The Dead (B+ or 3/4 stars)
'The Dead' (adapted from James Joyce's lyrical 'Dubliners' & directed by the great John Huston) is one of those small, leisurely, seemingly insignificant movies that wallops you in the final 10 minutes with an understated power - making you look at the whole of the film in a different light. There really are only 2 scenes in the whole movie (80 minutes in length). And the 1st scene, which lasts an hour or so, shows us the annual post-New Year's holiday soiree given by 2 elderly Dublin sisters, Kate & Julia Morkan, and their unmarried niece, Mary Jane.
Among the guests: a genial drunk named Freddy Malins & his concerned elderly mother, some single young women who are Mary Jane's music pupils, Mr. Brown (a gently skeptical Protestant), and a kind man who is supposed to be the best tenor in Dublin. John Huston's camera weaves in & out during the party. We see Aunt Kate worrying about the condition in which drunkard Freddie might show up. But his camera pays most attention upon arrival of the Conroys: Gabriel (Donal McCann), who worries about his after-dinner speech, and his pleasant, self-assured wife, Gretta (Anjelica Huston).
Throughout the night, there are trivial conversations, fleeting observances, waltzes. Aunt Julia sings in a frail, if sweet voice that was more effective in her heyday. Freddy is overcome with poignant feeling & tells Aunt Julia that she's never sounded better. At dinner's end, in remarks preceding his toast to the 3 hostesses, Gabriel speaks of Irish hospitality, of traditions in danger of being lost, and most importantly, of the memories of friends & family members who have passed on.
Little by little, 'The Dead' hones in on Gabriel & Gretta as the 2nd (and last) scene approaches. Specific details throughout the night have accumulated, so that the last scene becomes a justification of all that came before. And it's during the 2nd scene, when he & Gretta are alone in their chilly hotel room, that Gabriel understands how inexorable, insistent, & haunting the past can be. Gretta recalls a long lost love of hers who died when he was 17. She collapses on the bed in tears, & falls asleep quickly. After having had a pleasant evening with mainly elderly people, Gabriel thinks about the impermanence of life & love.
He realizes that his love for Gretta (and vice-versa) will never be as strong as her love for that 17 yr. old boy over 20 yrs. ago. He feels as if his existence (and existence, in general) is actually quite paltry. And he thinks (with real melancholy) about those who are dead. Their bodies may not be here. But from their eternal graveyards homes ... they refuse to let us forget them. Gabriel's final quote is as follows (while staring out the window at the cold, blue snow on the field): "One by one, we're all becoming shades. Better pass boldly into that other world, in the full glory of some passion, than fade & wither dismally with age".
I was deeply affected by this ending. Those last minutes, the mood that fills the air, Gabriel's narration, the insinuations, the gorgeous nighttime images of snow falling on everything dead & alive ... I was taken with it all. See, when you watch an hour of a film that's filled with seemingly trivial happenstance, you think that the film isn't going anywhere. How wrong I was. Instead, John Huston was subtly developing a rich philosophical narrative that finally relieves itself in those final minutes. It's existential, yet lovely. Also lovely is Anjelica Huston's performance. As Gretta, Anjelica gives us a real sense of self-contained sorrow; as evidenced toward the end of the party in a long, unbroken shot of her standing on the stairs; listening to the tenor sing a particular song (which reminds her of the boy she loved 20 yrs. ago).
Anjelica's father, John Huston, directed this film from a wheelchair with a breathing tube down his throat. This was his last film. And he died at age 81 before it was even released in late 1987. You sense a calmness about the way he is obviously contemplating his own approaching death. And I'm sure it's why he chose to direct this particular film; a film about the intimations of mortality. Young, old, healthy, sick, sad, happy. For us, life is fleeting in any case. We all matter to those who know & love us. But will we matter, at all, to anyone in the future?
Among the guests: a genial drunk named Freddy Malins & his concerned elderly mother, some single young women who are Mary Jane's music pupils, Mr. Brown (a gently skeptical Protestant), and a kind man who is supposed to be the best tenor in Dublin. John Huston's camera weaves in & out during the party. We see Aunt Kate worrying about the condition in which drunkard Freddie might show up. But his camera pays most attention upon arrival of the Conroys: Gabriel (Donal McCann), who worries about his after-dinner speech, and his pleasant, self-assured wife, Gretta (Anjelica Huston).
Throughout the night, there are trivial conversations, fleeting observances, waltzes. Aunt Julia sings in a frail, if sweet voice that was more effective in her heyday. Freddy is overcome with poignant feeling & tells Aunt Julia that she's never sounded better. At dinner's end, in remarks preceding his toast to the 3 hostesses, Gabriel speaks of Irish hospitality, of traditions in danger of being lost, and most importantly, of the memories of friends & family members who have passed on.
Little by little, 'The Dead' hones in on Gabriel & Gretta as the 2nd (and last) scene approaches. Specific details throughout the night have accumulated, so that the last scene becomes a justification of all that came before. And it's during the 2nd scene, when he & Gretta are alone in their chilly hotel room, that Gabriel understands how inexorable, insistent, & haunting the past can be. Gretta recalls a long lost love of hers who died when he was 17. She collapses on the bed in tears, & falls asleep quickly. After having had a pleasant evening with mainly elderly people, Gabriel thinks about the impermanence of life & love.
He realizes that his love for Gretta (and vice-versa) will never be as strong as her love for that 17 yr. old boy over 20 yrs. ago. He feels as if his existence (and existence, in general) is actually quite paltry. And he thinks (with real melancholy) about those who are dead. Their bodies may not be here. But from their eternal graveyards homes ... they refuse to let us forget them. Gabriel's final quote is as follows (while staring out the window at the cold, blue snow on the field): "One by one, we're all becoming shades. Better pass boldly into that other world, in the full glory of some passion, than fade & wither dismally with age".
I was deeply affected by this ending. Those last minutes, the mood that fills the air, Gabriel's narration, the insinuations, the gorgeous nighttime images of snow falling on everything dead & alive ... I was taken with it all. See, when you watch an hour of a film that's filled with seemingly trivial happenstance, you think that the film isn't going anywhere. How wrong I was. Instead, John Huston was subtly developing a rich philosophical narrative that finally relieves itself in those final minutes. It's existential, yet lovely. Also lovely is Anjelica Huston's performance. As Gretta, Anjelica gives us a real sense of self-contained sorrow; as evidenced toward the end of the party in a long, unbroken shot of her standing on the stairs; listening to the tenor sing a particular song (which reminds her of the boy she loved 20 yrs. ago).
Anjelica's father, John Huston, directed this film from a wheelchair with a breathing tube down his throat. This was his last film. And he died at age 81 before it was even released in late 1987. You sense a calmness about the way he is obviously contemplating his own approaching death. And I'm sure it's why he chose to direct this particular film; a film about the intimations of mortality. Young, old, healthy, sick, sad, happy. For us, life is fleeting in any case. We all matter to those who know & love us. But will we matter, at all, to anyone in the future?