Dead Man
Short description
Dead Man follows William Blake, an accountant from Cleveland who travels west in the late nineteenth century for a job at a frontier town called Machine. He arrives to find the position already filled, and a violent encounter there turns him into a fugitive with a bounty on his head. Wounded and pursued by bounty hunters, he meets a Native American man named Nobody, who has been exhibited as a curiosity in America and England because he can read. Nobody mistakes Blake for the dead English poet William Blake and becomes his companion and protector as they travel toward the land of the spirits.
Jim Jarmusch wrote and directed the film, the sixth of the fourteen features he has directed, following Night on Earth and preceding Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai. Johnny Depp plays Blake, with Gary Farmer as Nobody and supporting turns from Crispin Glover, Lance Henriksen, Michael Wincott and Eugene Byrd. The production drew on German, American and Japanese financing.
The film blends western, drama and fantasy elements across its 122 minutes. It received a critics' rating of 7 out of 10 from 52 reviews, while audiences gave it 7.5 on IMDb from around 109,000 votes and 7.3 on TMDB from roughly 1,800 votes. Made for 9 million dollars, it earned about 1 million worldwide, so its reputation rests less on theatrical returns than on its audience scores.
What's left behind the scenes
- Part of the budget was covered by Jim Jarmusch's personal funds.
- Jim Jarmusch spent a long time searching for film stock with the shades of black and white he needed.
- Actor Gary Farmer also appeared as Nobody in Jarmusch's film *Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai* (1999).
- Throughout the film, characters speak in several Native American languages – Blackfoot, Cree, and Makah.
- Many lines of dialogue and character names were borrowed from the works of William Blake.
- Jarmusch financed part of the filming with his own funds.
- During preparation for filming, Jim Jarmusch conducted research – the film’s depiction of Native American settlements and industrial cities accurately reflected how they looked during those years.
- While preparing to film 'Dead Man,' Jarmusch conducted extensive historical research – the film’s authentic Native American settlements and industrial cities looked exactly as they did in those years.
- The roots of the synthesis of word and image in the film lie with the poet William Blake, who was simultaneously a poet and illustrator of his books.
- The character of Tel is taken from the poem "The Book of Thel" by William Blake.
- The names of the two police officers killed by Johnny Depp's character – Lee and Marvin – were given in honor of Lee Marvin.
- Johnny Depp contributed his own money to the budget to ensure the film could be completed.
- The Indian village to which Nobody brings Blake was built specifically for the filming, but with complete historical accuracy.
- Many lines and character names were borrowed from the works of writer William Blake, such as the phrase “Some are born to sweet delight and some born to the endless night.” The same phrase appears in The Doors’ song “End of the Night.”
Similar movies
Auditions in India
Casting calls in USA
Castingi w Polsce
Кастинги в Україні
