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)
I must have seen it at least 20 times and never tire of it. The mood, the script, the singing, the dinner, it is like being invited into someone's home and observing the events and not able to participate even though you want to... It is a rare treasure, this movie and I cannot write enough praise for it.
It is cast incredibly well, with quite a few Abbey Theatre faces and also the wonderful tenor voice of Frank Patterson. Lady Gregory's poem recited in the movie is one of the most moving ever written. Anjelica's scene walking down the stairs as she listens to the song is one of the best performances every seen on film. I cry every time I see it..for all the right reasons.
We have all had love lost at an early age and weep for our young hopeful selves.
Donal McCann acted in far too few movies for my liking, he just loved stage work and stuck to it, and it is our loss that we do not have more of his performances on film as he does so much with this delicate role by expression and the portrayal of a deep love for his wife that will never be reciprocated and he conveys such inner sadness at knowing this.
If you want your movies action and plot packed avoid this, there really is no beginning, middle or end just a lens onto the characters at a dinner party in Dublin 80 years ago and all the little nuances and shadings of the personalities portrayed so beautifully.
Bravo to all who were involved in this production. 10 out of 10.
- wisewebwoman
- Feb 19, 2001
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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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