"DEAD MAN" CULT CLASSIC

          Killer indie Western.
          Johnny Depp stars in this stylish cinematic journey across the brutal but beautiful landscape of the Wild West.
          Filmed in glorious black and white, Dead Man is the story of Bill Blake (Depp), an accountant from Cleveland newly-arrived in the dismal town of Machine. There he goes to the metal works factory where he expects to find his job. Instead he finds Mr. Dickinson (Mitchum), the kind of a guy who holds a shotgun and smokes a cigar under an oil painting of himself holding a shotgun and smoking a cigar.
          Written and directed by Jim Jarmusch, Dead Man boasts a strong supporting cast of great actors in eccentric roles--Crispin Glover, Billy Bob Thornton, Alfred Molina, John Hurt, Iggy Pop, and Gabriel Byrne all lend their talents in unforgettable portrayals. Although the star of the show is Depp, the scene-stealer is Gary Farmer as Nobody, who quotes the poetry of William Blake borrowed by Jim Morrison of the rock band The Doors and leads Bill Blake on his vision quest: "Some are born to sweet delight, some are born to endless night."
          In some ways the film is open to interpretation, but it is clear that Blake (whose fur coat looks like it came off of Keith Richards' back) leaves the dehumanizing forces of mechanization and gradually joins with the natural processes of the spirit. Nobody takes Blake to "the place where his spirit belongs"--with a bounty on Blake's head, and three hunters on his trail. One of the bounty hunters, played by Lance Henrickson, is so vile and nasty, he would just as soon kill the other killers as walk.
          Alternately violent and comic--Iggy Pop wears a dress and serves beans to shady cohorts while relaying as best he can the tale of Goldilocks moments before arguing with the others over who gets to keep the new guy when Depp wanders in arm's reach--the film moves at its own pace. The pace isn't always fast, but the story is always interesting. As Nobody tells Blake, "You were a poet and painter, but now you are a killer of white men."
          Featuring music by Neil Young, Dead Man is loaded with memorable moments. From Crispin Glover, covered in soot and pointing at buffalo being shot, to Mili Avital as the town prostitute whose humanity is revealed by her hobby of making paper roses, Dead Man showcases unique characters in visually striking settings, including the redwoods.
          The 1995 masterpiece is freely available online.


DEAD MAN
Starring Johnny Depp,
Gary Farmer,
Crispin Glover,
John Hurt,
Robert Mitchum,
Iggy Pop,
Billy Bob Thornton,
Alfred Molina,
Mili Avital,
Lance Henrickson,
Gabriel Byrne
Written and directed by Jim Jarmusch
Runtime 121 minutes
Rated R

Stewart Kirby writes for