Dead Man

Media:	DVD
Directed by:	Jim Jarmusch
Starring:	Johnny Depp, Gary Farmer
Release date:	07 September, 2004
List price:	~~$14.99~~
Our price:	$11.24 that is 25% off!

Dead Man

Average rating:

Poetry for people who hate poetry

I'm not allowed to refer to another person's review here, but at the time of this writing, Amazon.com was posting a review of this movie that was clearly written by a person who was raised in Disneyland. This is one of the best movies ever made. Chicago Reader calls it an Acid Western and rates it "masterpiece". It compromises to no filmmaking convention. It's hardly possible to review it without giving away important aspects of the film the viewer should experience for her/himself. The movie is not a story, even though it's told through a story. The evolution of William Blake from innocent Cleveland accountant to a symbol (for English-educated Native American reject Nobody, played by Gary Farmer) for poetry itself; the tiny little worlds of late-19th-century white Western of-necessity survivalists, and the effects these little worlds had on Blake; the hilarious campfire scene with Iggy Pop and Billy Bob Thornton (and a third person -- can't find out who), and the dying beauty of the natives; the brutal innocence of the disenfranchised Nobody whose illusions (or were they?) propelled Blake to his -- future ... I was completely immersed. There is only one thing wrong with this movie. I love Neil Young, but, unless I'm missing some important symbolism, his score could have been more, well, varied. There are not many movies I want to own but this is one.

Dead Man -

Brilliant Movie

Dead Man is a surreal western, beautifully filmed in black and white, which adds a depth and grittiness rarely seen in modern films. The story of how William Blake loses his innocence and embraces his fate as a killer of men should be a mandatory viewing requirement for any fan of the western genre. Add the witty and wonderfully eccentric performances of Johnny Depp, Iggy Pop, Billy Bob Thorton, Lance Henriksen, Gary Farmer, Crispin Glover and Robert Mitchum and you have a film that no serious collector can be without. IMHO, this is one of the most underrated and overlooked films of the last decade.

- Dead Man

Intelligent, Symbolic, Thoughtful.

...Dead Man is a thoughtful, very intelligent and thoroughly surprising movie. It looks like it will be a Western and goes off in quite another direction - although I suppose you don't really expect the ordinary from Jim Jarmusch, or for that matter Johnny Depp.

The black and white photography sets a gloriously sombre, but not humourless mood. You can tell straightaway that once Depp's William Blake arrives in Machine, California things are going to go awry. And they sure do. Spectacularly.

All is played in an understated manner, that allows the symbolism of the plot breathe. It isn't a movie that spoonfeeds you. It doesn't provide you with slick, easy answers to anything.

For example (and this isn't a spoiler by any stretch), who is the Dead Man of the title and in what sense is he dead? Keen viewers will spot numerous clues to the precise meanings. And then watch it again and change their minds.

It looks gorgeous, in a bleak kind of way. It is all very static and deliberately slow. It draws out every nuance of atmosphere. And it wears its eccentricities on its sleeve.

It's a very good film. You should watch it.

Top DVD products

Real Buy