Dead Man (1995)

Dead Man (1995)

Rated R

Starring: Johnny Depp, Gary Farmer, Gabriel Byrne, Billy Bob Thornton, Lance Henrikson, John Hurt, Iggy Pop

Directed by: Jim Jarmusch

Tagline: No one can survive becoming a legend.

Running time: 121 minutes

DVD

Quick summary (straight from the back of the DVD): Johnny Depp (Sleepy Hollow, The Astronaut's Wife) delivers a remarkable performance in this highly acclaimed tale of adventure and intrigue in the wild, wild West! A young man in search of a fresh start, William Blake (Depp), embarks on an exciting journey to a new town...never realizing the danger that lies ahead. But when a heated love triangle ends in double murder, Blake fins himself a wanted man, running scared - until a mysterious loner (Gary Farmer) teaches him to face the dangers that follow a "dead man." With an outstanding cast including Gabriel Byrne (End of Days, Stigmata) and Robert Mitchum (Cape Fear), and a sizzling soundtrack by Neil Young, Dead Man is another motion picture triumph from filmmaker Jim Jarmusch. 

Purchased during a brief period of Depp-obsession, the DVD copy of Dead Man has sat on my shelf between Day of the Dead and Desperado for five years collecting dust. It was nothing against the movie, but I bought it solely because it starred Johnny Depp (and cost less than $10). It helped that the image on the DVD cover looked cool, Depp looking frazzled in a boat with a gun in his hand. I think I might have tried to watch it when I first bought it, but I couldn’t have made it more than two or three minutes before I stopped it, as I didn’t remember any of it after that point.

Now that I’ve watched it all the way through, I can tell exactly why I stopped it the first time. It wasn’t what I was looking for. It started out weird, and kind of boring, so I probably stopped it to watch something easier to get into. I was looking for a casual movie experience when I sat down to watch it that first time. Dead Man isn’t a casual movie. I’d even argue that it’s not a movie, it’s a film. I know that the two terms are synonymous, but the word movie conjures up simple entertainment that doesn’t ask a lot of the audience, the word film implies artistry. Transformers  is a movie. Dead Man is art.

One of the first things that stood out to me during viewing of this film was the score. The score is something you rarely notice during the picture, or at least during casual viewings. It’s usually meant to augment the action on the screen, but to not stand out. A good score is something you don’t even think about, but you remember it later. Something you only notice if it’s exceptional or, in the cast of No Country for Old Men, completely lacking. Jaws, Star Wars, and The Social Network all have excellent scores. The score for Dead Man, composed and performed by Neil Young, is striking but simple. It consists of just a guitar, playing a string of notes , seemingly sporadic in arrangement. It starts off soft and slow, on an acoustic guitar, but as the film progresses, it gradually increases in volume and tone, changing to an electric guitar as it builds to a crescendo before quickly returning to the softer and slower notes as the film ends. I’ve never had a score in a film impact me like that before. It was astounding.

Dead Man features a stellar cast of actors, all of whom play fairly small roles. Outside of Johnny Depp and Gary Farmer, there are no other main characters. Gabriel Byrne, Crispin Glover, Iggy Pop, Alfred Molina, John Hurt and Lance Henrikson all play a role in the film. I am hesitant to call them minor roles, as it seems that each role was selected and constructed purposefully and specifically for the actors to play. There was no filler, as each line appears to be delivered purposefully and exactly on time. Depp and Farmer, as the two central characters, do an outstanding job. 

As for the film itself, it was beautifully shot and very well constructed. It looked like an authentic Western, which was no doubt Jim Jarmusch’s intent when he began. Even though it was made in the 90’s, it looks and feels like it could have been made in the 50’s. Even though it looked and felt like a Western, there was something about it that was just off. I think it had a lot to do with the use of electric guitar in the score. It stood out, but it worked beautifully. 

There are several moments when the viewer is made to feel as lost and confused as William Blake. There are several long stretches without dialog, where Blake is just looking around at his surroundings, trying to figure it out. When the Native Americans speak in their language, and it is neither subtitled nor translated, in order to leave the viewer as in the dark as Blake.

Not being familiar with the poet William Blake, some of the dialog and references are lost on me, but I can appreciate the beauty of the words. There were also some references to modern times that I would have otherwise missed were it not for IMDB. A few of the characters were named for modern musicians and the Marshals were named Lee and Marvin, a nod to the actor. I’m sure there were other things that I didn’t catch or didn’t fully grasp the idea of, but perhaps a repeat viewing will help. I get the feeling that this is one of those films whose meaning and impact can change with repeated viewings. I will definitely plan on revisiting this film at some point in the future.

Dead Man was a really well made film, as are the other two Jim Jarmusch films I have seen. I think I may have enjoyed Ghost Dog: Way of the Samurai (which I own on VHS, but don’t have a VCR to play it on…I should look into upgrading to blu-ray or DVD) more and Coffee & Cigarettes was more interesting , but Dead Man was much better made and more artistic than the other two. I doubt it will crack my top 25, but it’s a nice change of pace from all of the sequels and remakes going on now.

Four and a half out of five stars

Streets ahead of Avatar

Check the trailer: