the world of the film
Jim Jarmusch’s Paterson (2016) moves through a week in the life of Paterson himself (played by Adam Driver), tracing his soft days and his heartwarming relationship. He’s an introverted, introspective bus driver in the city of Paterson, New Jersey and a poet who keeps most of his work (e.g., figure #1) tucked inside his notebook.
As Paterson cycles through his routine, his partner Laura (played by Golshifteh Farahani) balances out his softness with her vibrance. Laura is always riding wholesome waves of inspiration, chasing the euphoria of one new creative endeavor after the other. Over the course of the film, Jarmusch documents Laura decorating (and redecorating) their simple home with her black and white DIYs, tackling cupcake-making with artistry, and learning the guitar in hopes of becoming a country performer.
While Paterson and Laura’s relationship isn’t unrealistically idyllic, the couple lives out a touching contentment, empowered by small acts of creativity and their bidirectional investment in each other. They’re sustained by their love, their dreams, and small things in between.
black and white
Reflective of Paterson and Laura’s relatively quiet lifestyles (figure #3), Paterson’s narrative slowness creates ample space to explore its characters, motifs, setting, and more; overall cadence, long, static shots, attention to detail, and repetition makes it easy to appreciate the mundane within the film.
With more capacity to zoom in on visual intricacies, the repetition of black and white objects specifically (figure #2) rises to the surface. Each black and white creation is presumably curated or created by Laura, and there’s a black and white work of art in just about everything: her daily outfit, the curtains in the dining room, the dog’s collar, or the napkins that Paterson uses while eating his lunch on the go.
Each black and white object presents a sense of two at first glance — the clear contrast of the tones, and the recurrence of it, makes it hard to ignore this twoness. What’s it about? Considering black and white in general, indications of duality and balance come to mind.
Black and white also envision partnership and synergy through presenting a simultaneous colorlessness and boldness. Neither black nor white presents vibrance alone, but when paired, especially repeatedly, they’re visually striking. These general conclusions — expressions of duality, balance, and power in partnership and synergy — speak to Laura and Paterson as a duo, a black and white of their own.
Additionally, the black and white objects on-screen come to be through Laura’s doing, but the film itself, which documents and contains the black and white, ties itself to Paterson through its name. Under this lens, Paterson establishes a solid foundation atop which Laura can express herself, and in turn, Laura decorates the solidity with her spirit. A reinforcement of the equilibrium that defines their shared realm.
In essence, Paterson’s black and white objects, their visual properties, their symbolic connection to Laura and Paterson, and their existence as Laura’s creation within a Paterson-oriented frame conveys this throughline of beauty in two — and the black and white objects then become a vessel for appreciating what it means to share meaningful space with someone else, to conquer private worlds together.
zooming in: exhibit a
When Paterson writes “Love Poem” alone by the water (00:10:00), he’s accompanied by a packed lunch that’s decked out with black and white doodles, a candid photo of Laura (in a black and white top, of course), and a Dante Alighieri print with a flower attached. (Laura tells Paterson that she’s fascinated by Dante’s work, and that he was a great poet who worked as a pharmacist by day.)
Here, Laura’s black and white customizations embellish each “shell” in Paterson’s lunch: the containers inside the lunchbox, and the peel of an orange. This moment captures a clear romantic gesture. There is weight in Laura packing Paterson’s lunch at all, lacing it with her touch and creative customization.
On a deeper level, though, Laura’s intricate container-decorating also ensures that even something like lunch comes framed by beauty, her love for him, and the love they share — continuing to track black and white as a visual representation of these forces. Paterson can’t take a bite without first registering and deconstructing Laura’s affection. Why should a packed lunch revolve around meeting basic human needs when it could extend to revolve around deep nurturing as well?
By adorning Paterson’s sustenance with the black and white and all that comes with it, his lunchbox becomes a container of seeing and being seen, giving and receiving, caring and relishing. The lunchbox transforms into an entire (albeit miniature) space that reflects the shared world they inhabit together.
zooming in: exhibit b
Later on in the film, Laura’s latest thrill becomes the prospect of running a cupcake business (1:07:00). The frames capturing Laura's busy presence in the kitchen also showcase the kitchen's total space adorned with black and white patterns. It’s represented on the cabinets, the backsplash, the dishwasher, the mug, Laura’s shirt, the oven mitts, and presumably more that we can’t see. In addition to the kitchen itself, the cupcakes are frosted and iced with black and white.
Paterson stands out as one of the only elements not coated in a bold black and white pattern. Instead, his white tee and blue button down mark efforts to offer balance and maintain harmony in their world.
This moment’s particular array of black and white also affirms that each black and white object in the film is interconnected, though, and part of a greater synergy.
The black and white kitchen functions as Laura’s lab where she can realize her entrepreneurial dreams.
Her black and white apparel (here and throughout the film) becomes an attempt to align with the kitchen, feed and feed off of her surroundings, channel her cupcake-business vision with full immersion.
Together, the black and white cupcakes Laura bakes in her black and white outfit in her black and white kitchen embody maximum connection and alignment.
With this study in mind, each black and white object acts as a bridge to surrounding black and white objects and a means to a cohesive, thoughtful life.
bonus stills & closing thoughts
To close with attention away from the beauty in two and toward Laura’s relationship with black and white more individually: Paterson feels refreshing in its presentation of a passionate yet unpretentious, authentic relationship with style and material curation. Laura’s devotion to black and white combined with her overall spirit dispel the idea that she’s trying to prove anything to anyone through her aesthetic expressions. For her, black and white is how she anchors herself in an intentional life — calibrating her body (apparel), mind (creative projects), domestic space (home decor), love (lunchbox packing) and beyond. Sporting black and white as a truly holistic, active endeavor.