Editing Jim Jarmusch (section)

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| author = Jim Jarmusch's Golden Rules – #5, 2004
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| quote = Nothing is original. Steal from anywhere that resonates with inspiration or fuels your imagination. Devour old films, new films, music, books, paintings, photographs, poems, dreams, random conversations, architecture, bridges, street signs, trees, clouds, bodies of water, light and shadows. Select only things to steal from that speak directly to your soul. If you do this, your work (and theft) will be authentic. Authenticity is invaluable; originality is nonexistent. And don't bother concealing your thievery—celebrate it if you feel like it. In any case, always remember what Jean-Luc Godard said: "It's not where you take things from—it's where you take them to."|Jim Jarmusch, ''The Golden Rules of Filming''
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Jarmusch has been characterized as a minimalist filmmaker whose idiosyncratic films are unhurried.<ref name=burr/><ref name=tribune/> His films often eschew traditional narrative structure, lacking clear plot progression and focus more on mood and character development.<ref name=hattenstone/><ref name=tribune/><ref name=rolling/> In an interview early in his career, he stated that his goal was "to approximate real time for the audience."<ref>{{cite web|last=Robinson|first=Walter|url=http://bombsite.com/issues/2/articles/46|title=BOMB Magazine — Men Looking at Other Men by Lindzee Smith|publisher=Bombsite.com|access-date=May 20, 2014|archive-date=September 20, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130920221516/http://bombsite.com/issues/2/articles/46|url-status=dead}}</ref>

His early work is marked by a brooding, contemplative tone, featuring extended silent scenes and prolonged still shots.<ref name=yabroff/> He has experimented with a vignette format in three films that were either released, or begun around, the early 1990s: ''Mystery Train,'' ''Night on Earth'' and ''Coffee and Cigarettes''. ''The Salt Lake Tribune'' critic Sean P. Means wrote that Jarmusch blends "film styles and genres with sharp wit and dark humor",<ref name=means/> while his style is also defined by a signature deadpan comedic tone.<ref name=tobias/>

The protagonists of Jarmusch's films are usually lone adventurers.<ref name=nyt/> The director's male characters have been described by critic Jennie Yabroff as "three time losers, petty thiefs and inept con men, all... eminently likeable, if not down right charming";<ref name=yabroff/> while novelist [[Paul Auster]] described them as "laconic, withdrawn, sorrowful mumblers".<ref name=auster/>

Jarmusch has revealed that his instinct is a greater influence during the filmmaking process than any cognitive processes. He explained: "I feel like I have to listen to the film and let it tell me what it wants. Sometimes it mumbles and it isn't very clear." Films such as ''Dead Man'' and ''Limits of Control'' have polarized fans and general viewers alike, as Jarmusch's stylistic instinct is embedded in his strong sense of independence.<ref name="Jon" />