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Jim Jarmusch

American film director, screenwriter and actor

9.85body-of-work score · ranked #87 of 2631 directors · 11 films in our library

A director's score is the sum of their films' composite canon scores — methodology.

Born
January 22, 1953 · Cuyahoga Falls
Nationality
United States
Work
film director, actor, screenwriter, film producer
Movement
No Wave Cinema
Reference
Wikipedia · Wikidata
Portrait of Jim Jarmusch
Harald Krichel · CC BY-SA 4.0

Films in our library, ranked

Ranked by composite canon score across 20+ authoritative lists, awards and polls — our ordering, with every placement citing its evidence on the film's page.

  1. 1
    Stranger Than ParadiseMust-See #153

    1984 · United States / Germany · drama, comedy

    Kinema Junpo Best Ten (International) 1986 #1 · Locarno Golden Leopard winner 1984 · Hoberman's annual top 10 1984 #3

    3.009 citations
  2. 2
    Paterson

    2016 · United States · drama, comedy

    Kinema Junpo Best Ten (International) 2017 #2 · Film Comment year-end poll 2016 #6 · Edgar Wright's 1,000 favorite movies

    1.103 citations
  3. 3
    Father Mother Sister Brother

    2025 · United States / Ireland / France · comedy, drama

    Venice Golden Lion winner 2025

    1.001 citation
  4. 4
    Broken Flowers

    2005 · United States / France · comedy, drama

    Cannes Grand Prix winner 2005 · Film Comment year-end poll 2005 #39

    0.942 citations
  5. 5
    Dead Man

    1995 · United States / Japan / Germany · western, fantasy, drama

    Cahiers du Cinéma annual top 10 1996 #6 · Hoberman's annual top 10 1996 #3 · Criterion Collection spine #919

    0.884 citations
  6. 6
    Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai

    1999 · United States / Germany / France · crime, action, drama

    Cahiers du Cinéma annual top 10 1999 #9 · Film Comment year-end poll 2000 #17 · Criterion Collection spine #1057

    0.814 citations
  7. 7
    Down by Law

    1986 · United States / Germany · comedy, drama

    NYT Best 1,000 Movies · Criterion Collection spine #166 · Edgar Wright's 1,000 favorite movies

    0.554 citations
  8. 8
    Mystery Train

    1989 · United States / Japan · comedy, drama, crime

    Hoberman's annual top 10 1989 #6 · Criterion Collection spine #521 · Roger Ebert's Great Movies

    0.473 citations
  9. 9
    Night on Earth

    1991 · United States / France / United Kingdom · comedy, drama

    Kinema Junpo Best Ten (International) 1992 #10 · Criterion Collection spine #401

    0.452 citations
  10. 10
    Only Lovers Left Alive

    2013 · United Kingdom / Germany / France · drama, romance, musical

    Film Comment year-end poll 2014 #12 · Edgar Wright's 1,000 favorite movies

    0.382 citations
  11. 11
    The Limits of Control

    2009 · United States · drama, crime, mystery

    Film Comment year-end poll 2009 #13

    0.261 citation

Complete filmography

All 22 directorial credits recorded on Wikidata, in chronological order; films in our library link to their canon-score page.