Dead Man


In the postmodern, Western film, Dead Man, William Blake travels from Cleveland to the wild, wild town of Machine to work a new accounting job.  Unfortunately, another man has taken his job, so William Blake is left stranded in an unfamiliar place.  He feels lost in the town and seeks refuge with a woman, who he helped off the ground.  The next day, this woman's ex-lover finds William and her in bed together, which results in the man killing the woman and Blake killing the ex-lover.  The now dead ex-lover was the son of man who refused to give Blake the promised accounting job, John Dickinson.  After Blake escapes town, Dickinson hires bounty hunters and labels William Blake a dead man.
In the film, Cold Fever, Hirata, a Japanese business man, feels disconnected in the foreign land of Iceland.  Hirata and Blake are both foreigners in a very different environment and feel like a fish out of water.  The alien territory molds the characters and transforms their way of thinking.  The characters perform this transformation alone, even if Blake had Nobody.  Nobody is Blake’s Native American companion that recreates William Blake into Nobody’s favorite poet, William Blake.  After Nobody leaves him and William Blake is left alone, he begins to start reciting his poetry at the same point that he starts murdering bounty hunters.  The name “Nobody” helps at expressing that nobody helped William Blake be a dynamic characters.  Both characters begin to find meaning in themselves from the land and overcome their bashful nature.
         Unlike Iceland, the West Coast of the United States presents many different types of changing environment.  Every other scene in Dead Man had different trees and landscape.  Now, this isn’t realistic, but added some diversity to the black and white depiction of the film.  The constantly changing landscape can also symbolize the change that is occurring with Blake’s character. 
         There is a multitude of visual symbols in Dead Man, but auditory symbols as well.  The major auditory presence that can be heard throughout the movie is Neil Young’s guitar.  His music continues the entire film and changes slightly when there is either tension or another emotional events that occur.  Most other films do this for important scenes, but just having this one guitar through the film connects the viewer.  This concept is like one long jam that drifts viewers into constant different emotions throughout the film.  I got chills when Neil Young changed his style as Blake was taken into the Native American settlement.  Symbolization should help strengthen meaning to the film, but also alter a viewer’s emotion.

     

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