Los Angeles - A very young, female cab driver takes a successful Hollywood casting agent to her Beverly Hills home. Along the way, they discuss their future hopes and dreams.
(This is my least favourite of the stories.)
"Sure, Mom."
New York - A man finally manages to hail a cab in the middle of New York City, only to discover that it's German driver not only doesn't know how to drive to Brooklyn, but doesn't really know how to drive at all. Eager to get home, the man and the cab driver strike a deal: the driver becomes the passenger and the passenger becomes the driver.
(This one was my favourite story.)
"Look, yeah, it's allowed! This is New York!"
Paris - A taxi driver, sick of being treated badly by his fares, drives a blind woman home. Facsinated by her and her ways, they spend the ride discussing her condition and how her life differs from his.
(I think that this story carries the best message(s).)
"Look, I don't care if you're green or blue like a carrot! For me the word color doesn't mean anything. I feel colors... but you'd never understand that!"
Rome - A taxi driver picks up a priest, whom he believes to be a Bishop, in the middle of the desserted city. Before long, the driver begins confessing his sins to his passenger, all of which involve sexual desire, to the priest's shock.
(This is definitely the funniest of the five shorts.)
"I love these one way streets!"
Helsinki - A taxi driver responds to a call made by three drunken men, one of which has passed out. On the drive to their homes (They all live on the same street), the men discuss why they are so drunk, and realize that things could be a lot worse.
(Of the five stories told, this was the saddest.)
"Whatever happened to you that was worse than that?"
All of the stories are about 30 minutes long and seem to offer a message to the viewer. My favourite of the stories was the second one, that takes place in New York City. Within this story, two people realize that they have a lot in common, and become unlikely friends on their journey. Of all of the stories, this one is the happiest and leaves you feeling rather good.
One aspect of Night On Earth that I appreciated was that the stories that took place in non-English speaking countries were told in their native languages, with subtitles for English speaking viewers. A lot of films would just as soon have their characters all miraculously speaking English, so this was a pleasant surprise.
I'm not really sure why they chose to do to two American tales. They could have easily exchanged the Los Angeles one, which I believe to be the worst of the bunch, for a story set in London. I understand why they could not have used Australia or Africa, because it would not have been night at the same time as the other cities, but why two US cities were used, I don't understand. There are plenty of other cities in plenty of other countries that could have had much more interesting stories.
The cast of all five shorts are good in their roles, especially the cast of the New York City and Rome shorts. Overall, everybody did a great job.
I imagine that HBO's "Taxicab Confessions" was somewhat inspired by Night On Earth, though they're hardly in the same league; Night On Earth is better. 7/10
Trivia: The part of Corky, in the Los Angeles short, was written specifically for Winona Ryder, who ended up playing the part.
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