Dead Man (1995)

Directed by

Jim Jarmusch

Genre

drama film, fantasy film, Western film, independent film, road movie, acid Western

Country

Germany, United States, Japan

Runtime

1h 56m

Rated

R

Rating

7.3 of 10 from 1,747 voters

Elsewhere

IMDb

How it feels

A meek accountant named William Blake shoots a man and flees into the American frontier. He meets a Native American man named Nobody who mistakes him for the poet William Blake and guides him on a strange journey toward death.

meditativedreamlikebleakslow-burnatmosphericunsettlingvisually starkexistential

What happens

Dead Man is a 1995 acid Western film written and directed by Jim Jarmusch. It stars Johnny Depp, Gary Farmer, Billy Bob Thornton, Iggy Pop, Crispin Glover, John Hurt, Michael Wincott, Lance Henriksen, Gabriel Byrne, Mili Avital, and Robert Mitchum in one of his final film performances. Set in the late 19th century, the story follows William Blake (Depp), a meek accountant on the run after killing a man. He has a chance encounter with enigmatic Native American spirit-guide "Nobody" (Farmer), who believes Blake is the reincarnation of the visionary English poet William Blake. Described by Jarmusch as a "Psychedelic western", the film is shot entirely in monochrome. Neil Young composed the guitar-dominated soundtrack with portions he improvised while watching the movie footage. Dead Man premiered at the 1995 Cannes Film Festival, where it competed for the Palme d'Or. Initial critical response was mixed, but retrospective reviews have been generally positive, with Jonathan Rosenbaum describing it as "as exciting and as important as any new American movie I've seen in the 90s." At the 12th Independent Spirit Awards, the film was nominated in four categories, including Best Film. (from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA)

Trailer

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