Jim Jarmusch's 1995 film Dead Man is a film like no other. With its gorgeous black-and-white photography, its soundtrack of light acoustic guitar and rolling electric guitar provided by Neil Young, and its metaphysical plot, it stands alone not just in the western genre — but in the entirety of film.
Johnny Depp plays William Blake, a man who spent his last dime traveling to the frontier only to find his job already filled. Penniless, homeless, and—after an encounter with a local—shot in the chest, Blake is at the end of the line. He is found by Nobody (Gary Farmer), a native, who guides him to his death through a violent country struggling against itself.
Its scenes flow like stanzas separated by silence, driven on by its untamed score. Its general melancholy is colored by moments of humor, violence, and friendship. Its world feels real, and its depiction of native peoples is one of the best in cinema history. Dead Man is a dreamlike, spiritual film. Like poetry.