Dead Man (18.)
Directed by Jim Jarmusch.
1995. Starring Johnny Depp, Gary Farmer, Lance Henrikson, Michael Wincott and Eugene Byrd. Black and White. 121 mins. Released on Blu Ray by Soda Pictures as part of the Jim Jarmusch Collection.
There's a lot going on in Dead Man, though not a lot happens. Jarmusch's take on the western sends an accountant called William Blake to the end of the train line in the expectation of a job but instead finds himself on the run through the wilderness, pursued by three savage bounty hunters, (Henrikson, Wincott, Byrd) and befriended by a Native American called Nobody (Farmer.) The narrative conventions of a western chase movie are introduced and then allowed to drift around aimlessly in the woods while the film pursues more divergent themes such as the materialistic savagery in which the US was forged, the spiritual clash between the settlers and the culture they usurped and a celebration of William Blake.
Dead Man is one of the best examples of Jarmusch's unique craft, which is based on simplicity and precision. Take for example the per-credit sequence of Blake's train journey out west. Depp's character remains set in his seat, sitting awkwardly in his tartan three piece suit, occasionally drifting into sleep and waking to find a whole different set of passengers have replaced the previous ones, each new set looking a touch wilder and less civilized than the ones that preceded. The whole thing is achieved by a single train carriage set and a few exterior shots, but is so evocative of the period and the social background while setting up the story and the central character.
Not a lot happens, but a lot is going on.
The tone of Dead Man is bleaker and harsher than previous Jarmusch film but leavened with just enough humour and spirituality . The godforsaken town of Machine, Depp's destination, is shot like a wild west version of Eraserhead, a vision of monochrome ugliness. Once Blake is forced to take flight into the woods the tone gradually becomes more dreamlike and by the end it has almost a trance-like serenity. Over the two hours, the film has moved from cut throat struggle to equanimity and acceptance.
It is brutal in places. Most of the settlers are savages, personified by Henrickson's bounty hunter Cole. There is one moment in the film, an act of vandalism he commits, that is among the most shocking in cinema. (It is also probably the only reason why this film and this boxset has an 18 rating.) Yet though this is firmly in the realms of anti-western and its contemplative pace would be taken as a slur by western aficionados, there are aplenty of loving little homages to western movies. (There is also a little visual nod to the abandoned Russ Meyer Sex Pistols' film Who Killed Bambi; no idea what that is doing here.)
Everybody involved seems to be performing at their peak on Dead Man. Robby Muller b'n'w cinematography perfectly conveys the subtle shifts in tone and Depp is in his pre-Pirates pomp, when he seemed to be making only great and interesting films. (Dead Man is packed with memorable cameos: Robert Mitchum, John Hurt, Alfred Molina, Iggy Pop, Billy Bob Thornton, Gabriel Byrne and Crispin Glover.) There is also music from Neil Young. I wouldn't exactly call it a score – writers of film music would tell you how much effort is needed to time their compositions with the action on the screen and how hard they have to work to supplement the emotions on screen. In contrast Young just seems to have offered up some abrasive strums on his electric guitar, that may or may not tie up with up events on screen. It works though; another indelible element in one of Jarmusch's finest achievements.
Jim jarmusch colection
Directed by Jim Jarmusch.
1995. Starring Johnny Depp, Gary Farmer, Lance Henrikson, Michael Wincott and Eugene Byrd. Black and White. 121 mins. Released on Blu Ray by Soda Pictures as part of the Jim Jarmusch Collection.
There's a lot going on in Dead Man, though not a lot happens. Jarmusch's take on the western sends an accountant called William Blake to the end of the train line in the expectation of a job but instead finds himself on the run through the wilderness, pursued by three savage bounty hunters, (Henrikson, Wincott, Byrd) and befriended by a Native American called Nobody (Farmer.) The narrative conventions of a western chase movie are introduced and then allowed to drift around aimlessly in the woods while the film pursues more divergent themes such as the materialistic savagery in which the US was forged, the spiritual clash between the settlers and the culture they usurped and a celebration of William Blake.
Dead Man is one of the best examples of Jarmusch's unique craft, which is based on simplicity and precision. Take for example the per-credit sequence of Blake's train journey out west. Depp's character remains set in his seat, sitting awkwardly in his tartan three piece suit, occasionally drifting into sleep and waking to find a whole different set of passengers have replaced the previous ones, each new set looking a touch wilder and less civilized than the ones that preceded. The whole thing is achieved by a single train carriage set and a few exterior shots, but is so evocative of the period and the social background while setting up the story and the central character.
Not a lot happens, but a lot is going on.
The tone of Dead Man is bleaker and harsher than previous Jarmusch film but leavened with just enough humour and spirituality . The godforsaken town of Machine, Depp's destination, is shot like a wild west version of Eraserhead, a vision of monochrome ugliness. Once Blake is forced to take flight into the woods the tone gradually becomes more dreamlike and by the end it has almost a trance-like serenity. Over the two hours, the film has moved from cut throat struggle to equanimity and acceptance.
It is brutal in places. Most of the settlers are savages, personified by Henrickson's bounty hunter Cole. There is one moment in the film, an act of vandalism he commits, that is among the most shocking in cinema. (It is also probably the only reason why this film and this boxset has an 18 rating.) Yet though this is firmly in the realms of anti-western and its contemplative pace would be taken as a slur by western aficionados, there are aplenty of loving little homages to western movies. (There is also a little visual nod to the abandoned Russ Meyer Sex Pistols' film Who Killed Bambi; no idea what that is doing here.)
Everybody involved seems to be performing at their peak on Dead Man. Robby Muller b'n'w cinematography perfectly conveys the subtle shifts in tone and Depp is in his pre-Pirates pomp, when he seemed to be making only great and interesting films. (Dead Man is packed with memorable cameos: Robert Mitchum, John Hurt, Alfred Molina, Iggy Pop, Billy Bob Thornton, Gabriel Byrne and Crispin Glover.) There is also music from Neil Young. I wouldn't exactly call it a score – writers of film music would tell you how much effort is needed to time their compositions with the action on the screen and how hard they have to work to supplement the emotions on screen. In contrast Young just seems to have offered up some abrasive strums on his electric guitar, that may or may not tie up with up events on screen. It works though; another indelible element in one of Jarmusch's finest achievements.
Jim jarmusch colection
