Dead Man (1995)

On the run after murdering a man, accountant William Blake encounters a strange North American man named Nobody who prepares him for his journey into the spiritual world.

Director:

Jim Jarmusch

Writer:

Jim Jarmusch

Stars:

Johnny Depp, Gary Farmer, Crispin Glover

5 wins & 13 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Johnny Depp	...	William Blake
Gary Farmer	...	Nobody
Crispin Glover	...	Train Fireman
Lance Henriksen	...	Cole Wilson
Michael Wincott	...	Conway Twill
Eugene Byrd	...	Johnny 'The Kid' Pickett
John Hurt	...	John Scholfield
Robert Mitchum	...	John Dickinson
Iggy Pop	...	Salvatore 'Sally' Jenko
Gabriel Byrne	...	Charlie Dickinson
Jared Harris	...	Benmont Tench
Mili Avital	...	Thel Russell
Jimmie Ray Weeks	...	Marvin, Older Marshal
Mark Bringelson	...	Lee, Younger Marshal
John North	...	Mr. Olafsen

Storyline

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.

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Plot Keywords:

19th century | cannibalism | revisionist western | woman | weapon | 

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Taglines:

Sometimes it is preferable not to travel with a dead man.

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Genres:

Drama | Fantasy | Western

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for moments of strong violence, a graphic sex scene and some language

Details

Official Sites:

Official Facebook Official site

Country:

USA Germany Japan

Language:

English Cree

Release Date:

10 May 1996 (USA)

Also Known As:

Jim Jarmusch's Dead Man

Filming Locations:

Hoover Dam, Arizona-Nevada Border, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$9,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

DEM 645,423 (Germany), 10 January 1996, Limited Release

Opening Weekend USA:

$104,649, 12 May 1996, Limited Release

Gross USA:

$1,037,847

Company Credits

Production Co:

Pandora Filmproduktion, JVC Entertainment Networks, Newmarket Capital Group

Technical Specs

Runtime:

121 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Dolby SR

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Premiered at the 1995 Cannes Film Festival.

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Goofs

After William Blake and Nobody walk down to the trading post tent, William takes off his hat and is holding it in his right hand. When the camera angle changes, he is holding it in his left hand.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Train Fireman: Look out the window. And doesn't this remind you of when you were in the boat, and then later than night, you were lying, looking up at the ceiling, and the water in your head was not dissimilar from the landscape, and you think to yourself, "Why is it that the landscape is moving, but the boat is still?"

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Crazy Credits

In between the Set Production Assistants and First Assistant Editor is the "Hangin'-out Guy," Nemo Labrizzi.

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Connections

Referenced in NCIS: South by Southwest (2009)

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Soundtracks

Billy Boy
Played in the saloon

User Reviews

An Unusual, Surreal Tale About Something

On the run after murdering a man, accountant William Blake (Johnny Depp) encounters a strange Indian named "Nobody" (Gary Farmer) who prepares him for his journey into the spiritual world.

Okay, we have an amazing cast here: Lance Henriksen, Billy Bob Thorton, Crispin Glover, Iggy Pop, and Robert Mitchum's final role. That automatically counts for something. And we have the whole thing shot in glorious black and white, which is all too uncommon since the 1960s. That is another point.

Now, on the other hand, commercially, the movie lost a boatload of money (making only about 10% of what it cost) and ranks as the most expensive of Jarmusch's films.

And critically, it has mixed reviews. Roger Ebert was not a fan of the film, giving it less than two stars and saying, "Jim Jarmusch is trying to get at something here, and I don't have a clue what it is." He calls it "a strange, slow, unrewarding movie" and says the score "sounds like nothing so much as a man repeatedly dropping his guitar." Others, such as Jonathan Rosenbaum and A. O. Scott, have called it one of the best films of the 1990s.

I happened to like it, though I did not fully appreciate the William Blake references (as well as Tom Petty references). But that is my loss, not Jarmusch's fault. And I am not sure I got the message, if there is one. And I still like "Broken Flowers" better... but there is still much to love here.