The Dead

1987
PG
1h 23m

IMDb RATING

7.2/10

9.1K

YOUR RATING

Anjelica Huston and Donal McCann in The Dead (1987)

Gabriel Conroy and wife Greta 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.

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Period Drama Drama

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.

See production info at IMDbPro

IMDb RATING

7.2/10

9.1K

YOUR RATING

See production info at IMDbPro

Nominated for 2 Oscars
- 10 wins & 18 nominations total

Videos1

Trailer 2:05

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Storyline

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Trivia
The final shot is not of Ireland, but of snow falling in Joshua Tree National Park, California.

Goofs
Molly 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 versions
Ten minutes of the film have been omitted from the 2009 DVD release.

Connections
Featured in John Huston and the Dubliners (1987)

Soundtracks
The Lass of Aughrim
Traditional Irish ballad
Sung by Frank Patterson

User reviews73

Review

Featured review

8/10

Fitting Farewell

In this adaptation of a story from Joyce's "Dublines," family and friends gather for a feast in Dublin in 1904. The plot is very thin. The focus is on the characters and their social interactions. The characters are so interesting and their conversations are so stimulating that one feels enriched having spent some time in their company. The acting is uniformly excellent by the entire cast. The sets and costumes beautifully evoke a bygone era, tinged with a sense of nostalgia and melancholy. The cinematography is exquisite. This is a fitting farewell for John Huston, working here with daughter Anjelica and son Tony, who wrote the screenplay.