919 Dead Man

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knives
Joined: Sat Sep 06, 2008 6:49 pm

Re: 919 Dead Man

#51 Post by knives » Fri Feb 16, 2018 4:18 pm

greggster59 wrote:I don't recall too many westerns, aside from Dead Man, that conveys the violence white men perpetrated on this land and it's indigenous population as effectively. And it accomplishes this without forfeiting Jarmusch's sense of irony and humor. One of Jarmusch's best, IMO.
There's been a lot of westerns (including ones from the classic era) that have done that. I like this film a lot and would call it one of the best I've seen, but outside maybe the Iggy Pop scene it doesn't offer anything new. Just in Jarmusch's voice which for me is good enough praise.

connor
Joined: Thu Jul 29, 2010 2:03 pm

Re: 919 Dead Man

#52 Post by connor » Fri Feb 16, 2018 5:52 pm

It never once occurred to me that the film might have been better served if it had been shot in color...until I saw this image from the set:Image

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feckless boy
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Re: 919 Dead Man

#53 Post by feckless boy » Fri Feb 16, 2018 6:41 pm

barnyard078 wrote:"Rarely seen footage of Neil Young composing and performing the film's score" has now been added to the list of extras.
cdnchris wrote:I recall hating that score as well, though have no memory of it now (but Ebert's comment about the dropping guitar makes me chuckle).
I always imagined this score to be the result of some kind of silly bet where the Composer/Performer couldn't take his guitar out of it's case. So if this "rare footage" isn't that of an old fart with an insane THC blood-level, a lot of effect pedals and a guitar still in it's case, I will be slightly disappointed.

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All the Best People
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Re: 919 Dead Man

#54 Post by All the Best People » Sat Feb 17, 2018 4:32 am

It's not a score I think I'd like to listen to on its own, but it serves the picture well, contributing to a subtly hallucinatory mood -- the sounds you hear when seeing through the eyes of a dead man.

Rosenbaum's monograph on the film is excellent, and really situates the film in the context of different Western traditions and its treatment of Native American beliefs and culture and how the protagonist relates to it (e.g., the importance of tobacco, and William Blake's resistance to it). Excerpts from Rosenbaum interviewing Jarmusch are interwoven into the text.

I do think it's Jarmusch's masterpiece to date. It contains everything he does well, all his different tones and textures as well as a visual beauty that I think is often underdiscussed in his work. There's even a slight bit of eroticism, which is otherwise rather absent from his work, imo. It's one of my favorite Westerns, too, and my vote for the best since McCabe & Mrs. Miller (though I guess the only real points of competition there are Little Big Man, Unforgiven, and, if you want to count it, Blazing Saddles) and I'd be open to arguments that it's the best since Once Upon a Time in the West.

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dda1996a
Joined: Tue Oct 27, 2015 6:14 am

Re: 919 Dead Man

#55 Post by dda1996a » Sat Feb 17, 2018 2:12 pm

I don't remember any other western to treat spirituality like this film does; that ending where Blake sets off on the boat is one of the most beautiful scenes I remember. I don't remember any other western using this Native "afterlife" and spirituality, but would be glad to be proven wrong.
As for other westerns since OUaTitW, I would add Eastwood's three other directed westerns as great representatives (Unforgiven is the best of the four), but let's not forget the brilliant The Proposition and The Assassination of Jesse James, the later one of my favorites of all time.
As for Jarmusch, I love this but Paterson has to rank as my favorite of his and the best encapsulation of his philosophy and themes.
i.e the Ebert review is a joke

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miless
Joined: Sat Apr 01, 2006 9:45 pm

Re: 919 Dead Man

#56 Post by miless » Sat Feb 17, 2018 5:13 pm

For me Dead Man and Stranger Than Paradise are his masterpieces, most everything else is pretty good to great (the notable exceptions being portions of Night on Earth and Coffee & Cigarettes... oh, and his docs). And I love the soundtrack (even picked it up on vinyl when it was reissued a few years ago), it's Neil Young's new-age/doom album (my favorite music of his since Rust Never Sleeps)

and since we're naming great neo-westerns, I have to add my current fave: Meek's Cutoff, which definitely has a grittier intent, and pulls off a darker (I would say more realistic) look at the "west" than Dead Man

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swo17
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Re: 919 Dead Man

#57 Post by swo17 » Mon Feb 26, 2018 1:05 pm

I just got notified that my question to Jim Jarmusch will be featured on this release!

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Roger Ryan
Joined: Wed Apr 28, 2010 12:04 pm
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Re: 919 Dead Man

#58 Post by Roger Ryan » Mon Feb 26, 2018 1:51 pm

swo17 wrote:I just got notified that my question to Jim Jarmusch will be featured on this release!
Congratulations! Wait...was it a pithy one-line joke that will just make Jarmusch roll his eyes?

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swo17
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Re: 919 Dead Man

#59 Post by swo17 » Mon Feb 26, 2018 1:59 pm

Hey, sometimes I also compile statistics.

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aox
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Re: 919 Dead Man

#60 Post by aox » Mon Feb 26, 2018 2:11 pm

What was the question?

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swo17
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Re: 919 Dead Man

#61 Post by swo17 » Mon Feb 26, 2018 2:19 pm

I don't entirely recall--something about the casting reflecting the feel of the afterlife.

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FrauBlucher
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Re: 919 Dead Man

#62 Post by FrauBlucher » Tue Mar 20, 2018 12:02 pm


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hearthesilence
Joined: Fri Mar 04, 2005 4:22 am
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Re: 919 Dead Man

#63 Post by hearthesilence » Tue Mar 20, 2018 2:12 pm

Not surprisingly a tremendous upgrade in picture.

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djproject
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Re: 919 Dead Man

#64 Post by djproject » Tue Mar 20, 2018 2:13 pm


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