Legendary, maverick filmmaker John Huston was always one of cinema’s greatest storytellers. He never stuck to one genre; he had something to depict with all types of films, whether it was action/adventure (The Treasure of the Sierra Madre & The Man Who Would Be King), film noir (The Maltese Falcon and The Asphalt Jungle), comedy (Prizzi’s Honor and Beat the Devil), horror (Phobia), and many others. With his beautiful, wistful Oscar-nominated swan song, The Dead (1987), he expertly tackled the period piece.
Buy The Dead (Criterion Collection)Faithfully adapted from the classic James Joyce short story, the great Angelica Huston (John’s real-life daughter) and Donal McCann star as Gretta and Gabriel Conroy, a couple whose marriage has a devastating epiphany after a festive family dinner full of wine, food, music, and dancing in Dublin, Ireland during the turn of the 20th century. After the dinner, Gretta reveals a long-lost love to Gabriel that changes their lives forever.
It’s not just the tragic revelation at the end of the film that broke me, it was also the way that Huston captures the sadness and melancholy throughout the film. Everyone, including Aunts Kate (Helena Carroll) and Julia (Cathleen Delaney), the women who give the dinner, reflect on lost youth and love, and try to enjoy the time they have now before the war eventually comes. They sing, enjoy each other’s company, and recite poems as a way to be human. With this film, Huston lovingly evokes the passage of time, captures longing with a subtle sense of humor, and gets excellent performances from the entire cast. I was definitely engaged and very impressed as I was watching the film. It was by John Huston after all.
As usual, Criterion has put out of a solid release, one with a stellar new 4K restoration (approved by the film’s gifted cinematographer Fred Murphy) and provided a few great supplements, such as a new interview with author Colum McCann on the James Joyce story and Huston’s interpretation of it; a new 2k restoration of John Huston and the Dubliners, a 1987 behind-the-scenes documentary by Lilyan Sievernich; and audio excerpts from Angelica’s 2014 memoir, Watch Me. And there’s a booklet with a wonderful new essay by critic Michael Koresky and a 1987 piece by screenwriter Tony Huston (John’s son) about the making of the film.
Despite its rather brief running time of 83 minutes, this is still an intimately haunting and portrait of memory and humanity, and a final testament to Huston’s beloved gifts as a true cinematic master.
