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Alex Cox’s ‘Dead Souls‘: A Surreal Western Swansong
Director Alex Cox returns with Dead Souls, a jauntily odd and surreal western he intends as his final film. Shot on location in Almeria, Spain, and Arizona, the film stars Cox himself as Strindler, a character inspired by Nikolai Gogol’s classic 1842 novella of the same name. The film premiered at the Rotterdam film festival and offers a satirical commentary on contemporary political themes.
Gogol’s Influence and the film’s Premise
Nikolai Gogol’s Dead Souls is a satirical novella about a man who purchases the names of deceased serfs from landowners to use as collateral for loans, aiming to appear wealthy. Cox adapts this premise to the American Old West of the late 19th century. Strindler, portrayed by Cox, is a meticulously dressed and mannered figure who proposes to buy lists of deceased mexicans from landowners.
A darkly Comedic Exploitation
Strindler’s scheme revolves around exploiting the systemic racism of the era. He intends to sell these “dead souls” to goverment entities seeking to demonstrate the exclusion of “undesirable aliens” from american territory.though, the film also presents Strindler’s actions as a twisted form of redemption, offering to relieve landowners of the burden of remembering the