The Dead (1987 film)

1987 film by John Huston

The Dead

Theatrical release poster

Directed by| John Huston
Written by| Tony Huston
Based on| "The Dead"
by James Joyce
Produced by| Wieland Schulz-Keil
Chris Sievernich
Starring|

* Anjelica Huston
* Donal McCann
* Helena Carroll
* Cathleen Delany
* Rachael Dowling
* Ingrid Craigie
* Dan O'Herlihy
* Marie Kean
* Donal Donnelly
* Seán McClory
* Frank Patterson

Cinematography| Fred Murphy
Edited by| Roberto Silvi
Music by| Alex North

Production
companies

Vestron Pictures
Zenith Entertainment
Liffey Films
Channel 4
Delta Film

Distributed by| Vestron Pictures

Release date

* 18 December 1987 (1987-12-18)

Running time

| 83 minutes
Countries| United Kingdom
United States
West Germany
Language| English
Budget| $3.5 million[1] or £2.26 million[2]
Box office| $4,370,078[3]

The Dead is a 1987 drama film directed by John Huston, written by his son Tony Huston, and starring his daughter Anjelica Huston. It is an adaptation of the short story of the same name by James Joyce, which was first published in 1914 as the last story in Dubliners. An international co-production between the United Kingdom, the United States, and West Germany,[4][5] the film was Huston's last as director, and it was released several months after his death.

The film takes place in Dublin in 1904 at an Epiphany party hosted by two sisters and their niece. The story focuses on the academic Gabriel Conroy (Donal McCann) and his discovery of his wife Gretta's (Anjelica Huston) memories of a deceased lover. The ensemble cast also includes Helena Carroll, Cathleen Delany, Dan O'Herlihy, Marie Kean, Donal Donnelly, Seán McClory, Frank Patterson, and Colm Meaney.

At the 60th Academy Awards, Tony Huston was nominated for the award for Best Adapted Screenplay and Dorothy Jeakins was nominated for Best Costume Design for their work on the film. John Huston posthumously won the award for Best Director at the 3rd Independent Spirit Awards, and Anjelica Huston won the award for Best Supporting Female at the same ceremony.

## Plot

[edit]

On January 6, 1904, spinster sisters Kate and Julia Morkan and their unmarried niece, Mary Jane, host their annual Epiphany dinner party at their townhouse in Dublin. Horse-drawn carriages arrive with guests on the snowy night. Three of Mary Jane's music students, Miss O'Callaghan, Miss Furlong, and Miss Higgins, enter, accompanied by the young bachelors Joseph Kerrigan and Raymond Bergin, who Miss Furlong formally introduces to Kate and her frail older sister, Julia.

Dan Brown, the only Protestant invited to the party, arrives next, followed by Kate's favorite nephew, Gabriel Conroy, and his wife Gretta. Kate is worried that Freddy Malins will show up drunk, and when he does, Gabriel promptly escorts the man to the restroom to sober him up. After a few more drinks with Mr. Brown, Freddy goes to talk to his mother, who lives in Scotland with her daughter, and Mrs. Malins berates him for failing to meet her for tea earlier.

The guests dance, Mary Jane performs a virtuosic piece on the piano, and a guest named Mr. Grace recites a poem he calls "Broken Vows", which is a lament of lost love, during which Gretta's eyes grow misty. When the dancing restarts, Kate pairs Gabriel with Molly Ivors, an Irish nationalist colleague of his. She chides Gabriel for writing for an English newspaper and not learning Irish, and in response, he declares he is sick of Ireland.

While Gretta is attempting to persuade Gabriel that they should go on a summer trip to the Aran Islands that Molly mentioned, Kate announces that Julia is going to sing "Arrayed for the Bridal", an operatic piece from her "concert days". Despite her warbling voice, Freddy drunkenly gushes over the performance, and Kate complains about the Pope ending her sister's singing career in the church choir when he replaced the women with boys.

When it is time to eat, Molly leaves the party to attend a union meeting. During the sumptuous feast, conversation topics range from opera to morality. Freddy reliably utters the wrong things, but despite his nerves, Gabriel gives a rousing speech praising the wonderful Irish hospitality shown by Kate, Julia and Mary Jane.

As the guests are leaving, Mrs. Malins asks Gabriel to look after Freddy when she returns to Scotland, and Gabriel awakens Mr. Brown and puts him in a carriage with the Malins. When almost everyone is gone, Bartell D’Arcy, a "celebrated tenor" who had not sung anything all evening, sings "The Lass of Aughrim" to Miss O'Callaghan, and Gabriel watches Gretta as she listens transfixed from the stairs. Her pensiveness continues in the carriage on the way to the hotel where she and Gabriel are staying the night, and she dismisses Gabriel's attempts to cheer her.

In their hotel room, Gabriel asks Gretta what she is thinking, and she explains that when she was young and lived with her grandmother in Galway, a boy she knew named Michael Furey used to sing "The Lass of Aughrim". She says she feels responsible for his death at age seventeen as, on the night before she returned to the convent in Dublin where she went to school, Michael left his sick bed and stood outside her window in the cold and rain to say goodbye, and he died a week later. Gretta cries herself to sleep, and Gabriel thinks that he has never felt love like the love Michael must have felt for Gretta and that it is better to die young and passionate than to wither and fade away like Julia, and presumably he will. Looking out the window, he imagines the snow falling all over Ireland, "upon all the living and the dead."

## Cast

[edit]

* Anjelica Huston as Gretta Conroy
* Donal McCann as Gabriel Conroy
* Helena Carroll as Aunt Kate Morkan
* Cathleen Delany as Aunt Julia Morkan
* Rachael Dowling as Lily, the maid
* Ingrid Craigie as Mary Jane, the niece
* Dan O'Herlihy as Dan Browne
* Marie Kean as Mrs Malins
* Donal Donnelly as Theodore Alfred "Freddy" Malins
* Seán McClory as Mr. Grace
* Frank Patterson as Bartell D'Arcy
* Katherine O'Toole as Miss Furlong
* Bairbre Dowling as Miss Higgins
* Maria Hayden as Miss O'Callaghan
* Cormac O'Herlihy as Joseph Kerrigan
* Colm Meaney as Raymond Bergin
* Maria McDermottroe as Molly Ivors
* Lyda Anderson as Miss Daly
* Paul Grant as 1st Young Gentleman
* Redmond Gleeson as Nightporter

## Adaptation

[edit]

Tony Huston's screenplay was a fairly close adaptation of the original story, with some alterations made to the dialogue to aid the narrative for cinema audiences. The most significant change to the story was the inclusion of a new character, Mr. Grace, who, in the film, recites an English translation of the eighth-century Middle Irish poem "Donal Óg".[6][7]

## Production

[edit]

Weiland Schulz-Keil and Chris Sievernich, the producers of the film, had previously raised the money for Huston's 1984 film Under the Volcano. Screen rights to "The Dead" were purchased from the Joyce estate for $60,000.[1]

Filming began on 19 January 1987.[1] According to Pauline Kael, "Huston directed the movie, at eighty, from a wheelchair, jumping up to look through the camera, with oxygen tubes trailing from his nose to a portable generator; most of the time, he had to watch the actors on a video monitor outside the set and use a microphone to speak to the crew. Yet he went into dramatic areas that he'd never gone into before - funny, warm family scenes that might be thought completely out of his range. Huston never before blended his actors so intuitively, so musically."[8]

Anjelica Huston said her father remained a filmmaking virtuoso despite his ill health: "He was so sick, but he could literally do it with his eyes closed. He knew when we were going to get a take way long before the camera rolled. I mean the timing was so precise that he could tell everything, exactly how it was going to go."[9] The pressures of filming and watching her father's health deteriorate had an adverse effect on her own health, and she developed Epstein-Barr syndrome during production.[9]

## Release

[edit]

The Dead was released on DVD by Lionsgate on November 3, 2009, but the initial pressing was missing nearly ten minutes of footage from early in the film.[10] After word of this was posted on various websites, Lionsgate eventually corrected the mistake and released the full-length version.

## Reception

[edit]

The Japanese filmmaker Akira Kurosawa cited The Dead as one of his 100 favorite films.[11]

The Dead received mostly positive critical reviews. The film holds a 94% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, based on 31 reviews.[12]

## In popular culture

[edit]

Audio samples from this movie were used in the song "6:00" by the band Dream Theater in the 1994 album Awake.

In Pedro Almodóvar's The Room Next Door, both the film and short story are of great significance to the narrative. In one scene, Tilda Swinton's and Julianne Moore's characters watch the film, and the former recites the ending.

## Awards

[edit]

Winner

* 1987: Tokyo International Film Festival Special Achievement Award – John Huston
* 1988: National Society of Film Critics Award for Best Film[13]
* 1988: Independent Spirit Award for Best Director – John Huston[14]
* 1988: Independent Spirit Award for Best Supporting Female – Anjelica Huston[14]
* 1989: Bodil Award for Best Non-European Film (awarded by the Danish Film Critics Association)[15]
* 1989: Fotogramas de Plata for Best Foreign Film (awarded by the Spanish film magazine Fotogramas)
* 1989: London Critics Circle Film Award for Director of the Year – John Huston[16]

Nominated

* 1988: Academy Award for Best Writing, Screenplay Based on Material from Another Medium – Tony Huston[17]
* 1988: Academy Award for Best Costume Design – Dorothy Jeakins
* 1988: Independent Spirit Award for Best Screenplay – Tony Huston[14]
* 1988: Independent Spirit Award for Best Cinematography – Fred Murphy[14]

## References

[edit]

1. ^ a b c Segaloff, Nat (2013), Final Cuts: The Last Films of 50 Great Directors, Bear Manor Media, pp. 137–141137-141&rft.pub=Bear+Manor+Media&rft.date=2013&rft.aulast=Segaloff&rft.aufirst=Nat&rfr_id=info:sid/en.wikipedia.org:The+Dead+(1987+film)" class="Z3988">
2. ^ "Back to the Future: The Fall and Rise of the British Film Industry in the 1980s - An Information Briefing" (PDF). British Film Institute. 2005. p. 21.
3. ^ The Dead at Box Office Mojo
4. ^ "The Dead (1987)". BFI. Archived from the original on August 11, 2016. Retrieved May 25, 2021.
5. ^ "The Dead (1987)". AFI|Catalog. Retrieved May 25, 2021.
6. ^ "Donal Óg" Archived 2009-01-03 at the Wayback Machine, tr. Augusta, Lady Gregory
7. ^ Laird, Nick (December 2, 2006). "'I think he died for me'". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077.
8. ^ Kael, Pauline (1990), Hooked, London: Boyars, pp. 402–406, ISBN 0-7145-2903-6402-406&rft.pub=Boyars&rft.date=1990&rft.isbn=0-7145-2903-6&rft.aulast=Kael&rft.aufirst=Pauline&rfr_id=info:sid/en.wikipedia.org:The+Dead+(1987+film)" class="Z3988">
9. ^ a b King, Susan (May 17, 2019). "Anjelica Huston's magical movie life, from 'Prizzi's Honor' to 'John Wick'". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved May 20, 2019.
10. ^ Becker, Tom (November 2, 2009). "DVD Verdict Review: The Dead". DVDVerdict. Archived from the original on November 5, 2009. Retrieved November 3, 2009.
11. ^ Thomas-Mason, Lee. "From Stanley Kubrick to Martin Scorsese: Akira Kurosawa once named his top 100 favourite films of all time". Far Out Magazine. Retrieved January 23, 2023.
12. ^ "The Dead". Rotten Tomatoes. February 14, 2018. Retrieved August 21, 2023.
13. ^ "Film Critics' Group Honors the Dead". The New York Times. January 4, 1988. Retrieved May 1, 2023.
14. ^ a b c d Vol, John (April 11, 1988). "Independent Feature Project Bestows Its Spirit Awards". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved May 1, 2023.
15. ^ "Bodilprisen 1989". bodilprisen.dk. Archived from the original on April 17, 2016. Retrieved May 1, 2023.
16. ^ "London Critics Circle Film Awards 1989". mubi.com. Retrieved May 1, 2023.
17. ^ "1988 | Oscars.org | Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences". www.oscars.org. December 4, 2015. Retrieved May 1, 2023.

## External links

[edit]

* The Dead at IMDb
* The Dead at Rotten Tomatoes
* New York Times review

* v
* t
* e

Films directed by John Huston

Films|

* The Maltese Falcon (1941)
* In This Our Life (1942)
* Across the Pacific (1942)
* The Treasure of the Sierra Madre (1948)
* Key Largo (1948)
* We Were Strangers (1949)
* The Asphalt Jungle (1950)
* The Red Badge of Courage (1951)
* The African Queen (1951)
* Moulin Rouge (1952)
* Beat the Devil (1953)
* Moby Dick (1956)
* Heaven Knows, Mr. Allison (1957)
* The Barbarian and the Geisha (1958)
* The Roots of Heaven (1958)
* The Unforgiven (1960)
* The Misfits (1961)
* Freud: The Secret Passion (1962)
* The List of Adrian Messenger (1963)
* The Night of the Iguana (1964)
* The Bible: In the Beginning... (1966)
* Casino Royale (1967)
* Reflections in a Golden Eye (1967)
* Sinful Davey (1969)
* A Walk with Love and Death (1969)
* The Kremlin Letter (1970)
* Fat City (1972)
* The Life and Times of Judge Roy Bean (1972)
* The Mackintosh Man (1973)
* The Man Who Would Be King (1975)
* Wise Blood (1979)
* Phobia (1980)
* Victory (1981)
* Annie (1982)
* Under the Volcano (1984)
* Prizzi's Honor (1985)
* The Dead (1987)

Short films|

* Winning Your Wings (1942)
* Report from the Aleutians (1943)
* The Battle of San Pietro (1945)
* Let There Be Light (1946)
* Independence (1976)

Related|

* Five Came Back (2017 documentary)

* v
* t
* e

James Joyce

Works|

| Novels|

* A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man (1916)
* Ulysses (1922)
* Finnegans Wake (1939)

|

Short stories|

* Dubliners (1914, written 1904–07)
* "The Sisters"
* "Eveline"
* "After the Race"
* "An Encounter"
* "Araby"
* "The Boarding House"
* "Counterparts"
* "Clay"
* "A Painful Case"
* "Ivy Day in the Committee Room"
* "A Mother"
* "Two Gallants"
* "A Little Cloud"
* "Grace"
* "The Dead"

Play|

* Exiles (1918)

Poetry|

* Chamber Music (1907)
* Pomes Penyeach (1927)

Posthumous
publications|

* Stephen Hero (1944)
* Giacomo Joyce (1968)
* The Cats of Copenhagen (2012)
* Finn's Hotel (2013)

Adaptations|

* Ulysses in Nighttown (1958 play)
* Ulysses (1967 film)
* A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man (1977 film)
* Ulysses (1982 broadcast)
* The Dead (1987 film)
* James Joyce's The Dead (1999 musical)
* Bloom (2003 film)
* Waywords and Meansigns (2015–2017 audio)

Related|

* Harriet Shaw Weaver
* Obscenity trial of Ulysses in The Little Review
* United States v. One Book Called Ulysses
* Bellsybabble
* Bloomsday
* James Joyce Award
* James Joyce Centre
* James Joyce Tower and Museum
* Museum of Literature Ireland
* Quark
* Volta Cinematograph
* Zürich James Joyce Foundation

Scholars of|

* Anthony Burgess
* Frank Delaney
* Richard Ellmann
* Alan Warren Friedman
* Francisco García Tortosa
* Stuart Gilbert
* Adaline Glasheen
* Michael Groden
* Hugh Kenner
* Ira Nadel
* David Norris
* William H. Quillian
* C. George Sandulescu
* Fritz Senn
* John Simpson
* Ronald Symond
* William York Tindall
* José María Valverde
* Ernst von Glasersfeld

Academic
works about|

* Hamlet and the New Poetic: James Joyce and T. S. Eliot
* James Joyce (biography)
* James Joyce Quarterly
* Joysprick
* Our Exagmination Round His Factification for Incamination of Work in Progress
* A Skeleton Key to Finnegans Wake

Family|

* Nora Barnacle (wife)
* Lucia Joyce (daughter)
* John Stanislaus Joyce (father)
* Stanislaus Joyce (brother)
* Stephen James Joyce (grandson)
* Mary Gertrude Joyce (sister)

* v
* t
* e

James Joyce's "The Dead" (1914)

Films|

* The Dead (1987)
* Basu Poribar (2019)

Other|

* James Joyce's The Dead (1999 musical)

Related|

* "Grant Unto Him Eternal Rest"

* v
* t
* e

National Society of Film Critics Award for Best Film

1966–2000|

* Blowup (1966)
* Persona (1967)
* Shame (1968)
* Z (1969)
* M*A*S*H (1970)
* Claire's Knee (1971)
* The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie (1972)
* Day for Night (1973)
* Scenes from a Marriage (1974)
* Nashville (1975)
* All the President's Men (1976)
* Annie Hall (1977)
* Get Out Your Handkerchiefs (1978)
* Breaking Away (1979)
* Melvin and Howard (1980)
* Atlantic City (1981)
* Tootsie (1982)
* The Night of the Shooting Stars (1983)
* Stranger Than Paradise (1984)
* Ran (1985)
* Blue Velvet (1986)
* The Dead (1987)
* The Unbearable Lightness of Being (1988)
* Drugstore Cowboy (1989)
* Goodfellas (1990)
* Life Is Sweet (1991)
* Unforgiven (1992)
* Schindler's List (1993)
* Pulp Fiction (1994)
* Babe (1995)
* Breaking the Waves (1996)
* L.A. Confidential (1997)
* Out of Sight (1998)
* Being John Malkovich / Topsy-Turvy (1999)
* Yi Yi (2000)

2001–present|

* Mulholland Drive (2001)
* The Pianist (2002)
* American Splendor (2003)
* Million Dollar Baby (2004)
* Capote (2005)
* Pan's Labyrinth (2006)
* There Will Be Blood (2007)
* Waltz with Bashir (2008)
* The Hurt Locker (2009)
* The Social Network (2010)
* Melancholia (2011)
* Amour (2012)
* Inside Llewyn Davis (2013)
* Goodbye to Language (2014)
* Spotlight (2015)
* Moonlight (2016)
* Lady Bird (2017)
* The Rider (2018)
* Parasite (2019)
* Nomadland (2020)
* Drive My Car (2021)
* Tár (2022)
* Past Lives (2023)
* Nickel Boys (2024)

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