Film Review: Dead Man

Director and Writer: Jim Jarmusch
Country: USA
Genre: Western/Drama
Starring: Johnny Depp, Gary Farmer, Lance Henriksen, Michael Wincott, Eugene Byrd, Mili Avital, Iggy Pop, Crispin Glover, Billy Bob Thornton, Gabrial Byrne, John Hurt
Music: Neil Young
MPAA Rating: R
Running Time: 121 minutes
U.S. Box Office: $1,053,518

The film ‘Dead Man’ written and directed by Jim Jarmusch and staring Johnny Depp, Gary Farmer and Crispin Glover was released in May 1996 and distributed by ‘Miramax Films’ in the United States. The film is in the western genre and is about an accountant called William Blake who travels America’s western frontiers during the mid 19th century. Even though the film has some interesting observations about the American way of life in the west during the ninetieth century, it was not well received by audiences and grossed a disappointing $1.05 million which is well below what Hollywood studios are used to.

The film starts with Johnny Depp playing William Blake traveling in a train from Cleveland to the Wild West in order to fill out an accountant position at a firm which offered him the position. When he arrives he finds out that the position has already been filled and before he knows it he finds himself in a heap of trouble when he kills the son of the wealthy businessman who sought to hire him. He hastily runs away to the wilderness where he is helped by an Indian who calls himself ‘Nobody’. During the remainder of the film Blake and his new Indian friend go through the wilderness of the Wild West hunted by the three ruthless hired assassins.
During the course of the journey Blake transforms into the villain everyone perceives him to be by killing ‘white people’ along his route. Killing for him keeps getting easier so as near the end of the movie he is totally unmoved by the value of human life. This behavior is encouraged by his Indian friend who bizarrely believes that he is the spirit of the famous poet ‘William Blake’ who has come back to kill the ‘white people’.

The film which is shot in black and white has some of the same dreamlike like qualities as ‘Apocalypse Now’ which was made by Francis Ford Capolla about the Vietnam conflict. Jarmusch’s film however has a humorous and even sarcastic look at the Wild West to a point where the audience feels the movie is a fantasized story used only to deliver the directors critical opinion on the American way of like in the Wild West. The downside to this is that half way through the film the audience does not care about the characters anymore, knowing the thin humorous story is only an attempt to convey some other important and serious facts.

Jarmusch points to the savagery and moral bankruptcy of the Wild West in the ‘Dead Man’. In one of the opening scenes the main character walks through the filthy streets of a western city where he sees coffins being made (an indication to the sheer number of people who get killed) and animal skulls being sold for decoration in a dark and depressing environment. People are so pre-occupied with violence and killing that even the main character which did not know how to shoot just a couple of days ago turns into a killer. The only thing people seem to care about in Jarmusch’s illustration of the Wild West is tobacco so much that the phrase “Do you have any tobacco?” gets repeated countless of times in the movie.

As the movie progresses and William Blake the main character gets closer and closer to death, he gets more lost in his search for his identity and his goals to the extent where near the end of the movie he does not seem to care about anything even dying anymore. One might point that this the directors way of illustrating the emptiness of the American society at the time and also the uncertainty of human existence. The director also takes subtle shots at organized religion throughout the film especially more so in a scene where a very religious salesperson is presented as a zealot and racist.

A criticism which can be made to Jarmusch’s film is the rather slow pace of the movie. With a runtime of 2 hours, some scenes are slow and even boring to some extent. This could have been fixed with better editing. The music of the film by Neil Young's is a blend of acoustic and electric guitar. It suits the atmosphere of the film pretty well however after a while it gets a bit repetitive and even irritating at times. Credit can be given to the cast for an inspiring performance especially to Johnny Depp who masterfully plays the transformation of the main character in a convincing manner and to Gary Farmer who portrays the mysterious Indian called ‘Nobody’.

In conclusion the ‘Dead Man’ written and directed by Jim Jarmusch and staring Johnny Depp is a rather quirky black and white film with some interesting observations about life in 19th century Wild West America. Even though the film is a bit puzzling and slow paced at times it will definitely be worth while for people interested in the history and culture of America. However if you are looking for a movie to watch with your family on a Saturday night with your take out food then this movie is not for you. What this movie is sure to accomplish is thought and discussion and hopefully new insights on the nature and tendencies of 19th century Americans living in the west and even to some extent on the contemporary American culture.