Jim Jarmusch Q&A | 'Dead Man' (Full)

[@GenXHippie]

I worked as the night manager at the hotel the cast and crew stayed at in Grants Pass, Oregon when they were filming this movie. I was pleased to meet everyone obviously, but the coolest part for me was helping the wardrobe people out by being a living model. All night long those folks would be working on boots or moccasins or what-have-you... and I was able to try on a lot of the costumes even before the actors. For the record, Mr. Jarnusch is fascinating in person and Johnny Depp really is that pretty.

[@blackhope]

Thats incredible, Thanks for sharing.

[@conniediaz6456]

You were so lucky! Did you get Johnny's autograph by chance?

[@claudeIsbell]

Nice comment. Fun.

[@GenXHippie]

@@conniediaz6456 I did, of course. He was very gracious to the entire staff.

[@mrdeadsea7772]

He's only watched DEAD MAN once ? Man, I've watched it a thousand times...

[@user-ie1mg3or1l]

As well as me. For my taste the best movie ever made

[@juliet3827]

DEAD MAN is a brilliant, stupendous film. If you have not seen it, I urge you to do so. The music of Neil Young adds to the brilliance.

[@beardedskyrim8652]

I only saw it once in the movie theater in the nineties. I still think of if now and then and googled it today and came here.

[@vickibryant850]

7iii

[@Flintmoonwitch]

I fell in love with the movie..watched it hundreds of times...on VHS, (several..they wore out)..and the soundtrack is mesmerizing.....never tire of it. Still see new chit, after so many viewings!!!!

[@nwbackcountry5327]

For two years, my co-workers and I, watched a different scene everyday for existential enlightenment. Long live Nobody! All on VHS.

[@billyewell6552]

I think I’m about to start down this journey... I’d seen Dead Man before and was really into it but I just rewatched it and wow, I’m totally adopting it as my own philosophy re: death haha. I may watch this movie like once a month - it’s like going to church

[@hurlicane56]

My all time favorite film. It is so steeped in symbolism and philosophy as well as just having the most incredible atmosphere. I also see new "chit" after every viewing. :)

[@coldwhitespring5004]

I remember it was slaughtered in Norway by critics when it came, they just had no idea. Happy that it has gotten it's due praise.

[@SDsailor7]

Yup. It is now part of the Criterion collection. Cheers

[@mountainaire4154]

Such a clever movie. One of my favorites.

[@ProfessorTime]

NEIL YOUNG: Hey man, do you guys know there's like a hundred microphones in this room??? GARY FARMER: I don't like reading scripts man. I'll tell you what. Why don't you come up here and tell me the story. ROBERT MITCHUM: You just said you're really sorry to do this to me. Isn't that what they said to Gary Gilmore? ROBBY MULLER: Look how magnificent that is, we've seen it in a fucking calendar. Look over there, it's a small tree and a rock. Very sad and emotional.

[@GimmeShelter1989]

"Fucking Marlon Brando." made me laugh out loud.

[@Minekezable]

I wonder if Mr. Jarmusch and David Lynch go to the same barber?

[@beflygelt]

ha!

[@Ghostdog_89]

Yes, they go. But Lynch takes his turn, when Jarmusch just skips it.

[@alexs6250]

Wim Wenders too!

[@user-bl9hh1xm9w]

Yeap! The Post-Punk/New-Wave/Electrified-Hair Barber! 😄

[@Ireland831]

LOL...I love Dead Man and Down by Law. David L has his own share of movies I love, (Eraser Head, Blue Velvet, Elephant Man, Wild at Heart, Mulholland Dr). That barber comment made me laugh my ass off. So funny.

[@emmagrove6491]

I believe him when he says William Blake wanted to be in the film. Artists are really just lightening rods that funnel the visions from some other source. I don't know what that source is, but as an artist you can feel that you're just a conductor receiving the signal from somewhere else.

[@diansmith6888]

Yes, oh yes, I completely agree. I'm not a celebrity or anyone famous by any means. But I've dabbled in painting, poetry, writing, and so on, and I've definitely had the pleasure of that very experience. A college english instructor of mine and discussed it once, he agreed and understood. I noticed it seemed to require a shift in consciousness or vibration, or something on a different level. I dont even think it's a deliberate shift, but there it is, whether you're aware of it or not. I find it to be amazing and when I'm in it, I love it!!! ❤⚘😊⚘❤

[@kathrynjones6328]

A masterpiece. I’ve watched it many times and keep finding more in it.

[@HIGHWAYATMIDNIGHT]

This was as powerful as it was necessary thank you youtube as always! All love above ❤️

[@pamelarogers1141]

Dead Man should be shown in every film appreciation class.

[@DaRyteJuan]

Wow. Can’t believe this retrospective was dropped 8 years ago.

[@ELMENDORFX]

"His hair is soft like a girl's" "By god it is soft! How'd you get it that a way?"

[@pleeman]

Why would Billy Bob say "I clean up nice" to someone he planned on killing? GENIUS!

[@magistrumartium]

@@pleeman He wasn't planning to kill him when he said that. He was attracted to him, wanted to have him. Then when one of his companions started fighting over him, Billy Bob decided that neither one of them would get him (Johnny)--and that's when he made the decision to kill the object of his desire.

[@judyneville4812]

Am practically in love with this man.... highly gifted artist and gorgeous... perfect

[@af2543]

Thank you Jim. A Classic ! I watch movies that i like....that i keep watching over and over again ! You are a Genius !

[@ericchamberlain9260]

Close your eyes and it's Jeff Bridges speaking in certain parts.

[@ruly8153]

Eric Chamberlain Really?

[@hoedurftge]

Dead Man is definitively my favourite movie ever!

[@Ireland831]

I think there are a handful of film masterpieces that I have seen in my lifetime. Blue Velvet....The Shining....Gone with the Wind...The Good, The Bad and the Ugly...Psycho...Pulp Fiction....One Flew Over the Cuckoos Nest, To Kill a Mocking Bird...Moby Dick. Probably a few others I can't think of at this late hour. Dead Man is easily one of my favorites of all time. Thank you Jim.

[@Ireland831]

@@apina9731 LOL...I wasn't planning on making an extensive list in a comment section. I'll add Casablanca, Apocalypse Now, The Godfather, The Wizard of Oz, Chinatown, Taxi Driver, Star Wars. Point being, Dead Man is a great film.

[@eastsideterri22]

The first time we ever got to go to a walk in theater and the whole wall was Clint the GBand U was even better than the second one I went to which was Mary Poppins. Didn't compare even though every little girl loved it. Can't beat GB&U.

[@Trav_Can]

A true masterpiece. My favorite movie of all time.

[@silentforest7147]

I second this.

[@teavirus]

I can listen to Silent Snow Wolf's stories for hours and hours.

[@emmalewisart641]

❤

[@MartinJoyceUFOConspiracy]

very cool movie...neil young's simple sound track compliments it so well...Are you William Blake? ...Yes, do you know my poetry?

[@alansinclair7659]

Great film. Probably the most underated film ever. Brilliant acting. Suoerb cast and wonderful music score. If you haven't seen it then please do so. You won't be dissapointed.

[@vernalater]

In my top ten films of all time and my favorite J. D. film. Philistine shootout is my favorite scene.

[@jeremyingersoll5933]

It's funny that the interaction he described having with Mitchum was similar to Depp's character's experience trying to speak with Mitchum's character in the film.

[@hansensteve]

Neil Young playing Old Black was a killer Wow ...He made this a Master Piece

[@diansmith6888]

I watched Dead Man years ago when I was not young, but younger. Sadly, for some reason, I didn't get it. So I wasn't impressed. Recently, my interest in Dead Man resurfaced and by sheer luck, I found it on KZbin. When I watched it this time, I saw it in a completely different light and loved it. Dead Man is so beautiful. It is absolutely deep and profound. It is completely different and ultimately impressive. I love Dead Man!!! Thank you so much for this interview. It adds so much th o my love and understanding of Dead Man from inception to creation to completion. It is an absolutely brilliant film. Thank you for Dead Man!!! I love it!!! ❤⚘😊⚘❤

[@jasonrush6701]

This is one of my favorite movies ever definitely my top favorite

[@CatchTheBus]

Thanks a lot for sharing this. Jim is a really cool dude

[@petergraham8681]

Interesting as many of his other work is, I do believe this film to be his greatest achievement to date.

[@mr.x8691]

"Thank you for coming a lot."

[@alexander_dean]

Thank you for sharing this.

[@veem8089]

This is so great, glad I discovered it

[@lessevdoolbretsim]

C.G., "She found herself someone else." J.D., "No!" C.G., "Yes, she did."

[@patriciaalliewoolfstein2839]

Life,happiness, wiserness, health, success. Liked "Dead man". Ifeel honored to listen you. You're amazing with the free thinking and acting style. Páll Éva Katalin.

[@Guedingen]

Wonderful, many thanks.

[@musicisbrilliant]

Oh, I LOVE that bit about Gary Farmer!!

[@DJGOLFVR6]

great interview, i hope you guys will have the Only Lovers Left Alive q&a up too :)

[@silentforest7147]

This is a beautiful movie, and it has been my favorite since i saw it in the late 90s.

[@alanbuttell4181]

Some to Misery are Born Every Morn and every Night Some are Born to sweet delight Some are Born to sweet delight Some are Born to Endless Night.

[@bubbamoseks9522]

thx a bunch for 'the hit' comment. clapton & waters, can't believe i missed that duo

[@jackhackett80]

Jim Jarmusch is one of the best living American directors, but no one knows who he is. Those of us in his circle love his work, however

[@SDsailor7]

Did he direct coffee and cigarettes?

[@jackhackett80]

@@SDsailor7 yes. the project was done over a decade or something like that

[@saraswatisky3119]

My number one favorite filmmaker.

[@LoveEverything1987]

14:35 I love how he describes these memories 😂

[@SquidPartyGames]

Great interview

[@ruly8153]

This interviewer was great

[@SDsailor7]

I think dead man and what's eating gilbert grape are Johnny Dep best work/acting.

[@eln5343]

One of the best things was the music! It felt like a part of Nobodys persona. And I laughed my ass off every time the laconic main theme started rolling. There was some infentile seriousness in it , whitch was the funniest thing attached to all those absurd moments.

[@nwbackcountry5327]

The soundtrack reminds me of falling through life.

[@rodneystanger1651]

I've never been a Neil Young fan, and all of what I do like from him is his earlier acoustic stuff, Needle and the Damage Done, Old Man, etc, but I love the score he did for this. I think his sloppy style and odd tone actually work in the context of the film.

[@SDsailor7]

Neil Young is one of my favorite musicians.

[@rafael55]

great movie.!!!

[@thebluedan]

It’s strange whenever I remember the scenes riding through the forest though it’s was black and white i remember it very green.

[@tonywords6713]

Black and white looks green to our eyes

[@charliesierra6919]

Dead Man and Jim Jarmusch are genius.

[@patriciaalliewoolfstein2839]

Stupefied and pleased, Special way in simplycity, as regiseur. Marveleus "deadman, thanks.

[@GimmeShelter1989]

Michael Wilcott should have been in Ghost Dog with that voice

[@fuckdott7308]

amazing

[@GimmeShelter1989]

Does anybody think Gary Farmer in Ghost Dog was Nobody reincarnated?

[@jeromebrown6626]

He once lived around the corner in NYC east village

[@ZombiesAteMyGF]

Was he the guy working at the fast food restaurant in Sling Blade?

[@1N2themystic]

Yep, I remember thinking Billy Bob was playing the part and had to look it up.

[@BogMika]

A+

[@KhaldyFathy]

❤️❤️

[@randusapplecorn7277]

I ATE EVERYTHING

[@mikem3779]

To anyone saying this movie is their favorite, the greatest ever, should be shown in film class... while I'm not disagreeing, I just don't get it. What's so great about this movie? I watched it two or three times back when it came out, but I prefer Down By Law or Stranger Than Paradise.

[@Daneiladams555]

dead man is free on KZbin, killer film

[@boomer3150]

I want to find Gary Farmer, too. I'm a drummer and would like to jam with him...blues.

[@bradlyman30]

Best film ever made

[@blakejohnson7148]

He does look like Lee Marvin.

[@richardburt9812]

Says he can't teach but he is taught by his cinematographer. Dude is a teacher.

[@user-jc1lv8nv8r]

The eagle never lost so much time as when he submitted to learn of the crow.

[@MrBryan247]

Depp is very travis bicklish as he travels. gr8 plaid suit.

[@patriciaalliewoolfstein2839]

Live, healthier, wiser, wheathier, happier, successfu, lucky. P

[@mrbenoit5018]

What if they filmed the area between the two

[@gregorys6074]

Missouri Breaks had to have been tough with Brandon

[@amitx4243]

now i know from where benedict cummbtrbtth got his voice & personality frlm, nonetheless deadman is that one of those movies where the more you watch the more you discover something new. one of my fav piece of art.

[@adahbinti7103]

The more you watch the more you discover more, ,,,,,, I bet ...I have watched it over 10 times🙈

[@vishnu2407]

@@adahbinti7103 💙💙💙 a person of culture

[@michaelteret4763]

But Jim, does the cut worm REALLY forgive the plow?

[@jmajick4415]

Love this part I'm out here in the middle of shits creek... with two local lunatics. One who don't say nothin'... And the other one, he won't never stop yappin'! You gonna shed tears for us? I wouldn't do that if I were you. - And why not? - Because it ain't good for your health. Fuck you. Fuck me? Fuck you. Goddamn it. Jesus, Cole. He's just a kid. He's a Navajo mud toy now.

[@SDsailor7]

What was that secrect society coment all about??

[@jude999]

Feel the Horse. Interesting that most filmmaker see fades as lazy editing. There is a lot of truth in that, but it can be effective if used very sparingly. If you are not going to refer them by their tribal name they prefer "American Indian," not "Native American."

[@SDsailor7]

When was this Q&A was filmed?Anyone know?Thank you

[@ruly8153]

20th anniversary so 2015

[@SDsailor7]

@@ruly8153 Thank you. It is a great movie.

[@philip2404]

Ghost Dog is his true masterpiece no doubt

[@kiadel7502]

Jim is great, at least at the same level of Tarantino.

[@Ireland831]

Not trying to be rude, but a funny observation....Years ago I walked into a Blockbuster Vid store. Asked the kid behind the counter if they had Down by Law.....he types it in and stands very stiff and talks like a robot...."negatory...siir". I laughed then...and now am laughing even more...Jim J sounds like a robot...I keep waiting for him to say...."Negatory"

[@SDsailor7]

Unconventional westerns like the vampire movie that unfotunately i cannot remember the name. That is another great movie.

[@man.6618]

its called only lovers left alive :)

[@tonywords6713]

@@man.6618 *Near Dark

[@CT2507]

no questions at all about the symbolism of this movie? this movie is one big allegory! wtf!? that sucks.

[@dcrux47]

2019.03.29

[@ehhoya]

Мастер

[@phoenixrising441]

Just goes to show that obscure and unintelligent people can do great things.

[@webwarrior8887]

Кто он сатантанго?

[@michellec.59]

Foda

[@booyakasha7197]

Jarmusch stole this films concept from the amazing multi talented artist John Lurie fyi.

[@marsmediapro]

Good interview; SUPER annoying background!

[@jswin2084]

That interviewer was a strange man......very strange......

[@joanettemurcia2929]

it seems that Jarmusch forgot that the real succes of the film was Johnny Depp

[@vishnu2407]

Yeah, no

[@Icecreamforcrowtoo]

Dead Man is far from being my favorite Western. Pechinpah, Leone, and Ford all made vastly superior contributions to the genre. And they did so without ripping off someone else's script. (Look it up--Jarmusch basically plagiarized a superior script written by someone else without giving ANY credit to the man he ripped off.) That being said, the film has great merit despite its rather "slow burn" and even tedious nature. The picture, the soundtrack, the acting, and even the artistic vision are all striking. Particularly the first scene with Crispin Glover and the scenes with Robert Mitchum. Possibly genius stuff, there. Even the underlying anti-white philosophy is, from a certain vantage point, valid. With that qualification of the film out of the way...I find Jarmusch (in all his pretentiousness) to be quite hypocritical in his criticism of Ford (that he goes out of his way to make and virtue-signal over to show he's a good pious person). He laments how Ford portrayed 'native Americans' and 'native culture'. Yet, The Searchers, for example, was actually based on something real that actually happened. Comanches were absolutely brutal not only to white settlers but to other tribes and even to their own kind. This isn't just made-up stuff. And even then, Ford, contra Jarmusch, did humanize them even if it wasn't to his liking or up to his standards given his 'love' of 'native' or 'aborignal' cultures. And in doing so, Ford also showed the moral failings of whites as well (which I'm sure Jarmusch greatly approves of). As were other tribes like the Apache absolutely brutal. They weren't all these "enlightened" figures as the noble savage myth perpetrated by Dances With Wolves and even Dead Man to a lesser extent would have you believe. So what does Jarmusch do? He makes a film that basically has this artistic vision in the form of a nightmare showing whites to be an unmitigated pestilence at worst and at best (in the case of Depp's William Blake) 'stupid' and in need of wisdom from a noble savage. This is all fair game. Hey, I'm open-minded! But I'm also "open-minded" in ways that would clearly offend Jarmusch and his pieties and alleged "open-mindedness." Whiteness (aside from William Blake the poet who was an actual nutjob) is associated with all sorts of evil and debauchery in Dead Man. Again, that's all well and good. It's art and art has a lot of room for these simplistic and even crude portrayals of an entire culture because there is probably an underlying truth there somewhere. But you can't have it both ways here with art. You can't get on your moral high horse about what you consider to be a gross oversimplification or unflattering portrayal of the 'native' cultures in telling a story and then in your own work (without the slightest bit of self-awareness) show whites to be an out and out scourge on the entire continent as he did. You're in no position to be on your moral high horse about that sort of gross over simplification and exaggeration. Both artistic visions-the ones from Ford and the ones from Jarmusch- are valid and the one Jarmusch laments in the form of Ford's pictures is perhaps even more valid and less fantastical than the one he champions in the form of Dead Man. Ford and others like him exaggerated natives and their failings and 'evils' far less than Jarmusch exaggerated whites and their evils in Dead Man. If you want to say he's 'correcting' something and adding balance to the genre, that's fine (even if there's room to disagree, there). But if Jarmusch is going to employ the same techniques to an even greater degree than Ford did only in reverse, he's got no room sit there and bemoan John Ford and his films in such a pious and insufferable manner. I find these sorts of politically correct disconnects to be jarring and annoying. Thankfully, one can enjoy Dead Man and tune out Jarmusch's insufferable liberal genuflecting at the feet of other cultures (as if they'd even accept him in the first place) as he throws the great one that actually seeded him and made his comfortable life possible under the bus like a typical oblivious Hollywood buffoon who says the 'right' or 'correct' things (even if he is an 'indie' film maker--whatever that means).

[@spaceghost8995]

Take a chill pill.

[@Icecreamforcrowtoo]

@@spaceghost8995 How about you go fuck yourself?

[@tonywords6713]

👎

[@Icecreamforcrowtoo]

@@tonywords6713 Oh, boohoo... Dude's a hypocrite. Sorry not sorry that pointing this out chaps your cleft asshole.

[@joshjosh320]

This is a well-argued, lucid critique of the film and has its merits (though I disagree on some points). Y'all with the dismissive "take a chill pill" replies are not listening to what the commenter is trying to say. He/she took the time to write several paragraphs, and made some genuinely valid points. Political bickering aside, it deserves a serious read. Now, my point of contention, and the reason (I think) Dead Man has attained a cult status some 24 years on is because you CAN'T pin it down. At ALL. You can't bend it to your whim. It will NOT fit you like a glove. It doesn't "sit up straight and behave". Nothing is spelled out. It doesn't even really choose sides, which can be frustrating for those expecting a Tarantino-esque "revisionist" Western that will slyly stroke the egos of the "woke" or well-heeled. Instead, it's a messy affair of human folly and miscommunication from start to finish. Blake's total incomprehension of the actual purpose implicit in being asked "Do you have any tobacco?" is mirrored in the vapid, societal ignorance of Nobody's flabbergasted narrative of how white men were able to move their entire populations from city to city ahead of him when he was in captivity (or the mere fact of Nobody's credulous certainty that he's in the company of THE ACTUAL William Blake). The gunplay and violence is situationally absurd - to the point of being melodramatic and funny - yet somehow filmed with an attention to detail that is shocking and truly unsettling. All while drawing on The Odyssey, a bit of Orpheus, some slapstick, and the lovely - if stark raving mad - language of Blake. (Whitman is there too, waiting in the wings, chomping at the bit.) And yes, it seems counter-intuitive to react to such a visually, aurally immersive film with references to poetry, but it's there. It's a weird movie! Jarmusch is ABSOLUTELY open to charges of pretentiousness and virtue-signaling, but let's remember that the latter wasn't codified as precisely or severely back in '95 as it is today. Today, everyone is on their haunches, ready to leap at the first sign of political vulnerability in others. I don't regard this as a heavy-handed "message" film at all. It's PUNK. And John Ford? I suspect that Jarmusch went along to get along in interviews, a little. So almost nobody makes Westerns, right? Not in '95, and not now. He knew and admired some of Ford's work, 'cause you actually have to. No getting around it. John Ford is as important as Welles or Kubrick or Scorsese or Lee or...you fill in the blank with your favorite auteur. Whoever you picked, Ford is likely MORE important. To my mind, the troubling issue in Ford's work was misogyny, not necessarily outright, belabored racism. Jarmusch is certainly closer to Peckinpah. This film...it's punk. Grunge. Shoe-gazing. Incredible score. (Don't get me started on the score!) I've had my say, except to radically disagree with the statement "you can't have it both ways here with art". Sorry, but you absolutely CAN have both ways in art. Up, down, backwards and sideways. That's kinda the whole point. And the filmmakers whose presence I see most here... it's probably Werner Herzog and Buster Keaton. Ever wonder what a trippy Herzog western would be like? Well, now you know.

[@lagunaflyguy]

I hate to break this to you but there is no purgatory.

[@spacepoots]

Millenials need to learn how not to say UM !!!!

[@johndennis5182]

hes not a john Ford fan? oh come on man, don't be to weired with your artistic vision, John Ford made great movies. and he doesn't like eric clampton? oh come on man, your taking your self to serious clampton is great, come on man we all know that, but iam glad he chose Neil, cause neil did a great job.

[@hidereplies1425]

Eric Clapton

[@tonywords6713]

He doesn’t like assholes. Doesn’t surprise me

[@vishnu2407]

I mean I don't like dickwads either, and I guess Jim doesn't either

[@Icecreamforcrowtoo]

I'm with you, man. Jarmusch had to do his "I love native culture" and "this white man disrespected it" schtick that's so perfunctory in the modern age. I made a whole long post about how hypocritical he's being here despite liking Dead Man, for the most part. I like Dead Man. And John Ford made many stinkers. But Dead Man doesn't hold a candle to The Searchers or The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance. Ignore the other simpleton grug brains who replied to you who just mindlessly conform and go along with Jarmusch's nonsense. For the record, John Ford was an asshole. But he made great films. And frankly, Jarmusch also seems like an asshole to me as well who also made a decent film.

[@kangaroo3708]

@@Icecreamforcrowtoo Calm down man Jarmusche doesn’t seem like an asshole at all