Following the success of his breakout film Stranger Than Paradise (1984), Jim Jarmusch continued to craft humourous portraits of misfits and outcasts in Down by Law. Described by Jarmusch as a ‘neo-Beat noir comedy’, Down by Law tells the story of three eccentric characters: an unemployed radio disc jockey (Tom Waits), an incompetent pimp (John Lurie), and an overexcited Italian tourist (Roberto Benigni). Fate brings them together in the same jail cell, marking the start of their unlikely friendship and escape across the Louisiana swamps and bayous, depicted with the rich monochrome cinematography of Robby Müller.

Claire Denis served as assistant director on Jim Jarmusch’s Down by Law after working on Wim Wenders’s Paris, Texas. She would make her debut feature Chocolat a few years later.

Jim Jarmusch (b. 1953, United States) is a renowned independent filmmaker. He was introduced to cinema by his mother, who brought him to watch matinee double features while she ran errands. Despite his lack of filmmaking experience, Jarmusch was accepted into New York University’s graduate film programme in the late 1970s. The young Jarmusch worked under legendary cult director Nicolas Ray on Lightning Over Water, a collaboration between Ray and Wim Wenders. In 1984, Jarmusch released his first major film, Stranger Than Paradise. The film won multiple awards, including the Camera d’Or at the 1984 Cannes Film Festival, a Special Jury Prize at Sundance, the Golden Leopard at the Locarno International Film Festival, and 1984 National Society of Film Critics Award for Best Film.