back to browsing

Dead Man [DVD] [] [1997] [Region 1]

1 disc
Region 1 USA/CA (info)

In bringing his distinct vision to the Western genre, writer-director Jim Jarmusch has created a quasi-mystical avant-garde drama that remains a deeply spiritual viewing experience. After losing his parents and fiance, a Cleveland accountant named William Blake (a remarkable Johnny Depp) spends all his money and takes a train to the frontier town of Machine in order to work at a factory. Upon arriving in Machine, he is denied his expected job and finds himself a fugitive after murdering a man in self-defense. Wounded and helpless, Blake is befriended by Nobody (Gary Farmer), a wandering Native American who considers him to be a ghostly manifestation of the famous poet. Nobody aids Blake in his flight from three bumbling bounty hunters, preparing him for his final journey--a return to the world of the spirits.

Jarmusch once again employs the beautifully contrasted black-and-white photography of Robby Mller, which sets a poetic, dreamy mood. He also fades in and out of scenes in order to better reflect Blake's dazed, weak mental state. Adding an even greater depth to the film is Neil Young's haunting score, which completes the overall effect. DEAD MAN stands firmly as a timeless work of art whose impact only increases upon subsequent viewings.
Read More...
Credits

Johnny Depp, Gary Farmer, Lance Henriksen, Lance Hendrickson, Lance Henricksen, Michael Wincott, Mili Avital, Iggy Pop, James Osterberg, Jared Harris, Billy Bob Thornton, Crispin Glover, Crispin Hellion Glover, Eugene Byrd, Michelle Thrush, Gabriel Byrne, John Hurt, Alfred Molina, Robert Mitchum, Bob Mitchum
Critic Reviews

"...Striking black-and-white camera work..."
Rolling Stone
"...DEAD MAN looks beautiful....Neil Young's soundtrack has many moments of great beauty..."
Sight and Sound
"...A piquant humor and eccentric mood that brand it with the mark of one of America's most distinctive indie filmmakers..."
Variety
"...Sensational....The movie beautifully sustains a vision of the West as wild in the most primal and scary sense of the word..."
New York Times
"...Hilarious, silly, facetious, violent, mystical....DEAD MAN is finally a poignant lament for the cursed coming of the white man to the West..."
Los Angeles Times