Quote: "Dead Man" is not a conventional western. Instead of containing cowboys and saloon shootout's it opts to deal with psychological and philosophical concepts. While this may seek to scare western fans away from the film, in a way it manages to draw more casual movie goers towards it. Now the reason why I actually decided to watch the film was because initially it was initially banned for possession, sale and distribution in my country- Australia (for a rather stupid reason). I was pleasantly surprised top find a film so rich in thematic discussion I wished I had the pleasure of experiencing it earlier.
"Dead Man" stars Johnny Depp as the broke down-on-his-luck accountant William Blake, who travels by train to the industrial town- Machine for a job. Upon arriving at the town, Blake is told he is one month late for work, and that his position has been filled by another accountant. Angered by the decision Blake confronts the owner Mr Dickinson to allow him to work there. Mr Dickinson behaves as his name would suggest and forces Blake out at gunpoint. Depressed Blake meets up with a woman and makes love to her. At the worse possible time the woman's fiancé comes in, shoots her and wounds Blake, before Blake guns him down. Bleeding Blake flees the town on a stolen Pinto.
Luck continues to be against Blake as it turns out the man who Blake killed was Mr Dickinson's son. Angered by his son's murder (and his stolen horse) he puts three bounty hunters on Blake's trail. Blake is saved from death by a plump Indian who is referred to as- Nobody. Throughout the rest of the film Nobody serves as Blake's spiritual guide through the "Purgatory" that is the American West.
Now I wish to emphasise the word "Purgatory". The world the film presents to us is disgusting and depressing and boring. From the first scene which feels like half an hour the film manages to make its audience fell bored- normally this would be an obvious flaw, but to create a boring world with meaning is not a flaw; but a skill. Murder, cannibalism and attempted rape also infest every corner of the west. Such decisions manage to enforce this sense of depression on the audience (this is partly exacerbated by the black and white colour of the film) so that we feel as if we are actually in a form of purgatory whilst watching it. Purgatory can also be brought up in a more literal sense in the film. From when nobody refers to Blake as "a dead man" I pondered whether Blake was a "dead man" or if he actually is dead. After contemplation I began to believe more in the latter as it linked more strong to the idea of purgatory. It feels in movie if Blake actually died prior to arriving in Machine and that what he is going through is actually a purging process, before he is allowed to enter heaven and that Nobody is his spiritual guide through purgatory.
Not much good seems to happen to Blake during the film; he is shot more than once and appears to be being followed by death. Blake murders several men throughout the film (all of which are in self defence) in rather shocking ways. This takes its tole on Blake and brings him deeper into a sense of physical and metal isolation from others and himself. This strengthens evidence for the argument that Blake is undergoing a purging process.
There are also several more spiritual undertones in the film, which are often very hard to identify in particular the struggle between good and evil, or if you wish to be more spiritual heaven and hell. As I have said numerous times before Blake is escorted by Nobody the good guy, while being chased by sadistic psychotic bounty hunter- Cole (evil black as coal). Both wish to claim his "soul" in this surreal world; Nobody wants to save him, Cole wants to kill him. This classic good vs. evil is also emphasised in Blake's character. At times he is good natured; helping a woman who has fallen in a muddy puddle and at times he is evil; shooting a deputy and a sheriff. But even when he is "evil" we must search for any meaning or beauty to what he has done. The sheriff for example looks remarkable like Lenin and his death at the hands of Blake and his crushing of his head by Cole can very well be interpreted as an act of evil stopping evil- a definite paradox. Nonetheless there is beauty in this act as before shooting the deputy and sheriff Blake says a significant one liner "Have you read my poetry?" This is quite significant as poetry in a sense regardless of its content is beautiful, and as Nobody puts it "You will now write your poetry in blood, not words" (Nobody says this as he mistakes Blake for a poet of the same name, unaware to an ignorant viewer such as myself, Nobody constantly quotes from the poets poems) . Hence in a sense the two murders though evil, are beautiful.
Overall Dead Man" is a remarkable, surreal, depressing and at times a boring movie. But that is exactly what it should be. If you can handle the surreal and the depressing tone (as well as some graphic violence), and can appreciate spiritual and if you interpret it as such "religious" overtones, you will be astonished.
4 out of 6 found this helpful