DEAD MAN

Jim Jarmusch’s 1995 film shows just how expressive black and white can be, in a way that colour never could. Robby Muller’s renowned cinematography turns this piece of sparsely morbid celluloid into to an ever flowing work of art. The film stars Johnny Depp on sterling form, before he made a living from non-stop Keith Richards impressions, managing to understate despite the strange scenarios his character finds himself in. The plot itself has often led to this film being described as an ‘acid western’; a western in reverse with the protagonist heading on a spiritual journey toward death, amid the absurdity of the Western frontier. Despite this seemingly dense plot, the film comes across more as a stream of consciousness musing on death, resplendent with dialogue of biblical grace (especially in the broken English of the native American Nobody); not surprising considering Jarmusch is in a club with some of the best lyricists on the planet.

A personal highlight for me was a wonderful tracking shot from the back of a horse through harsh scrub land which just looks incredible, only just edging Iggy Pop’s cameo in a wonderfully tense but surreal scene around a campfire; immense cinema. This is a film that could be read in so many ways and to be honest I don’t know if I read it like Jarmusch meant me to, but I’m not sure that mattered; I really enjoyed it. This is an exceptional film that proves a departure from his other films in its sombreness (apart from perhaps Ghost Dog) married with an almost action plot. It’s a complex, ambiguous and impeccably produced film; WATCH IT. 

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0112817/

p.s. Mark Kermode recently mentioned this in his excellent blog and provides some banging trivia regarding the film: http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/markkermode/2012/05/my_top_5_johnny_depp_films.html. Well worth a watch.