Jim Jarmusch's 1991 ensemble comedy Night on Earth turns a gimmick into a revelation. The story begins in Los Angeles one evening at 7:07 pm A talent agent (Gena Rowlands) gets into the back of a taxi driven by a sullen, chain-smoking young woman (Winona Ryder), and over the course of their bumpy conversation, Rowlands' character becomes convinced that the cabby would be perfect for a particular part in a movie. Meanwhile, at that very moment, taxi drivers in New York, Paris, Rome and Helsinki are all having unique encounters with a variety of fares, breaking through that invisible social barrier between the front and back seats of their cars, often to absurd or touching effect. Among them are cabby Roberto Benigni's ranting confessions to a priest, Armin Mueller-Stahl's relinquishing of the wheel to a stunned Giancarlo Esposito and Isaach De Bankolé's relentless discussion of sight and sex with an angry blind woman (Beatrice Dalle). What emerges is a chain of brief intimacies (not always welcomed by the characters), like a number of matches lit simultaneously across the globe, flickering brightly for a few short moments. This popular work by Jarmusch helped confirm his reputation as a fiercely independent filmmaker of rare perception, rigour and classical sensibility matched with original thinking. --Tom Keogh, Amazon.com

Philippe Le Guay's Night Shift (aka Trois Huit) shows that bullying doesn't just happen at school, it can affect people in the workplace. Pierre (Gerald Laroche) is the new guy on the night shift. He's a good-natured family man, with a seemingly idyllic life, reflected by the secluded beauty of his home. This is starkly countered by the bleak French industrial setting of the bottle factory where he works. From the very beginning, Pierre is picked on by Fred (Marc Barbe), a boorish amateur boxer, who seems threatened by Pierre's popularity among their fellow workmates. At first, Fred's acts are put down as jovial, though aggressive, behaviour.

As these acts grow more violent, both mentally and physically, they begin to affect the way Pierre perceives and is perceived by his wife, Carole (Luce Mouchel) and their 12-year-old son, Victor (Bastien Le Roy). Their increasingly complex relationship makes for compelling watching. Pierre's son begins to see Fred as a stronger father figure, and it's this that forces the normally reserved Pierre to stand up to his bully.

The cinematography really helps to frame the action. The characters are shot at close range, capturing both the camaraderie of the fellow workers; while the glowing, molten bottles moving around the factory capture the symbolism of the growing tension between Fred and Pierre. Yann Tiersen's original score, while commendable, does not have the powerful effect on Night Shift that his music for Amelie did.

On the DVD: Night Shift on DVD includes basic filmographies of the principal leads and the director. In addition, there is the original theatrical trailer, as well as a trailer reel of other World Cinema highlights including Sex and Lucia and The Terrorist. --Yusuf Moosajee