Saturday 10 December 2016

Paterson - a film review

Paterson (Adam Driver)  is a bus driver in the town of Paterson, famous for being the birthplace of poet William Carlos Williams. Paterson himself is also a poet, writing lines inspired by his life, in his basement while waiting to set out in his bus. In between he spends time at the bar and goes home to his wife Laura (Golshifteh Farahani) who flutters from one creative project (making cupcakes) to another (decorating the house in black and white) and their bulldog Marvin who sits on an easy chair and regularly grunts his incomprehension at life.
Read more at: https://inews.co.uk/essentials/culture/film/paterson-review/
Golshifteh Farahani

Read more at: https://inews.co.uk/essentials/culture/film/paterson-reviewwho flutters from one creative project (making cupcakes) to another (decorating the house in black and white) and their dog Marvin, who grunts his incomprehension of their lives. 

Nothing much happens in this film, the enjoyment is seeing how details change and how by observing these details Paterson is inspired to write his poetry. He seems content just to write, though Laura keeps insisting he should share his poetry with the world.

This is a lovely, gentle film which encourages the viewer to let everyday life inspire their own poetry. Sadly though, I just didn't like the modernist style of poetry that Paterson was writing.

Paterson is showing at the Edinburgh Filmhouse until Thursday 15 December.

Edited to add: here's an article about what every aspiring writer should see this film

As ever red text contains hyperlinks which take you to other webpages where you can find out more.

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