Claim: Neil Young is a musician.

Dead Man is a 1995 American Western film written and directed by Jim Jarmusch . It stars Johnny Depp , Gary Farmer , Billy Bob Thornton , Iggy Pop , Crispin Glover , John Hurt , Michael Wincott , Lance Henriksen , Gabriel Byrne , and Robert Mitchum -LRB- in his final film role -RRB- . The film , dubbed a `` Psychedelic Western '' by its director , includes twisted and surreal elements of the Western genre . The film is shot entirely in black-and-white . Neil Young composed the guitar-seeped soundtrack with portions he improvised while watching the movie footage . It has been considered by many to be a premier postmodern Western , and related to postmodern literature such as Cormac McCarthy 's novel Blood Meridian . Like much of Jarmusch 's work , it has acquired status as a cult film .