Dead Man

topic posted Fri, December 26, 2003 - 12:16 PM by  Marcella
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Is he already dead? Is this movie in essence a bardo? I've seen this movie about 5 times and it has become one of my all-time favorites.
posted by:
Marcella
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  • Re: Dead Man

    Tue, January 27, 2004 - 1:38 PM
    Thanks for starting this tribe!

    Dead Man the mythological masterpiece of our time.
    The crux of the story? William Blake and gnosticism maybe?
    The persistence of death along the whole journey to the afterlife...
    Oh I could sit and talk about this movie for hours, but I have my own town of Machine
    to tend to...

    What the hammer? what the chain?
    In what furnace was thy brain?
    What the anvil? what dead grasp
    Dare its deadly terrors clasp?


    If you like Jarmusch, check out Aki Kaurismaki's films too!



    • Re: Dead Man

      Fri, January 30, 2004 - 10:32 AM
      Oh, I hadn't seen this when I replied to your message...

      I think I read in an interview with Jim Jarmusch that the William Blake references were added relatively late in the process of the filmmaking -- not that that makes them less meaningful. Have you read the little book about the film? Quite interesting but says very little about the spiritual aspects of the film...

      Of his other films I've only seen "Ghost Dog" and wasn't all that impressed..."Down by Law" is waiting at home from Netflix...will probably watch it tonight.

      What films has Aki Kaurismaki made?


      "The vision of Christ that thou dost see
      Is my vision's greatest enemy."
      • Re: Dead Man

        Fri, January 30, 2004 - 10:56 AM
        Well, Dead Man was undoubtedly his best film, but definately see:
        Down By Law
        Mystery Train
        Night On Earth

        Also Stranger than Paradise is good but isn't nearly as epic as Dead Man.

        Finnish director Aki Kaurismaki is a friend and contemporary of Jarmusch, but unfortunately the only movie of his you can usually find is "Leningrad Cowboys Go America" (in which Jim Jarmusch himself has a cameo role) which is silly but good. Kaurismaki makes very good art films like:
        Ariel (a jailbreak film, like Down by Law)
        The Match Factory Girl
        I Hired a Contract Killer
        The man Without a Past

        Also he must've had a hand in the final vignette of "Night on Earth" because it was set in Helsinki and all the actors (Matti Pellonpaa, Kari Vaananen, etc) are people he uses in his films.

        As for Dead Man, it's a film which portrays the dark side of American history and the strivings of the American soul in a way that no other filmmaker can do, I think.

        Blake was all over this theme, even without being the name of Johnny Depp's character, and the subject of Nobody's frequent utterances, I think.
        It's still my favorite film.

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