Jim Jarmush’s new movie, named “The dead don’t die“, was presented at Cannes Film Festival and competes, there, for the main reward, la “Palme d’Or“. I was lucky enough to watch this movie before its release in USA, as it was previously released in France on May 14th, due to its presence at the French Festival.
Don’t worry: I won’t spoil this movie here. As it’s known, it’s a zombie comedy, located in the ficticious little town of Centerville, in which you can see a whole host of excellent actors, among which are Bill Murray, Adam Driver, Chloe Sevigny, Steve Buscemi, Tom Waits, Caleb Landry Jones (the Texan actor was also recently seen in the excellent “Three Billboards outside Elbing Missoury“), Tilda Swinton, Danny Glover, Iggy Pop, Selena Gomez and… Sturgill Simpson.
The country singer and songwriter briefly appears in the movie (I let you guess what can be his role…) and his song, “The dead don’t die“, is an important part of the movie, not only in its final part but in the whole movie. I just can tell you that Adam Driver and Selena Gomez are true lovers of this song, to such an extent that the pop star buys Sturgill Simpson’s album in Caleb Landry Jones’ store. Of course, this album is ficticious but the song sung by Sturgill Simpson in this movie is perfectly real… and it’s a little gem for all country music lovers.
Since the beginning of the movie, and till the end, you can listen to this song several times and it’s an excellent and real country song, with a lot of pedal steel. If you see this movie, you’ll find strange and nutty characters, absurd situations, a lot of humor… and, last but not least, good country music. I don’t know if this movie will be rewarded by the jury of Cannes, presided this year by Mexican director Alejandro González Iñarritu (the final ceremony will take place on Saturday 25th), but there’s something sure: through Sturgill Simpson’s song, country music will have been a little part of the French Festival, and it’s something suficiently unusual to underline. Thank you, Jim Jarmush, for this contribution!
Nicolas Davelu
Country Music France 