white. This 'black and white' can be seen throughout (the old black and white film that Laura and Paterson go to see, the chess board that Doc keeps on the bar, b and w photographs of those who rose to fame from Paterson like Lou Costello) and is also idiomatic for Paterson's ordinary, simplistic life - he wakes up, goes to work, comes home for dinner and then walks the dog to a nearby bar that he visits. This neon-lit bar provides a seemingly small escape for him. The bartender 'Doc' is ironically named as Paterson's regular pint seems to be a cure for whatever troubles the day presented him with (such as his coach breaking down at one point).
This is a film about poetry, but not just writing it, the poetics of day-to-day life as well. As a coach driver, Paterson sees a lot of different people come and go. Whilst driving his coach, he likes to listen in on people's conversations, tuning in to his passenger's anecdotes as a source of entertainment. Various close-ups on the coach throughout the film display a motif of shoes, can someone's shoes tell us more about their personality or identity?
You can't help but align yourself with Paterson, who, with his various poems that are displayed on-screen, considers all concerns of general life that affect us all. One of his poems looks at time - "a fourth dimension" - and the constant checking of his watch is just like any other working-class individual, they wish the day to be over so that they can return home to their loved ones. Despite a very heart-warming relationship between Laura and Paterson, who always wake up embraced in each other's arms, there is perhaps a divide portrayed between those who 'bring home the bacon' and those who are lucky enough to stay at home and carry out their hobbies freely, like Laura.
Some characters can even be seen as metaphorical for what the day can bring us. The character of Donny seems to always have a lot of issues on his plate whilst the end encounter with a Japanese poet perhaps symbolises the moments in life where we are given another chance (for Paterson, this is a revived interest in writing poetry after being gifted a new book, following an upset where Marvin the dog had ripped up Paterson's 'Secret Notebook').
I found this film a really relaxing and interesting watch and despite not being a follower of poetry, I thought the various snippets of Paterson's life were very relatable. The mundanity of Paterson's life might appear boring to some viewers but as the film isn't plot-heavy, I found myself focusing in on the finer details of what Paterson sees in his life and what these might represent. What really interested me was the discussion between Doc and Paterson, deciding who is the most famous person to come out of the city of Paterson, bringing in the notion of identity and our origins.
The film is also very poetically made, realistic cinematography showcases repeated and identical shots of Laura and Paterson waking up throughout the singular week, acting as a leitmotif for how we all get into certain routines.
Paterson. P for peaceful.
Paterson (a nicely subtle performance from Adam Driver) leads an ordinary life; he lives with his wife Laura who is supportive of his daily poetry, wanting him to pursue it further and become one of the greats like William Carlos Williams, a renowned poet from Paterson, New Jersey. This is a significant theme in the film - how can we make a name for ourselves? Can our dreams become a reality? This idea is displayed through Laura (Golshifteh Farahani) who has dreams of becoming a country singer, she's a very artistic individual who paints curtains, dresses, furniture, only in black and white. This 'black and white' can be seen throughout (the old black and white film that Laura and Paterson go to see, the chess board that Doc keeps on the bar, b and w photographs of those who rose to fame from Paterson like Lou Costello) and is also idiomatic for Paterson's ordinary, simplistic life - he wakes up, goes to work, comes home for dinner and then walks the dog to a nearby bar that he visits. This neon-lit bar provides a seemingly small escape for him. The bartender 'Doc' is ironically named as Paterson's regular pint seems to be a cure for whatever troubles the day presented him with (such as his coach breaking down at one point).
This is a film about poetry, but not just writing it, the poetics of day-to-day life as well. As a coach driver, Paterson sees a lot of different people come and go. Whilst driving his coach, he likes to listen in on people's conversations, tuning in to his passenger's anecdotes as a source of entertainment. Various close-ups on the coach throughout the film display a motif of shoes, can someone's shoes tell us more about their personality or identity?
You can't help but align yourself with Paterson, who, with his various poems that are displayed on-screen, considers all concerns of general life that affect us all. One of his poems looks at time - "a fourth dimension" - and the constant checking of his watch is just like any other working-class individual, they wish the day to be over so that they can return home to their loved ones. Despite a very heart-warming relationship between Laura and Paterson, who always wake up embraced in each other's arms, there is perhaps a divide portrayed between those who 'bring home the bacon' and those who are lucky enough to stay at home and carry out their hobbies freely, like Laura.
Some characters can even be seen as metaphorical for what the day can bring us. The character of Donny seems to always have a lot of issues on his plate whilst the end encounter with a Japanese poet perhaps symbolises the moments in life where we are given another chance (for Paterson, this is a revived interest in writing poetry after being gifted a new book, following an upset where Marvin the dog had ripped up Paterson's 'Secret Notebook').
I found this film a really relaxing and interesting watch and despite not being a follower of poetry, I thought the various snippets of Paterson's life were very relatable. The mundanity of Paterson's life might appear boring to some viewers but as the film isn't plot-heavy, I found myself focusing in on the finer details of what Paterson sees in his life and what these might represent. What really interested me was the discussion between Doc and Paterson, deciding who is the most famous person to come out of the city of Paterson, bringing in the notion of identity and our origins.
The film is also very poetically made, realistic cinematography showcases repeated and identical shots of Laura and Paterson waking up throughout the singular week, acting as a leitmotif for how we all get into certain routines.
Paterson. P for peaceful.