Dead Man presents the bizarre journey of a meek, naive young accountant who, after getting haplessly entangled in a deadly maelstrom, goes through an intellectual and spiritual transformation that changes his life forever. While any typical road movie could have served as an effective vehicle for the propagation of this quaint tale, Jarmusch defiantly opts to make a Western based on his belief that the Western as a genre is “very open to metaphor, and has deep roots in classical narrative forms.” But, Dead Man is far from being a conventional Western. Jarmusch basically leverages upon flexibility of the form and its umbilical link to America to concoct a far more complex work of art that not only transcends genres, but also deals with existential and spiritual motifs.

With Dead Man, Jarmusch succeeds in giving the Western genre his personal touch by ingeniously building upon the aforementioned complex motifs to formulate a powerful cinematic treatise enriched with several vital elements of poetry: be it metaphors, symbolism, allusion, or imagery. Depp’s character in Dead Man is a namesake of the English poet William Blake. The association obviously is not limited to the name alone. Dead Man has multiple references to the poetry of William Blake. In fact, most of Exaybachay’s recitations in the movie are taken from Blake’s poems like The Marriage of Heaven and Hell, Auguries of Innocence, The Everlasting Gospel, etc. Anyone who has seen the movie would remember the bizarrely sublime (taken from the aforementioned Marriage): “The eagle never lost so much time, as when he submitted to learn from the crow.” Thel (beautifully played by Mili Avital), the name of the prostitute who sells paper flowers, is also a reference to William Blake’s The Book of Thel. And to top it all, the all-knowing Exaybachay, an ardent William Blake admirer, believes the accountant Blake to be a reincarnation of the dead English poet.

Overall, Dead Man is an endlessly fascinating work of cinema that is bound to elicit extreme responses from its audience: one would either love it or detest it, no midway affair. The deftly blended humor and suspense gives the movie an eerie tone which plainly reflects the nauseating feeling, as experienced by movie’s characters, of being stuck in a limbo. An existential Western with surrealistic overtones, the movie is equally brilliant on both the technical and emotional fronts. It wouldn’t be a hyperbole to say that Dead Man serves to be a brilliant showcase of the very best in direction, cinematography, music and acting. Dead Man is not a film for a casual viewer. The patient viewer, however, would be thoroughly rewarded. The movie may require multiple viewings for a clearer and deeper understanding. Dead Man is a must watch for anyone who values intelligent cinema that goes beyond the usual doze of entertainment and makes the viewer ruminate on what he saw long after the movie is over.

Rating: 9/10