No Way is Jim Jarmusch a Plagiarist
Filed under: Comedy, Independent, Scripts, Focus Features, Cinematical Indie
If there is one filmmaker out there who doesn't need to plagiarize, it is Jim Jarmusch. For the past twenty years he has been making some of the most original films in America. Partially his work is too simple to be a copy, but mostly it is too concerned with style over script to necessitate his ripping someone off. In the world of screenwriting, though, there is always that someone who thought up an idea first, before that other person who managed to make the idea into a film. In the latest case, Jarmusch is being accused of plagiarizing his latest film Broken Flowers. Reed Martin, a freelance journalist and professor of film marketing at NYU, says that his own script, "Heart Copy" (formerly "Two Weeks Off") is similar right down to Jessica Lange's animal communicator character and the pink envelope catalyst. Further cause for him to think that his work became Broken Flowers is Martin's claim that his agent, Glenn Rigberg, gave copies of the script to Julie Delpy and Sharon Stone (both actresses appear in the film) and Focus Features co-president David Linde. His lawsuit against Jarmusch, Vivendi Universal Entertainment, Focus Features and Rigberg, was filed in March. He is seeking $40 million, the film's theatrical gross.
The thing about Broken Flowers is that some of its themes have to do with coincidence and the abstract connections that our minds are prone to make. I haven't seen Martin's script so I won't assume that his accusation is based entirely on the brain's tendency to make associations seem more significant than they truly are, but I think the chance of this is high.
In his defense, Jarmusch wrote in an email to the Boston Globe, "I had never had any contact with him or his work. I'd never even heard of him. I still haven't seen the work he claims I copied. Anyone who is familiar with my films and my writing process will know that his claim is ridiculous."
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
6-15-2008 @ 6:14PM
mike said...
Why does everyone automatically think this is all in the less established writer's head? For greed and profit? How about principle? And what might a so-called "bigwig" like Jarmusch have done if he was found to have plagiarized... don't you think he'd do everything to protect his own ass? Martin's script was sent directly to the people who made Broken Flowers and directly to actors in the film. Is it such a huge stretch to believe it wasn't stolen? I don't think so. Script theft occurs every day. Studios will spend $10 million to screw someone over for just $100K and a credit. The best source of ideas for Hollywood is from eager first-time writers submitting their works in hopes of a big break. They have no protection and the studios know it. And as far as juries, they are funny groups of people... anyone remember OJ? Justice was most certainly NOT served in this case.
Reply
11-29-2008 @ 3:43AM
Eric Taylor said...
the only interesting thing is that there was another charge of theft against Jarmusch, by famous novelist and screenwriter Rudy Wurlitzer, who basically accused Jarmusch of stealing the central ideas and themes of his script for 'Dead Man,' which I was always struck as being out of left field compared with 'Night on Earth' and other more Jarmuschy films, international etc. Neither 'Flowers' nor 'Dead Man' feel like typical Jarmusch films, and 'Ghost Dog' and 'C&C' were both mediocre at best. So it begs the question.
Reply
6-29-2006 @ 1:54PM
chimpster said...
I doubt that Jarmusch is a "plagarist," but he does seem prone to being suggestable in terms of content & style. His early films mimic the early Wenders films, but I'm sure Wim doesn't mind.
Reply
7-05-2006 @ 9:33AM
Reed Martin said...
Please read "Rule #5."
http://www.moviemaker.com/issues/53/jarmusch.html
Reply
7-05-2006 @ 9:43AM
Christopher Campbell said...
I have read that. It doesn't mean he's a plagiarist, though.
Reply
7-15-2006 @ 2:25PM
Max said...
I think its easy for a minimalist director to be accused of plagiarism because the similarities and coincidences of ideas may be present, the interpretation of themes may be completely different and yet completely open to interpretation. It is very common for people to find their own ideas used in someone else's work. It happens with me all the time, only difference is that I have'nt shopped my scripts around to anyone. This could very well just be an open opportunity to sue for the sake of greed and profit.
Reply
9-30-2007 @ 7:50PM
tia said...
It would have made much more economic sense to give credit to someone where that credit was due, than to go to court and spend hundreds of thousands of dollars on fighting a loosing battle.
Let's see what the judge decides.
Reply
6-05-2008 @ 5:48PM
Filmguy800 said...
Why give credit to someone who doesn't deserve it? The judge and jury decided... Martin lost his case against Jarmusch and Focus...justice prevails.
Reply