The Dead (1987/Lionsgate DVD)
Picture: C+
Sound: C+ Extras: C- Film: C+
Despite the acclaim and the distinct look and feel the
final film of the great john Huston had, I was not the biggest fan of The Dead (1987), his award-winning film
based on the work of James Joyce. It is
a good film with a good story and good cast, yet I always found the film uneven
and not eventually hitting the mark. We
do get great performances from Angelica Huston, Donal McCann, Dan O’Herlihy
(the year he made Robocop), Helena
Carroll, Cathleen Delany, Rachael Dowling, Sean McClory and Frank Patterson
among others.
It is also yet another authentic, interesting Irish
discourse cinematically and in that is alone an achievement, but there may be
come part so fit that collide. It wants
to be writerly and readerly. It wants to
be a period piece but also a comment on the period. It wants to remember the forgotten, but
leaves itself open to being alive when Huston intends to live up to the theme
of the title. At least it is a film
people still talk about and for Huston, he proved to be a formidable artist to
the end.
The anamorphically enhanced 1.78 X 1 image is a little
soft, partly from styling by Huston and Director of Photography Fred Murphy
(currently working on the series Fringe)
is very authentic and has a believable density, but this is still from an older
transfer. The Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo
was a Dolby A-type analog theatrical release and is not bad here, but
surro8unds are weak and this is a quiet film.
Trailers for other Lionsgate releases are the only extras.
- Nicholas Sheffo
