Tame and gentile accountant Billy Blake arrives in a town called Machine, during an act of self defence Billy finds himself on the run as an outlaw. Pursued by a trio of gunslingers and facing up to the reality that his name is now famous, Billy is befriended by a spiritual Indian by the name of Nobody, their journey is sure to be a most enlightening one.
If you read any plot summary or synopsis you would be forgiven for thinking that Dead Man is a conventional man on the run Western, but if you note from the outset that it's directed by art favourite Jim Jarmusch, then that should immediately steer you away from any thoughts of the normal. Jarmusch clearly has a fascination with death, it's not so much the clue is in the title type thing, it's evident in this story of one mans soul on it's spiritual journey. Blake is aboard a train at the film's commencement, it's crucial to pay attention to proceedings from the very first frame, come the picture's finale you will be rewarded for not only paying attention, but for being on this hypnotically engrossing journey all the way as well.
The technical aspects score very high indeed, Jarmusch clearly has a knack for simmering absorbing stories that are dotted with off kilter stabs of humour. Neil Young scores the piece with jolts of electric twangs that feel like ghosts pervading your most peaceful dreams. Yet above all else on the technical front it's Robby Müller's photography that takes the honours, working in black and white he produces a rich and memorable layer of work, absorb the sequences as Billy arrives in Machine, gorgeous. The cast, led by a typically wonderful off beat performance from Johnny Depp, are super, star names come and go as truly great character actors carry the story thru to it's elegiac conclusion. I must also mention the brilliant sound department, for those with home surround cinema the sound work here really comes to the fore, be it an insect in the background or gun shots resounding in your ears, it's a job well done from that department.
This was my first viewing of the picture and I'm highly delighted with how it panned out. I feel sure that further viewings will bring other pleasing rewards, It's the sort of film that I perhaps need a bottle of Jack Daniels with, for myself to go into Jarmusch's world. But for now, with all its allegories to death and souls; and fusions with the poet William Blake, I'll be content with hypnotically cool splendour. 8/10
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