(thanks Criterion for the excellent transfer)
So you're saying that's what the DVD was, eh? I wouldn't have known that the lighting was great in Down by Law. I've seen a number of Benigni's movies, not all of them, and my impression, corroborated by Italian friends, is that he is best in improvised performances, not so good in cooked-up film stories like his latest movie about Iraq, La vita è bella, etc. I think he's hilarious in Down by Law, though even funnier in NIght on Earth. That sequence of the taxi driver is one of the single drollest passages in recent films. But he has some moments in Down by Law that rival it. I would probably agree that Down by Law isn't quite up to Stranger Than Paradise and Mystery Train, but they're all of a piece, too.