Taglines: No one can survive becoming a legend.
Dead Man is the story of a young man’s journey, both physically and spiritually, into very unfamiliar terrain. William Blake travels to the extreme western frontiers of America sometime in the 2nd half of the 19th century. Lost and badly wounded, he encounters a very odd, outcast Native American, named “Nobody”, who believes Blake is actually the dead English poet of the same name.
The story, with Nobody’s help, leads William Blake through situations that are in turn comical and violent. Contrary to his nature, circumstances transform Blake into a hunted outlaw, a killer, and a man whose physical existence is slowly slipping away. Thrown into a world that is cruel and chaotic, his eyes are opened to the fragility that defines the realm of the living. It is as though he passes through the surface of a mirror, and emerges into a previously-unknown world that exists on the other side.
Dead Man is a 1995 American Western film written and directed by Jim Jarmusch. It stars Johnny Depp, Gary Farmer, Billy Bob Thornton, Iggy Pop, Crispin Glover, John Hurt, Michael Wincott, Lance Henriksen, Gabriel Byrne, and Robert Mitchum (in his final film role). The film, dubbed a “Psychedelic Western” by its director, includes twisted and surreal elements of the Western genre.
The film is shot entirely in black-and-white. Neil Young composed the guitar-seeped soundtrack with portions he improvised while watching the movie footage. It has been considered by many to be a premier postmodern Western, and related to postmodern literature such as Cormac McCarthy’s novel Blood Meridian. Like much of Jarmusch’s work, it has acquired status as a cult film.
Dead Man (1996)
Directed by: Jim Jarmusch
Starring: Johnny Depp, Gary Farmer, Lance Henriksen, Eugene Byrd, Michael Wincott, Mili Avital, Crispin Glover, Billy Bob Thornton, Jared Harris, Gabriel Byrne, Alfred Molina, Robert Mitchum
Screenplay by: Jim Jarmusch
Production Design by:
Cinematography by: Robby Müller
Film Editing by: Jay Rabinowitz
Costume Design by: Marit Allen
Set Decoration by: Dayna Lee
Art Direction by: Ted Berner
Music by: Neil Young
MPAA Rating: R for moments of strong violence, a graphic sex scene and some language.
Distributed by: Miramax Films
Release Date: May 10, 1996
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