May 26, 2003
Dead Man
Surreal. That's the only way to describe Jim Jarmusch's
Western, filmed in a gorgeous, dream-like black and white. In a
landscape filled with memorable characters, Johnny Depp's shy
accountant gets wrapped up in circumstances WAY beyond his
control, leading to even more adventures. It includes memorable
appearances by such legends as Robert Mitchum, John Hurt and Gabriel Byrne, as
well as names like Iggy
Pop and Lance
Henriksen who sound familiar but you just can't place!
Complemented to an incredible degree by the guitar work of Neil Young, the
movie has an atmosphere that you just can't shake, even long after the end credits have rolled by.
The movie starts out on a long train ride, with an ever changing lot of passengers around the bespectacled Depp. The crowd gets obviously rougher and rougher, and Depp pulls himself inward, as the train gets further west. Each scene is separated by shots of the wheels turning and the scenery going by, with haunting guitar notes being played. And it just gets weirder and weirder!
Depp gets involved in a shooting and flees, while Mitchum puts some of the most soulless, and odd, guns in the West on his trail. Depp runs into a mystical (or perhaps just babbling) Indian, who leads him even further west. And you never know what is going to happen next, from mystical conversations, to lyrical visuals, to high brow comedy, all punctuated with short yet harsh hammers of violence.
The DVD is a beautiful reproduction of the incredible blacks, whites and all the grays in between that Jarmusch and cinematographer Robby Müller work with in their palette. There's a small number of extras, including a really cool music video and about 15 minutes of outtakes and deleted scenes, most of which were best left on the cutting room floor, even if they do help explain some of the back story.
This is a haunting movie all around. It is really hard to shake, because it doesn't answer any questions. Heck, it hardly even poses any questions. It is a little slow going, but once you get its rhythm you are much rewarded. This is one I'm definitely adding to my "buy" list.
Buy Dead Man from DVDPlanet
Mili Avital, Lance Henriksen, Iggy Pop, Johnny Depp, Michael Wincott, Gary Farmer
William Blake, an Ohio accountant, runs afoul of the law and befriends a Native American loner, who teaches him to face the dangers that follow a "dead man." Posted by jdarnold at May 26, 2003 09:47 PM
