DEAD MAN

DEAD MAN, 1995
USA, Germany | 35mm, Black-White, 121’ | English
Director: Jim Jarmusch
Cast: Johnny Depp, Gary Farmer, Crispin Glover

An accountant named William Blake (who has no clue about the poet named William Blake) and an American Indian called "No One" who is searching for spiritual values in Blake’s poetry instead of his tribe’s traditions. They are not quite the classic characters of Wild West Stories. It is even more unexpected that they run into Iggy Pop cooking beans in a dress. What is cool about all this is the way the film makes use of the poetry of "black and white" and Neil Young’s sad electro guitar riffs in this absurdity with a purpose. As for the characters, Robert Mitchum makes fun of his coolness, "No One" can’t even imagine himself as being cool, and Johnny Depp is waiting for another life to learn to be cool.