Elvis or Carl Perkins? That is the question here. In three loosely interwoven episodes, the director recounts with laconic humor the bizarre encounters that took place during one night in the musical heart of America—Memphis, Tennessee. A troupe of cult actors and musicians such as Screamin' Jay Hawkins, The Clash's Joe Strummer, Tom Waits, and Steve Buscemi appear in small, bizarre roles without warning, ensuring a constant smile of recognition. “Mystery Train” embodies that feeling of the nineties, when the present stretched far into the future – a single, great moment for chance encounters, not yet shrunk under the weight of the past or worries about the future.

Print from the collection of the Kino im Blauen Salon (HfG KA)