Dead Man

Josh Lewis5.0

Coming to terms with living in a world where everyone is already dead. If I had to pick a vibe to slowly, existentially deteriorate to over the course of a few days it would definitely be dreamy b&w Robby Müller western images and moody Neil Young electric guitar strumming.

Karsten4.5

There’s a certain haziness to the films of Jim Jarmusch that I’ve come to expect from my limited experience with his work. That haziness is usually broken up with a sense of wit that grounds the film out of necessity for the narrative. But in Dead Man, a film widely regarded as his masterpiece, that haziness is never interrupted, if anything it subtly progresses into a state of tedium. It explores Western culture through a perspective somewhere between life and death, a perspective indescribable but clearly understood by Jarmusch.

Dragonknight4.0

Film #54 of Project 90”Stupid fucking white man.”Dead Man is the perfect example of a movie that takes a classic genre, turns it upside down and then gives you something charmingly fresh and ecstatic, Jim Jarmusch throws away all the rules of the Western genre, brings his own themes and his own style to the Wild West and gives us a unique and irreplaceable experience. His hero is not an icon of valor, he is not the most good looking man on planet, he is not the trying to prove anything to anyone, this is a just personal journey for Jarmusch’s hero, a life changing journey of self-discovery. This is where Dostoevsky meets John Ford. Dead Man is all about that journey, a voyage from the material world to the spiritual world. Interestingly William Blake is a man who has nothing to lose, it seems like you have to somehow cut all your bonds with the material world and it is only then that you’ll start to see things that “Nobody” sees, it is only then that you can appreciate the beauty of the world and its eccentricity, it is only then that you can find a way of living in peace and harmony.And Jarmusch narrates his story and handles all the above mentioned themes in the finest way possible, without trying to hard or making things complicated he tells us about all those baffling issues and not even for a fraction of a second he loses his concentration. With his quirky sense of humor, the b&w cinematography , his concise and accurate supporting characters and Neil Young’s electrifying score he creates an atmosphere which is hard to forget. This is not a typical film, it is unpredictable in almost every aspect, form the way it interprets the rules of Western genre to the way it develops its characters and shapes its story. In every scene Jarmusch throws something new at us, something that we couldn't have imagined even in our wildest dreams, this ability of the film that takes over every single aspect of the genre along with Jarmusch’s poetic look at an erratic world are the main factors that make Dead Man such powerful and unforgettable experience.