MovieChat Forums > Dead Man (1996) Discussion > Do you have any Tobacco?..

Do you have any Tobacco?..

posted 19 years ago by floydian52587
45 replies | jump to latest

Is there any meaning behind that line/object?..I watched the movie last night and I got most of the ideas behind it, but I can't help but feel that that line has a meaning behind it that I couldn't pin point. He gave the same answer the whole way through the movie (I don't smoke), changed his answer once towards the end ( I traded it), then died and sent on his way with the tobacco, and it had some importance because Nobody said he needed it.

Any thoughts on this?..

[–] wabus44 19 years ago

Tobacco is a sacred plant for those who follow our own Indian spiritual beliefs in much of Indian Country. It is used as a way of giving thanks and showing respect. Sometimes it is smoked, other times it is given as a gift and other times it is used as an offering. For example, although I do not smoke cigarettes I almost always carry tobacco, and will use it as an offering when I pray. Hope this helps.

[–] LuciaJoyce 18 years ago

Wow. Thank you for your insight, wabus44!

--
And of course, no surprise to see England manager Sven-Göran Eriksson in the crowd

[–] LuciaJoyce 18 years ago

Wow. Thank you for your insight, wabus44!

--
And of course, no surprise to see England manager Sven-Göran Eriksson in the crowd

[–] srklondie 9 years ago

You already said that.

[–] LuciaJoyce 18 years ago

Wow. Thank you for your insight, wabus44!

--
And of course, no surprise to see England manager Sven-Göran Eriksson in the crowd

[–] delthafunky1 12 years ago

Wow. Thank you for your insight, wabus44!

--
And of course, no surprise to see England manager Sven-Göran Eriksson in the crowd

[–] cheekyfilm 11 years ago

Wow. Thank you for your insight, wabus44!

[–] autoscopic 9 years ago

Wow. Thank you for your insight, wabus44!

[–] srklondie 9 years ago

How long have you had that stutter?

[–] johnweaver233 18 years ago

Wow. Thank you for your insight, wabus44!

--
And of course, no surprise to see England manager Sven-Göran Eriksson in the crowd

[–] 18 years ago

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[–] Finnish-man 14 years ago

Wow. Thank you for your insight, wabus44!

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Join the parade! We all want to thank wabus44 for his insight!

[–] K_kugelis 14 years ago

Wow. Thank you for your insight, wabus44!

[–] Cinema_Crow 17 years ago

Agreed. I think that was the idea behind the theme, also I personally think that having tobacco represented that one had been offered the gift, as on that has embarked on his spirit quest as blake is. I noticed just last night when watching the film again, that every character in this movie does ask either blake or another character if they have any tobacco. The only ones that do not, are Robert Mitchum and John Hurt's, and they are, incidentally smoking throughout the movie.
interesting.

[–] Mr_Cinema8 17 years ago

There's a few things going on there , so alot of you are right IMO(first time I've ever used IMO). A brilliant filmmaker, which I believe Jarmusch is, will give layers to elements like that. They will function differently throughout the movie. On the surface, NOBODY kept asking him that because as someone earlier pointed out Indians use tobacco as a spiritual offering. Symbolically, I believe the tobacco did represent faith, as Johnny Depps character was in purgatory and trying to make it to "heaven"(or whatever you want to call it). And lastly, it was a great running gag. Jarmusch is the master at this layering, as you'll discover if you watch "GhostDog" which has even more of that going on.

[–] Gary_Allen 16 years ago

Not just smoked, it's an astringent (reduces swelling).

[–] 16 years ago

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[–] KTope 12 years ago

Wow. Thank you for your insight, wabus44!

I am Jack's IMDb post.

[–] pathfinder616 9 years ago

waabus44, thanks for explaining the reason Nobody asked Blake for tobacco. several white frontiersmen asked Blake for tobacco and had no spiritual need for tobacco. they simply enjoyed chewing and smoking it.

the line "Do you have any Tobacco?" is delivered by almost every new character that appears and it would appear it has a 'tongue-in-cheek' connotation.

We deal in lead, friend.

[–] antimusick 19 years ago

All great films have some kind of catch phrase...

see AFI 100 years of famous Movie Quotes list:
http://www.afi.com/tvevents/100years/quotes.aspx

[–] JefferyHunt 19 years ago

He's in purgatory (Hell, America, Wild West, Individualism and its decadence, freedom ironically sought in purgatory). He's there becuase he doesn't smoke. Tobacco represents faith, what it takes to get hime to the other side of that river(Jordan?). Because, at the end, this time the boat moves and he moves with it (as opposed to how the guy from the train described it). And Jarmusch probably chose tobacco for the reaseons the above poster explained. At leasts that's how I read it and it makes sense considering that the movie feels very spiritual.

[–] 19 years ago

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[–] Tyler_Bateman 19 years ago

Personally, I think this is an existentialist movie, without much meaning. It is a very good movie, very interesting, but I don't think it should be thought into incredibly hard. It is one of those movies you watch, and you take what you can from it without thinking about it too much. I think if you did, you would find essentially the movie is meaningless, with random outbursts and memorable dialouge among strange mood scenes. It's a masterpiece though, I must say.

And now, the news.

[–] tompetty832002 18 years ago

you are wrong if you dont think it is meant to be read into and i really dont see how you could view it as a masterpiece if you took it at surface level it is just another movie with a guy on the run. if you think it isnt meant to be read into, you are wrong, plain and simple

[–] 18 years ago

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[–] Brasil123 12 years ago

there is a thing known as intuition which allows you to draw meaning from something, let's say a film, without having to isolate and give meaning to countless symbols and plot devices.
I'm not saying film analysis doesn't have its place, but if the film flows well, and it gives you a certain feeling, and you really do feel like there are deep, important questions being asked, I think it can be a masterpiece without looking much beyond the surface.
What the previous poster may have meant by saying it does not have to be read into, is that giving everything one static, specific meaning may close your mind to various different, equally valid interpretations of the film.

That's the beautiful (and frustrating) thing about art: nobody's "wrong, plain and simple"

[–] 12 years ago

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[–] pathfinder616 9 years ago

Tyler, after my first viewing i thought it was an existential film but i kept asking myself questions about lines delivered and symbolism in almost every scene. so i looked online and found several examples of the most amazing analysis which puts to rest your theory that this film is essentially meaningless.

read this paper and tell me if you still feel the same: http://www.jcrt.org/archives/03.2/lee.shtml

We deal in lead, friend.

[–] pathfinder616 9 years ago

[–] smithpatch 19 years ago

I think it has more to do with Jim Jarmusch being a tobacco addict himself. See "Coffee and Cigarettes" and "Blue in the Face".

[–] 19 years ago

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[–] jluis1984 18 years ago

I thought it symbolized Blake's status as a "foreigner". Basically everyone in the film's "Wild West" smoked or carried tobacco in some way. That's why at the end he gives tobacco to Nobody, because he was finally part of the world.

"Do you mind if I rip your throat and eat your heart?"

[–] asabvsoblw 18 years ago

that's exactly how I saw it.

[–] freesharon 18 years ago

I haven't watched it in a while but I thought that he was already a dead man (with a wound he couldn't survive) and Nobody was trying to help him find the right moment to cross over. The tobacco was ritually and symbolically important.

[–] alexrunn 18 years ago

maybe it's both. the phrase do you have any tobacco means different things depending on who it's coming from. or maybe even 3 meanings for 2 phrases.

read history on tobacco. i am sure it's there.

[–] texagander 18 years ago

Aside from anything that the tobacco probably symbolized, the tobacco line was also to set up a pretty funny joke.

Willian Blake, at a point of frustration, tells Nobody hes has not understood a word he has said since the beginning. Nobody follows with the rejoinder, "Are you sure you don't have any tobacco?" William Blake doesn't get the joke (which is Nobody's assuming the prior requests for tobacco were not understood, as well); and; he just continues to explain how he doesn't smoke. :)

[–] freesharon 18 years ago

Good catch. Nobody really is a funny guy. I guess I'm ready to look this board over for new interpretations and then see the movie again. Want to add that this is the most respectful board I've found for any movie, actor, director, or writer. That alone indicates to me something profound about the value (or values) of the movie.

"There are three sides to every story: yours, mine, and the truth." ~ Robert Evans

[–] aviva00 18 years ago

It was mentioned that tobacco is a sacred plant, but the line is used for foreshadowing and humour.
Its not obvious on first viewing to some people that he's on his Journey... so when Nobody asks him for tombacco, they think he wants a smoke... We "whities" may make that mistake when we first see the film... The irony, and the humour is that Nobody doesn't want a smoke - he's collecting it for the offering to guide the boat safely to the spirit world. The repetition makes it funny.

[–] stoned_soldier 18 years ago

It's called a running joke/gag.

[–] mediocredave 16 years ago

Why wouldn't the guy sell tobacco to Nobody? I mean, obviously on the surface it was racism, but where does that fit into the symbolic narrative?

[–] nxgn_not_not 9 years ago

he wanted to sell nobody dis-eased blankets

he was a pseudo-rel-ligious
representation of what the takers
did 2 those that would not pay taxes

4 shur

so 2 sell him sum tom-back-key
wood go agin' everything he stood 4

as a hater
Hate is the key 2 the "Doc Ock" character

as ill-lust-trated by the pen in the hand

as 2 the thread
pour Moi
sum Tum-Bacc-Key
is so so so nyo the Resin in "WaterWorld"

the distant dream of a hoppier time

but that's jus' moi

Gelebt haben. Zu sterben, um wieder zu leben.

[–] KenMishima 9 years ago

I don't think I've ever seen the English language so brutally deconstructed and annihilated than this instance right here.