Often referred to as that gravelly-voiced musician who sounds like he’s been gargling razor blades with a whiskey chaser, Tom Waits is without a doubt one of the defining musicians of the late 20th century, having released some of the most fascinating and least compromising music of the last 50 years.
Over the course of 17 studio albums, two film soundtracks and three live albums, his musical style has ranged from Kerouac-inspired numbers, whiskey-soaked jazz pieces, romantic blues ballads, theatrical polkas, and carnivalesque rumpas. Often humorous, always rich, and featuring the musical Dadaist’s unique croons, growls and guttural laughs, each of his releases are surprising in their own ways.
Sadly, we’ve not had a new release from him since 2011’s ‘Bad As Me’, and some of us here at Euronews Culture are feeling the years pass by. Still, Tom Waits for no man, and all that, and at least the greatest songwriter who’s ever lived (search your feelings, you know it to be gospel) has been starring in several films over the years.
Nothing new here, as he’s appeared in more than 40 features since his big screen debut in 1978’s Paradise Alley and has shown that whether it’s a small cameo or a meatier part, he never fails to make an impression. In fact, Tom Waits has become that rarest of things: a musician who has managed to excel at his primary craft and achieve a steady film career. More than that, he’s never put a foot wrong.
Maybe it’s because he’s an unparalleled storyteller, with each of his records immersing the listener in audio movie experiences… Or maybe it’s who he chooses to play with – and the resumé is impressive.
There’s Francis Ford Coppola (Rumble Fish), Terry Gilliam (The Fisher King, The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus), Kinka Usher (Mystery Men), Martin McDonagh (Seven Psychopaths), Joel and Ethan Coen (The Ballad of Buster Scruggs) and Paul Thomas Anderson (Licorice Pizza)… Put simply, the man knows who to say ‘yes’ to.
He’s also a regular player for Jim Jarmusch, who has understood that Waits doesn’t occasionally moonlight as an actor – he’s the real deal, with a talent for making both background and leading roles alike feel as distinctive and rich as his own songs. And it’s in Jarmusch’s latest offering, Father Mother Sister Brother, that Waits plays the titular Father. The comedy-drama anthology had its world premiere in the main competition of the 82nd Venice Film Festival on 31 August and won the coveted Golden Lion over the weekend.
What better time, as European audiences wait for the film to hit cinemas early January, to look back at the indelible – and often overlooked – mark Tom Waits continues to make on the world of cinema?
Here is our pick for the Top 5 Tom Waits big screen performances you shouldn’t miss:
5) As Earl Piggot in ‘Short Cuts’ (Robert Altman – 1993)
Inspired by Raymond Carver’s short stories, Short Cuts traces the day-to-day lives of 22 characters, both in parallel and connecting ways. And considering the huge ensemble cast, featuring Andie MacDowell, Bruce Davison, Tim Robbins, France McDormand and Julianne Moore, Waits could have gotten lost in the shuffle in this funny and poignant comedy-drama.
But not so. He plays Earl Piggot, a booze-soaked limousine driver and husband to Doreen Piggot (Lily Tomin), with whom he bickers tempestuously. Waits delivers a genius interpretation that allows the audience to cut through the eccentricism and gut-rot-damage to see a broken heart searching for some stitching.
The ensemble cast of Short Cuts won a Golden Globe Special Award for Ensemble, as well as the Venice Film Festival Special Volpi Cup. The film also won the Golden Lion that year, proving that if you cast Waits, good things will happen to you on the Lido.
4) As Waller in ‘The Old Man & The Gun’ (David Lowery – 2018)
It’s not always easy sharing the screen with a performer as charismatic as Robert Redford, who plays career criminal and escape artist Forrest Tucker in The Old Man & The Gun. Undisputably one of the most commanding screen presences of his generation, the legend that is Redford still gets a run for his money when it comes to his two over-the-hill criminal compadres Teddy (Danny Glover) and Waller (Waits). The old married couple energy both Glover and Waits bring to their roles is a joy to watch, and you start to wish that they could have had more screen time.
In the film’s standout scene, Waits monologues about why his character hates Christmas. It’s not only the best bit of dialogue in the entire movie, but no one could have sold it with such world-weary panache and wry humour like Waits.
The dashing delinquent may get all the limelight, but it’s the bespectacled crook who runs away with the film.
Is it too late to get a Waller-led sequel / prequel?
3) As R.M. Renfield in ‘Bram Stoker’s Dracula’ (Francis Ford Coppola – 1992)
Bram Stoker’s Dracula is Francis Ford Coppola last great film – despite what Megalopolis apologists will tell you. Starring Gary Oldman as the titular Count, the director’s rococo re-imagining is the kind of film that would’ve gotten the thumbs up from Roger Corman.
In it, everyone’s favourite vampire has a minion assistant to keep things in order: the unsettling R.M. Renfield, who Waits turns into a snivelling and delusional ghoul that you can’t take your eyes off. Especially when he’s snacking on bugs.
Waits (who had previously provided the score for Coppola’s film One From The Heart) fully leans into the grotesque theatricality of the director’s take, and demonstrates that it’s not the amount of screentime you get – it’s what you do with it. And what he achieves is a perfect balance of horrific and scenery-chewing hilarious, with a discernible hint of tragedy behind the layers of insanity.
2) As Zack in ‘Down By Law’ (Jim Jarmusch – 1986)
Jim Jarmusch knows what he has with Waits: a subtle and meticulous actor who’s not there for the spotlight, but rather to serve the storytelling as best he can. For their first collaboration, the director cast Waits as Zack, an out-of-work disc jockey who shares the same New Orleans jail cell as a pimp (John Lurie) and an Italian tourist (Roberto Benigni, in his first international role). All three have been set up and decide to escape from jail. Rather than focus on the escape, as per cinematic jailbreak conventions, this monochrome gem centres on the interactions between the hapless convicts. It’s superb.
All three performances are terrific, but Waits is the standout as the restless, down-on-his-luck Zack. Quite the feat, as Down By Law was his first leading role.
Granted, the character he plays could have been written by Waits for one of his songs, as he frequently sings of lost souls and outsiders who populate America’s fringes. However, the way he interacts with his co-stars not only shows a naturally charismatic actor but also a player who enhances his co-leads’ performances – making him the ideal on-screen sparring partner.
Since this collaboration in 1986, Waits has appeared in Jarmusch’s Mystery Train (as another DJ in a voice cameo); soundtracked Night On Earth; played himself in the deliriously entertaining anthology film Coffee And Cigarettes; and stood out as Hermit Bob in the director’s absurdist zombie comedy The Dead Don’t Die. After winning the Golden Lion for his latest, Father Mother Sister Brother, here’s hoping Jarmusch keeps this partnership going and thriving.
1) As Mr. Nick in ‘The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus’ (Terry Gilliam – 2009)
This is the role Waits was born to play. Reuniting with Terry Gilliam after a short but memorable turn in The Fisher King, Waits plays the Devil himself in 2009’s The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus, a magical and underappreciated adventure following a travelling theatre company whose titular leader has made a devilish pact. And Mephistopheles has come to collect…
Sporting a pencil moustache and dapper top hat, Waits gives one of his finest performances in this Faustian fairytale – so much so that he becomes the film’s primary pull factor. Instead of making Mr. Nick the straightforward antagonist you’d expect (or the version you’d imagine from the man who sang ‘God’s Away On Business’ on his brilliantly hellish ‘Blood Money’ album), Waits clearly has some fun. He relishes every moment by making the Dark Lord a smooth-talking betting man who just loves the silly sport of life. It’s a testament to Waits’ instinct as a performer to not have gotten overwhelmed by the large archetype the figure represents, giving audiences a version that isn’t often seen on the big screen.
In Euronews Culture’s interview with Terry Gilliam, the director said this about Waits: “Tom Waits is a genius. He’s extraordinary. The first time we worked together was on The Fisher King. Jeff Bridges introduced me to him. At that point, I had never listened to his music! But once I started hearing his music, I thought: This man is a great poet, he really understands the world, he can say the most beautiful things in the most simple way. I wish I could give you examples, but my memory is falling apart right now. But to work with him was an utter joy, because he is a great magician on every level.”
Sadly, the release of Gilliam’s film was overshadowed by the tragic death of Heath Ledger, with Johnny Depp, Jude Law and Colin Farrell stepping in to finish the film by completing half of Ledger’s unfilmed scenes. It shouldn’t have worked, but it did, delivering a further layer of surreal wonderment that makes The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus an absolute masterpiece. In large part thanks to Waits, who has never been better.
Father Mother Sister Brother won this year’s Venice Golden Lion. It heads next to Busan International Film Festival, the New York Film Festival and back to Europe for this year’s BFI London Film Festival. It is set to be released in US theatres on 24 December and European cinemagoers will have to wait until early January for a chance to see it.