Dead Man
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Movie Reviews of Dead Man
Movie Review: Zen spaghetti western
Summary: 5 Stars
Whoever wrote the review above must not have seen this movie. it isn't a typical movie by any stretch of the imagination, but it is a subtle and well balanced film that every fan of zen flicks, spaghetti westerns, and more psychedelic fare should check out.
This movie is based off a man by the name of William Blake, played perfectly by Johnnie Depp. He is a timid man who is going to a small western town and the end of the railroad for a job offer. He looks like he has lived a sheltered life and is shocked by what he sees on the frontier. When he arrives in the town he finds that the job was given to someone else and the owner is a psychopath that chases him out of the factory. He links up with a woman who is also down on her luck at the bar and ends up having sex with her. It turns out that she was engaged to a man that still wants it to work and he walks in on them. In a fit of rage, he shoots at william blake but hits her, and is in turn shot by William. But you soon find that the bullet passed through her and into him.
This is where the movie really stars to pick up. He starts to run and is found by a native, played by David Farmer, that tried to help him. But proclaims that the bullet is too close to his heart to cut out, and he is a dead man. He mistakes him for the real william blake whom he has read and is a big fan of. he then decides he must take him on a journey to the west, where his destiney lies.
This is a very stylized movie, the pacing has a slow surreal quality to it. Things that should be common place look odd and often menacing. The fact that the main character feels this strongly adds to this. It has a strong feeling of a zen movie with its phiolsophies and balance of events and characters. But never strays away from the bizarre journey that it is is.
The actors were all perfect for their roles. Johnnie Depp is as good as usual, becoming another completely different character with the sheltered William Blake. The hunters offer a strange comic relief, made up of the quiet and menacing Lance Henrikson, and the oddly comical Michael Wincott(one of his few comical roles). As well as packing the movie full of cameos, Gibby Haynes, John Hurt, Robert Mitchum, Alfred Molina, Iggy Pop, Billy Bob Thorton, Steve Buscemi, Crispin Glover etc..... Many only have small roles, but seem to fit perfectly regardless of their lack of screen time.
This movie is very thought provoking, relying heavily on imagery and pace to convey its message rather than dialogue. The music is done by Neil Young and gives it the feel of a spaghetti western, blairing in with loud twangy chords to set the mood.
This is a hard movie to describe, it has elements of a zen movie, a western, a b movie, etc.... But it is excellently balanced, well directed, and has top notch acting. It also pulls off being funny, introspective, dire, and surreal in a successful manner. None of the elements overshadow other parts of it. so I highly advise this movie to any fans of the above mentioned genres. Just don't expect anything, it will probably suprise you, and you will probably see something differnt than I did or whoever you happen to watch it with. Bottom line is, watch it.
Movie Review: "Do You Know My Poetry?"
Summary: 5 Stars
The opening scenes of `Dead Man', totally bereft of dialogue, effectively sets the tone for this strange and wonderful film while nearly overwhelming the senses with its gorgeous black and white cinematography. Depicted is the long train journey of the protagonist, Bill Blake (Johnny Depp) into the West. From one silent fade-out scene to another we are shown the changes happing inside and outside of the train coach, as both the passengers and landscape morph into ever more rugged terrain; the black and white landscapes that Blake views from his window have the beauty and majesty of Ansel Adams' photographs come to life, while the motley passengers of the coach could easily have stepped out of Dorothea Lange's portraits. Before a word is spoken, the viewer already has a sense that this is not your typical Western, and that they are in for a strange cinematic odyssey.
This spell of silence is finally broken by the enigmatic train fireman (Crispin Glover), who approaches Blake like a dour Cassandra speaking in riddles of the doom that awaits him. His words foreshadow Blake's fate, and perfectly predict the film's final scenes. From this point on `Dead Man' has little in common with traditional Westerns, and abandons most of the elements of conventional plot development and story telling as well. Instead, it is a mythical journey into the land of the dead, full of symbolism and iconic images. What develops has more in common with a dreamscape than any waking reality, and can really only be understood as such. If you are able to accept this mythic dream journey on its own terms you will be richly rewarded. It is full of gorgeous visuals, sly, erudite humor, and grotesque, fascinating characters. Even its abundant violence seems appropriate to the dark myth that the film is telling.
Johnny Depp (as the protagonist William Blake) turns in a masterful, minimalist performance as he heads an A-list cast full of so many excellent performances that I cannot even begin to do justice to them all. Gary Farmer deserves special mention for his outstanding performance as Blake's Indian guide, Nobody, who initiates the film's mythic pilgrimage when he discovers the wounded Blake and leads him through his transforming journey-quest to the land of the dead. Lance Henriksen and Michael Wincott provide much of the film's dark humor as a pair of mismatched assassins, one as pathologically laconic as the other is verbose. Also present are Robert Mitchum (in his final role), John Hurt, Gabriel Byrne, Billy Bob Thornton, Iggy Pop, Alfred Molina, and Steve Buscemi - all in small but brilliantly played roles.
`Dead Man' is director Jim Jarmusch's masterpiece. He demands much of his viewers, expecting them to be active participants in deciphering this odd film, and rewards them richly for their effort. `Dead Man' doesn't have a wide appeal - if you generally don't enjoy art house films you probably will not enjoy this one and should avoid it. But if you enjoy films full of odd vignettes and gorgeous imagery that both surprise and challenge you, this one may just become one of your favorites.
Theo Logos
Movie Review: Western From A Different Perspective
Summary: 5 Stars
"Dead Man" is a western from a different perspective, the existential. Although westerns have occasionally delved into the existential such as "The Searchers" or "Pursued," this may be a western that goes further west, to the mystical, it may be a psychedelic western.
Johnny Depp plays William Blake, yes, the naming after the English mystical poet William Blake is purposeful. He's even mistaken for the poet by the Indian Nobody (Gary Farmer). The plot of "Dead Man" is kind of a standard plot in the post civil war, industrial revolution American west. Depp's Blake is moving west to take a job he's secured as an accountant, but upon arriving in Machine, a dirty, decadent city he finds his position has been filled. He's then stuck in town with only enough money to buy a pint of whiskey. He befriends a hooker who takes him in. When her boyfriend shows up in the morning Blake is forced to shoot and kill him. He has to go on the run and become an outlaw, and that's where "Dead Man" departs from the usual western. Blake meets up with Nobody, an Indian of mixed heritage who wanders the wilderness quoting William Blake's poetry (yes, an explanation is given for this).
Blake is pursued through the wilderness by three eccentric bounty hunters, notably Michael Wincott as Conway Twill an overly talkative bounty hunter who won't shut up, and Lance Henriksen who gives one of his more animated, less stoic performances (which isn't saying much) as the cannibal bounty hunter Cole Wilson. As Depp wanders the wilderness with Nobody as a guide his reputation as an outlaw grows as he is forced to kill to survive running across characters such as Iggy Pop and Billy Bob Thornton exploring their own sexual wilderness. There are some other notable performances such as Crispin Glover in the prologue of the movie and really sets the tone of the movie. The legendary Robert Mitchum in a cameo as John Dickinson, the robber baron industrialist who runs the town of Machine.
Written and directed by Jim Jarmusch he has created an unconventional film that is a shamanistic journey into the underworld, and Jarmusch explores the visual poetry of film. Jarmusch films the movie as a study in black and white and the shades and nuances in between. The movie also has a textural quality to it, the characters focusing on things in the world they're noticing for the first time.
Neil Young did the soundtrack and it stands out. Considering the unconventional nature of the film Jarmusch wanted an unconventional soundtrack from Young, and he gets one. Young's minimalist soundtrack works more of an accompaniment to the images more like a musician filling in an accompaniment at a poetry reading than a soundtrack.
"Dead Man" is a movie you're either going to love or hate, but the journey is an interesting one on a lot of levels and worth exploring.
Bonus features: Deleted scenes and outtakes, plus a music video of Neil Young's music from the soundtrack.
Movie Review: Artistic and Odd
Summary: 5 Stars
I read a lot of the reviews before watching this movie. I am a Depp fan, so I decided to see for myself what it's all about.
It's artsy, and you have to get used to the format. The black and white cinematography, I thought, was very good. The format is more of a series of vignettes than a continuous flow of story and dialogue. You get the hang of it pretty quickly. The music isn't your normal kind of score. Sometimes it fits the scene really well, and other times it borders on being annoying. The acting is very good. Don't expect some sort of "Ocean's Thirteen" cast with witticisms and glitzy movie-making. It's not that kind of film. If you're familiar with much of Depp's work you won't be too surprised that this film is avante garde.
In terms of the story, I'd recommend relaxing and taking the journey. Each person will find something different in it, I think. The story isn't hard to follow. The choices that Depp's character makes result in the twists and turns of the story. Don't waste time trying to figure out logic - you'll figure out pretty quickly that logic isn't part of the random sorts of things that happen. Why does Depp's character do what he does? He just does. Could he do otherwise? Yes. But he doesn't. He seems swept away by his circumstances - that's part of the interest of the story. Obviously Native American spiritualism guides Farmer's character. If you have any understanding of Native American myth you'll be able to figure Farmer's character, "Nobody," out. As to whether he's "real" or imaginary, that's part of the individual interpretation involved in watching the film. That's part of what makes it artsy instead of "hollywood." Everything isn't spelled out and spoonfed to the viewer.
If you want to walk away with a resolved ending and a happy feeling don't waste your time. Likewise if you're sensitive to things that are dark and logic that is more random than systematic, you won't like this film. In my opinion those who are very critical of this movie either try too hard to find the "meaning," or are frustrated by the dark mood and random manner of the events because they're trying to order things and find the natural flow. There isn't a natural flow here. If you're able not to take things too seriously and you're interested in something that will make you think a little bit, wonder a little bit, and philosophize a little bit you'll like this movie. Likewise students of film will appreciate the format and other aspects of the non-traditional way this film is constructed.
Movie Review: A great film with a fine soundtrack
Summary: 5 Stars
Every time you watch this film, it reveals some more of its character. Is this a western, a road movie, a black comedy, surreal art or just something to look at while you listen to Neil Young's eerie sound track? To find your own answers you must watch it yourself.Set in the late nineteenth century, we see Johnny Depp playing William Blake, a young accountant who gives up his sheltered life in Cleveland to head out to the Wild West. He has a job offer from a manufacturing company owned by John Dickinson (Robert Mitchum) in a lawless town called Machine which is literally, "the end of the line."
The film starts with his train journey out to the west and we see him becoming gradually more uneasy as the civilised East turns into the rough and dirty West. All too soon he is in Machine where he finds out that the job has gone to another man bacause Blake took too long in getting there. Out of money, he ends up in bed with Thel Russell (Mili Avital) the prettiest girl in town. When her boyfriend arrives, Blake's troubles get worse. After the ensuing gunfight, Blake flees, mortally wounded and leaving two bodies behind him.
The father of the dead boyfriend, Dickinson again, hires a group of killers to catch Blake. Also, he calls in the Marshals and posts public rewards. Since this is a road movie, Blake needs a buddy and he teams up with Nobody (Gary Farmer) an outcast Native American who just happens to have a passion for the poems of the more famous William Blake. Nobody accepts Blake as the embodiment of the real poet and assumes, because the the poet had already died and the man he sees now is slowly dying, that Blake must seek a place to die and return to the world beyond.
Nobody sets out to help and guide him on his journey. They must dodge the bounty hunters, marshals and citizens who want the reward and along the way, Blake turns into a man who can kill without remorse.
Surreal barely describes the people that they meet and, generally, kill on the way. There is a lot of humour ranging from Nobody's observations of European "civilisation" to the constant sniping (figurative and literal) between the three bounty hunters sent to kill Blake.
Shooting the film in black and white and using a soundtrack that is just a constant guitar presence rather than a set of songs, gives the film a outward appearance that well matches the content.
Many people will doubtless find this film deeply unappealing or offensive but they will be missing a movie that is as refreshing and stylish as anything else from the nineties.