Original autograph letter to film critic and author Bérénice Reynaud regarding the influence of photographer Robert Frank on a scene from the 1986 Jim Jarmusch film "Down by Law"

N.p. N.p., Circa late 1980s. Original autograph letter to film critic and author Bérénice Reynaud, written in the margins of a Xerographic reproduction of a Robert Frank photograph, from an unknown interviewer or publisher named "Ralph." The letter regards a scene in the 1986 Jim Jarmusch film "Down by Law," which his "photography curator recognized ... as a direct composition taken from a photo by Robert Frank," circa late 1980s

The "Down by Law" image in question is from an early scene in the film involving pimp Jack, played by John Lurie, and Bobbie, a black prostitute played by Billie Neal, who harshly critiques Jack's shortcomings and failures. While we have been unable to identify the photograph mentioned in the letter as being a "direct composition taken from a photo by Robert Frank," photographer and filmmaker Frank was an integral influence for Jarmusch, who considered Frank "the godfather of so many different things."

The letter's unidentified party, "Ralph," was evidently an interviewer, editor, or publisher, and notes in the last sentence that Reynaud "might find the transcript of our interview with Jim and Sara [Jarmusch's partner, filmmaker Sara Driver] on [Robert] Frank of some use."

Jarmusch, Driver, Frank, and his wife, painter and sculptor June Leaf, were friends, and were all integral parts of the art and film scene of New York's Lower East Side and East Village during the 1980s, where they all resided. Frank's work in film and photography, particularly his 1958 photography book , "The Americans," and the 1959 Beat film "Pull My Daisy" by Frank and Alfred Leslie, were an enormous influence on the gritty, DIY-driven New York art and film scene of the 1980s, and were a direct and undeniable influence on the work of Jarmusch and Driver. Driver co-produced the 2024 documentary "Another Light on the Road: Robert Frank and June Leaf's Canadian Home," wrote the 2022 animated documentary "Stranger Than Rotterdam with Sara Driver," about smuggling Frank's rare, personal print of the controversial 1972 Rolling Stones film "Cocksucker Blues" to the Rotterdam Film Festival to secure funding for Jarmusch's "Stranger Than Paradise," and wrote the tribute to Frank, "End of an Era or Time," with Anne-Katrin Titze for "Eye For Film" in 2019.

Reynaud was a noted art critic, educator, and author, who taught at the School of Film/Video at CalArts for more than 30 years, published essays in "Cahiers du cinéma," "Film Comment," "Senses of Cinema," and "Sight and Sound," among others, and was the author of the 1999 book, "New Chinas/New Cinemas," on the origins of the Taiwan New Cinema, and the 2002 book, "A City of Sadness," a study of the 1989 film by Hou Hsaiao-hsien. Reynaud was a noted champion of Jarmusch's early work, particularly his key 1984 film "Stranger Than Paradise," and placed Jarmusch's work alongside that of filmmakers Charles Burnett, Béla Tarr, and Wim Wenders.

17 x 11 inches, folded vertically. Near Fine overall, with faint toning to the extremities and light wear at the fold.

[Book #170565]