Night on Earth
Sometimes, you see those slightly odd movies. Perhaps they can't be properly categorized, perhaps they have a plot and cast that defies all description. Anyway, this is one of those refreshing movies. Night on Earth consists of five completely unrelated short stories which all take place during night-time taxi trips in different cities. It starts off in Los Angeles, then moves on to New York, Paris, Rome and ends in Helsinki. There is no action, no stunts, no fight scenes, no special effects, just talking. This movie is all about its wierd and wonderful taxi drivers and their dialogue, and it's so good to watch. There's the girl who wants to be a mechanic, not a movie star, the East German man who can't use an automatic gearbox, the non-stop talking Italian and the quiet Fin who's been through some really difficult times. The Paris story feels like the odd one in the bunch, in that the driver really doesn't feel like the dominating or most special character. There, he's more of a normal driver who picks up an unusual customer. Even if there isn't too much of a story in this movie, you won't miss it. Night on Earth is about its characters and their lives, and you really wouldn't mind if it was a few episodes longer.
Another thing I really liked was that the characters are portrayed by people from the right country, and thus speak the right languages. No imported American actors speaking with faked foreign accents here, and it's good to be rid of them too! The Italian driver's unstoppable flow of words and gestures, all while driving through labyrinthic one-way Rome streets (from the wrong direction of course) is just fantastic. The script translators must have done a great job, and it pays off big time. Oh, and naturally everything's filmed in the right locations too, what did you think?
Got to mention another imprtant thing to the allover experience: the movie was taped from channel one, meaning no break for news and no damn talk during the credits. Get the hint, channel four?
After seeing this movie, you're left with the feeling of how many individuals the world is actually made up of, of how rich in stories the world really is. And of how nice a calm movie without killing and explosions really is ...
