in Criterion Month, Review

Mystery Train (1989)

I love anthologies! Why don’t they make more anthologies? Yorgos Lanthimos made Kinds of Kindness this year—did I see it? Oops, I’m part of the problem! But I look forward to seeing it because anthologies are perfect for short attention spans (like mine). Don’t like the story? Just wait for the next one. If you want to argue that anthologies are annoying because the movie keeps having to stop and restart, let me try to convince you to reconsider with this review of Jim Jarmusch’s Mystery Train.

Mystery Train is a trilogy of stories centered around one day in the Land of Elvis, aka Memphis, Tennessee. The first story concerns a couple from Yokohama, Japan—Jun (Masatoshi Nagase) and Mitsuko (Youki Kudoh)—who visit Memphis to tour the King’s old stomping grounds, only for Jun to note how much Memphis looks like Yokohama, i.e., vacant lots, empty streets, and boarded-up failed businesses.

How many times have you built up a place in your mind only to realize it may not be all that impressive? It may, in fact, be the exact opposite of impressive. That’s what I admire about Mystery Train—it’s not a love letter to Memphis as much as it’s just, well, a letter. Mitsuko clashes with Jun’s pessimism when the couple stays at a cheap motel run by none other than legendary singer-songwriter Screamin’ Jay Hawkins and Spike Lee’s brother, Cinqué Lee. I’ve never seen Hawkins act, but his flair for going big feels right at home in the offbeat rhythm of a Jarmusch film.

The Yokohama segment ends with the couple hearing a gunshot and then feuding before making up. After this, we dip our toes into the slightly spooky story called “A Ghost” about a widowed Italian woman, Luisa (Nicoletta Braschi), who gets stranded in Memphis while trying to transport her husband’s coffin back to Italy.

Luisa has coffee at a café where she meets a panhandling weirdo (Tom Noonan—who else would it be?) who tells her a story about picking up a hitchhiker, only to discover it was the ghost of Elvis hitching a ride to Graceland. Later, Luisa stays at the same motel from the first segment and also meets Dee Dee (Elizabeth Bracco), who is distraught after leaving her boyfriend Johnny, but unable to cover the cost of a room. Luisa offers to have Dee Dee stay with her.

Dee Dee keeps Luisa awake with her babbling. Luisa tries to interrupt and tell the Elvis story she heard, only for Dee Dee to proclaim that everyone in Memphis already knows a version of this Elvis urban legend. Luisa gets some sleep but is awakened later by—who else?—the ghost of Elvis, who appears in only a fleeting moment. What does this hint of the afterlife mean to Luisa after losing someone close? Well, that’s for the viewer to decide. Personally, I’m not sure. I like the segment, but I don’t entirely understand it. Still, it’s charming as hell.

The film’s third segment, “Lost in Space,” stars none other than The Clash frontman Joe Strummer as a recently dumped and fired Johnny (Dee Dee’s ex), now drunk and waving a gun in a Memphis bar. His buddy Will Robinson (Rick Aviles) and Dee Dee’s brother Charlie (Steve Buscemi) are called to pick him up, but the night doesn’t end there.

Johnny convinces the guys to take him to the liquor store, where on a whim, Johnny shoots the clerk. Fearful, the three decide to hide out at—yes, you guessed it—the motel from the other segments. The guys talk about the TV show Lost in Space, which is how Johnny says he feels. The next morning, a still distraught Johnny tries to shoot himself, and in the struggle to stop him, Charlie gets shot in the leg. The three hear a police car and flee, only for us to discover the police car wasn’t looking for them.

Now, it may sound like this is just a movie where a bunch of random stuff happens. Honestly, that’s not the worst description of this series of dark comedy misadventures. But there is meaning here. Remember when I said I’d try to convince you that a good anthology isn’t just an annoying series of stops and starts?

All three stories in Mystery Train may feel disjointed, but my reading is it’s not so much about the stories themselves, but how the stories reflect the place. Memphis is a city legendary for its past and its music, but it’s also kind of a dump. It’s a place of dreams and disillusionment, which, in a way, is what all these stories are about. Every story enriches this setting and, in turn, enriches each story—like drawing something and then slowly coloring it in.

Let’s say you don’t buy my reading. That’s fine too, but can I sell you on this film’s humor, characters, and vibes? I hope so, because this film is oozing with personality. Did I mention there’s a radio DJ we hear throughout the film voiced by Tom Waits? If that doesn’t sway you to my side, I don’t know what will. Just the thought makes me feel so lonesome… I could cry.