Off-beat comedy not your usual shoot-em-up western

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Another Native actor has hit the big time. Dead Man, a "Cannes"film,

made it's Canadian debut in Toronto and actor Gary Farmer shines in his

latest co-starring role as a man called Nobody.

Farmer is a Cayuga from the Grand River territory situated in

southwestern Ontario and is best known for his role as Philbert Bruno in

the cult classic Pow Wow Highway. He has done a lot of work in theatre,

television, and film. However, this "off beat" western just might be a

break for Farmer.

The Dead Man debut created quite a buzz in Toronto. Attendance at the

post-viewing party showed support and interest in the film.

Many talented Aboriginal artists, including Floyd "Red Crow" Westerman

and comedian Charlie Hill were on hand to help celebrate the Canadian

release of the film. Dead Man is shot in black and white and stars

Farmer and Hollywood actor Johnny Depp. It was written and directed by

Jim Jarmusch.

"I'm very interested in the reaction from native viewers. After I see

what the reaction is to my films, I never watch them again," said

Jarmusch. He said he was very pleased with the feedback which came from

the Native audience in attendance at the debut.

This film has been dubbed a "Way out Western," by the Los Angles

Times. It's a mixture of black comedy and warped reality. This is

definitely not a John Wayne western. It is, in fact, a work of art with

many metaphors. Dead Man is a sophisticated and intellectually

complicated film which presents the viewer with a lot to ponder.

"For the first time in one of my films there are those peripheral

themes like industrialization, violence, America as a place, the clash

of cultures, genocide, outlaw status, poetry and language,: Jarmusch

said.

The clever western is beautifully filmed with the entire movie

appearing like a black and white dream. Neil Young scores the sound

track and his haunting guitar riffs help to increase the mood and the

tone of the movie.

"For me, it's about a journey from this world to the spirit world,"

said Farmer. "Depp is this character who's in the wrong world. He's

supposed to be in the spirit world, but he's in this world. I'm the

character who becomes a guide."

The film is set in the late 1800's on the edge of the last frontier of

western North America and at the beginning of the American industrial

era. There is a sense of two worlds colliding. The audience is

introduced to the encroachment of mechanization as Blake (Depp's

character) travels both physically and spiritually across America

through unfamiliar territory.

"It is as though he (Blake) passes through the surface of a mirror, and

emerges into a previously unknown world that exists on the other side,"

said Jarmusch.

In the opening scene of the movie we see Blake sitting on a train. He

is a prim accountant from the east and, as he travels further west, the

crowd on the train seems to grow wilder and more unruly. The accountant

looks very uncomfortable and displaced. The scene ends with gunfire

when white men on the train senselessly shoot out the open windows and

kill buffalo.

Through a series of mishaps, Blake finds himself wounded, with a bounty

on his head. Blake is befriended by an Indian called Nobody who is a

descendent of the Blackfoot and Blood nations. He is an outcast who has

found an appreciation for the English poet, William Blake. Throughout

the film Nobody recites poems to Blake, whom Nobody believes to be the

dead poet of the same name.

Blake is running from the law and Nobody believes it is his duty to

help the "dead poet" return to the spirit world. Their travels become

the basis for a comical and, sometimes, violent story.

Although the movie seems to be concerned with death, Jarmusch says

otherwise.

"To me Dead Man is not about death. It's about life being a voyage.

We take death to be accepted as a part of life and not to be feared.

It's the only thing that is certain and it's the biggest mystery."

Also appearing in the film as Nobody's girlfriend is Michelle Thrush.

Se is a Cree from Alberta and says she was "ecstatic" to have worked so

closely with Depp and Farmer. Her career includes many television

credits, including roles on North of 65 and Northern Exposure.