Concrete Playground

Spain is full of exquisite buildings and women, dramatic landscapes, and strange characters who give you obscure clues and instructions in matchboxes, right?

Jim Jarmush's new film is an exploration of perception, memory, reality and consciousness which marks something of a departure from his earlier work. The film lacks the refined potency of his brilliant Ghost Dog: The Way of The Samurai or his earlier New-York-new-wave classics (Down By Law, Stranger Than Paradise, Permanent Vacation), but it's a matter of giving in to the film's odd rhythm, which is enhanced by a striking aesthetic and vivid soundscape.

Jarmush's casting is as exceptional as ever with the brilliant Isaach De Bankolé as the enigmatic outsider alongside fleeting appearances from the filmmaker's other favourites including Tilda Swinton, Youki Kudoh (who he last worked with 20 years ago on Mystery Train), Gael García Bernal and Bill Murray. But the real star of the show is the cinematography by one of Australia's finest exports, Chris Doyle. His compositions and subtle camera work are what really transport us to the strangely focused but dreamlike state of this intriguing film.