DVD Pick: The Dead

James Joyce (1882-1941) was a towering figure in the development of English-language literature. One of his early achievements was Dubliners (1914), a collection of short stories that naturalistically depicted middle-class life in Ireland's biggest city. The book ends with "The Dead," one of the greatest short stories ever written in English and often taught in literature courses. The story's narrative is easy enough to follow, but Joyce doesn't tell the reader what to think and interpretation is problematic.

John Huston (1906-1987) was an American film director, screenwriter and actor. He portrayed the corrupt tycoon in Chinatown (1974), but he will probably be best-remembered as the director of several famous movies, including The Maltese Falcon (1941), The Treasure of the Sierra Madre (1948) and The African Queen (1951).

Huston lived in Ireland for years, and at age 80, although very ill, he took on the task of directing a screen version of Joyce's celebrated short story. The film The Dead was something of a family endeavor: the director's daughter Anjelica Huston played the female lead, and his son Tony Huston wrote the screenplay. The movie was released in 1987, shortly after John Huston's death.

If you sometimes like to read literary fiction or you are at all interested in Irish culture, this is a film you shouldn't miss. It is largely faithful to and generally captures the flavor of its source material. The combination of reading Joyce's words and seeing the movie offers a rich experience.

The Dead takes place in Dublin on a snowy night in 1904 and recounts a few hours in the life of a middle-aged man named Gabriel Conroy (Donal McCann). The first three-quarters of the film is set at a party attended by about 20 people, all of whom seem to be comfortably middle class. There's dancing, music, alcohol and a heavy sit-down meal. Everyone is dressed up and on their best behavior, but the conversations are quite revealing.

The story's turning point comes as Gabriel and his wife Gretta (Anjelica Huston) are leaving the party and hear a tenor sing a sad old ballad. Gretta grows melancholy, and they go to their hotel room, where she tells her husband about how in her youth she had a boyfriend who died at age 17. The movie ends with Gabriel's contemplation of the occurrences that have transpired over the past few hours, and he experiences sudden, intuitive insights that help him better understand himself and his life. In the terminology popularized by Joyce, Gabriel has an epiphany.

Although the filmmakers added one new character who recites a strange medieval poem, the movie adheres remarkably closely to Joyce's story. Joyce was a subtle writer, and the film makes things slightly more obvious, but remains an uncommonly nuanced movie. The acting is superb, and the restrained, disciplined visual style suits the material. John Huston made a nearly perfect companion piece to James Joyce's literary masterpiece.

The DVD containing The Dead provides no bonus materials. Below I have listed all the DVD details.

Release Date: November 3, 2009
Feature Film Runtime: 1 hour 23 minutes
MPAA Rating: PG
Aspect Ratio 1.78:1, Color
English 2.0 Dolby Digital
English Subtitles
Spanish Subtitles