Dead Man

Dead Man is a 1995 acid Western written and directed by Jim Jarmusch and shot entirely in monochrome. Set in the late nineteenth century, it follows William Blake, played by Johnny Depp, a meek accountant who is on the run after killing a man. He has a chance meeting with Nobody, played by Gary Farmer, an enigmatic Native American spirit guide who believes Blake is the reincarnation of the visionary English poet of the same name. Jarmusch called the picture a psychedelic Western, and the cast also includes Billy Bob Thornton, Iggy Pop, Crispin Glover, John Hurt, Lance Henriksen and, in one of his final performances, Robert Mitchum. Neil Young composed the guitar-driven score, improvising parts of it while he watched the edited footage. The film took inspiration from Rudy Wurlitzer's unproduced screenplay Zebulon and was filmed in Washington, Oregon, Arizona and California. It competed for the Palme d'Or at the 1995 Cannes Film Festival and reached United States cinemas in a limited release on May 10, 1996. Early critical response was mixed and it earned about 1.04 million dollars on a budget of 9 million, but retrospective reviews have been generally positive.