Gabriel Conroy and wife Gretta attend an early January dinner with friends at the home of his spinster aunts, an evening which results in an epiphany for both of them.Gabriel Conroy and wife Gretta attend an early January dinner with friends at the home of his spinster aunts, an evening which results in an epiphany for both of them.Gabriel Conroy and wife Gretta attend an early January dinner with friends at the home of his spinster aunts, an evening which results in an epiphany for both of them.
- Nominated for 2 Oscars
- 10 wins & 18 nominations total
- Miss Furlong
- (as Katherine O'Toole)
- Mr. Grace
- (as Seán McClory)
- Director
- Writers
- All cast & crew
- Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaThe final shot is not of Ireland, but of snow falling in Joshua Tree National Park, California.
- GoofsMolly says she is off to a union meeting in Liberty Hall to hear James Connolly speak. The movie is set on January 6, 1904. However, James Connolly had emigrated to the USA in 1903, where he arrived on September 18, 1903. He did not return to Ireland before 1910. He arrived in Derry on July 26, 1910.
- Quotes
[last lines]
Gabriel Conroy: [voice over] One by one, we're all becoming shades. Better to pass boldly into that other world, in the full glory of some passion, than fade and wither dismally with age. How long you locked away in your heart the image of your lover's eyes when he told you that he did not wish to live. I've never felt that way myself towards any woman, but I know that such a feeling must be love. Think of all those who ever were, back to the start of time. And me, transient as they, flickering out as well into their grey world. Like everything around me, this solid world itself which they reared and lived in, is dwindling and dissolving. Snow is falling. Falling in that lonely churchyard where Michael Furey lies buried. Falling faintly through the universe and faintly falling, like the descent of their last end, upon all the living, and the dead.
- Alternate versionsTen minutes of the film have been omitted from the 2009 DVD release.
- ConnectionsFeatured in Siskel & Ebert: The Duxorcist/Walker/Manon of the Spring/The Dead (1987)
To bring such a short story to the cinema was always going to be tricky. John Huston did a magnificent job. He never gave in to temptation to play it up or use fancy technique to expand on the story. It is simple and true, with outstanding acting. The only slight miss-step is the use of music to accompany the devastating final soliloquy.
Its rare indeed for a movie version of a literary masterpiece to be itself a masterpiece, but I think its fair to use this term for this movie. Its not a bravura piece of film making, but it is simple and pure - I always think of Ozu's movies when i think of The Dead, its at that level of purity and simplicity and deep wisdom.
- GyatsoLa
- Apr 7, 2007
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Details
- Release date
- Countries of origin
- Languages
- Also known as
- John Huston's The Dead
- Filming locations
- Production companies
- See more company credits at IMDbPro
Box office
- Gross US & Canada
- $4,370,078
- Opening weekend US & Canada
- $69,074
- Dec 20, 1987
- Gross worldwide
- $4,370,078
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