''Permanent Vacation'' is a 1980 film directed, written and produced by

Jim Jarmusch James Robert Jarmusch (; born January 22, 1953) is an American film director and screenwriter. He has been a major proponent of independent cinema since the 1980s, directing films including '' Stranger Than Paradise'' (1984), '' Down by Law'' ( ...

. It was the director's first release, and was shot on

16 mm film 16 mm film is a historically popular and economical gauge of film. 16 mm refers to the width of the film (about inch); other common film gauges include 8 and 35 mm. It is generally used for non-theatrical (e.g., industrial, educ ...

shortly after he dropped out of film school.

Premise

The main character, an alienated troubled hipster (Chris Parker), wanders around a dingy

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

atmosphere and is confronted by a number of intriguing characters as he ponders the questions of life and searches for a better place.

Cast

* Chris Parker (Allie) * Richard Boes (War vet) * Ruth Bolton (Mother) *

Sara Driver Sara Miller Driver (born December 15, 1955) is an American independent filmmaker and actress from Westfield, New Jersey. A participant in the independent film scene that flourished in lower Manhattan from the late 1970s through the 1990s, she gain ...

(Nurse) * María Duval (Latin girl) *

Frankie Faison Frankie Russel Faison (born June 10, 1949) is an American actor known for his role as Deputy Commissioner, and, later, Commissioner, Ervin Burrell in the HBO series ''The Wire'', as Barney Matthews in the ''Hannibal Lecter'' franchise, and as Suga ...

(Man in lobby) * Jane Fire (Nurse) * Suzanne Fletcher (Girl in car) * Leila Gastil (Leila) * Chris Hameon (French traveller) *

John Lurie John Lurie (born December 14, 1952) is an American musician, painter, actor, director, and producer. He co-founded the Lounge Lizards jazz ensemble; has acted in 19 films, including '' Stranger than Paradise'' and '' Down by Law''; has composed ...

(Sax player) * Eric Mitchell (Car fence) * Lisa Rosen (Popcorn girl) *

Felice Rosser Felice Rosser (born Detroit, Michigan) is a singer, songwriter, bass player, actor and writer. She now lives and works in New York. She is known for her powerful and emotional voice, her musical skill as a bass player and as a singer and songwrit ...

(Woman by mailbox) * Evelyn Smith (Patient) * Charlie Spademan (Patient)

Reception

It currently receives a weighted average score of 69 out of 100 on

Metacritic Metacritic is a website that review aggregator, aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted arithmetic mean, weighted average). M ...

based on 4 critic reviews, indicating "generally favorable reviews".

Vincent Canby Vincent Canby (July 27, 1924 – October 15, 2000) was an American film and theatre critic who served as the chief film critic for ''The New York Times'' from 1969 until the early 1990s, then its chief theatre critic from 1994 until his death in ...

proclaimed this film as a "must-see for anyone who shares the belief that Mr. Jarmusch is the most arresting and original American film maker to come out of the 1980s". Eric Eidelstein of ''

IndieWire IndieWire (sometimes stylized as indieWIRE or Indiewire) is a film industry and review website that was established in 1996. The site's focus was predominantly independent film, although its coverage has grown to "to include all aspects of Hollyw ...

'' called it "a touching vision of what it was like to be head over heels with art, love, and oneself in late 1970s New York".

Soundtrack

*''Up There in Orbit'' - Written and performed by

Earl Bostic Eugene Earl Bostic (April 25, 1913 – October 28, 1965) was an American alto saxophonist. Bostic's recording career was diverse, his musical output encompassing jazz, swing, jump blues and the post-war American rhythm and blues style, which h ...

* ''My Boyfriend's Back'' - Written by

Bob Feldman Robert C. Feldman (born June 14, 1940) is an American songwriter and record producer, best known for his work in the 1960s with fellow writers Jerry Goldstein and Richard Gottehrer, including " My Boyfriend's Back", "I Want Candy", and " Sorrow". ...

, Jerry Goldstein, and

Richard Gottehrer Richard Gottehrer (born 1940) is an American songwriter, record producer and record label executive. In 1997, he co-founded the Orchard with longtime business partner Scott Cohen, an independent music distribution company. His career began as ...

, performed by The Angels * ''Sally, Go 'Round the Roses'' - Written by Zell Sanders and Abner Spector, performed by

The Jaynetts The Jaynetts were an American girl group based in the Bronx, New York, who became a one-hit wonder in 1963 with the song "Sally Go 'Round the Roses", which reached No. 2 on the US ''Billboard'' Hot 100. Career Beginnings In 1954, Bronx-native Ze ...

Availability

The film was released by

the Criterion Collection The Criterion Collection, Inc. (or simply Criterion) is an American home-video distribution company that focuses on licensing, restoring and distributing "important classic and contemporary films." Criterion serves film and media scholars, cinep ...

as a special feature on the

DVD The DVD (common abbreviation for Digital Video Disc or Digital Versatile Disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any kin ...

for Jarmusch's ''

Stranger than Paradise ''Stranger Than Paradise'' is a 1984 American black-and-white absurdist deadpan comedy film, co-written, directed and co-edited by Jim Jarmusch, and starring jazz musician John Lurie, former Sonic Youth drummer-turned-actor Richard Edson, and ...

'' on September 4, 2007. The film was released on DVD and

Blu-ray The Blu-ray Disc (BD), often known simply as Blu-ray, is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 2005 and released on June 20, 2006 worldwide. It is designed to supersede the DVD format, and capable of sto ...

formats in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

via

Soda Pictures Thunderbird Entertainment Group (formerly Thunderbird Films) is a Canadian film and television entertainment company with offices in both Canada and the United States of America. Thunderbird's multiple divisions develop movies and television pr ...

on March 23, 2015.

References in culture

* A frame from the film was used on the cover of Velvet Rye's EP "''Revol''".

References

External links

*
''Permanent Vacation'' on Rotten Tomatoes
*
''Permanent Vacation'' on The Criterion Channel
{{Jim Jarmusch 1980 films 1980 drama films Films directed by Jim Jarmusch Films set in New York City American drama films 1980 directorial debut films 1981 drama films 1981 films Films shot in 16 mm film 1980s English-language films 1980s American films