Beautiful, and the wonderful voice of Donal McCann, he used to drink in John Kavanaghs, The Gravediggers in Dublin, died so young, thank you for putting this up, sad but beautiful
My favorite Joyce story and Huston does a nice job interpreting it on film. "Generous tears filled Gabriel's eyes." I'll never forget that line from the actual story because someone wrote a whole journal article about it.
So incredibly breathtaking! Especially if you know James Joyce and the Irish "way" - the internal dialogue is something we all engage in, something we all share. Beautiful!
That's the great Donal McCann - another great Dublin actor whom I had the privilege of seeing at the Gate Theatre in Dublin shortly before he died. These last words from John Huston's final movie never fail to stop me in my tracks.
That rare thing, a masterpiece of film translated from a masterpiece of prose. This final film of John Huston is a version of the final story in James Joyce's 'Dubliners'.
See it and weep, and even smile in places, but see it. But first of all, pick up the book. A masterpiece; an overworked word often misapplied, but I think it is validated here, in two mediums.
Joyce, specky Dooblin pervert he may have been, took the themes for 'The Dead' (a novella tacked onto the end of 'Dubliners' at the request of his publishers. (Shakespeare and Co.?)) from Ibsen. One line being "The day we dead awaken". Sugar lump for anyone who gets the play.
I must say the ending is the best part of the movie, as Ireland has a strong character in terms of dealing with death, from the years of the great famine and the years of oppressive rule under British colonial law, something to be found oddly creepy and fascinating at the same time.
@songsfromthehills as good a job as Huston did adapting the story, unless you read the words.. word after word.. you'll never feel the intensity of how Gabriel and Gretta, and the ghost of young Furey arrived in that place, at that moment. if you have, i apologize.. but if you haven't, you really should
LE meilleur film de tous les temps et de loin. Merci pour ce trop bref passage. C'est une merveille, c'est d'une puissance d'évocation presque surhumaine. C'est ce qui c'est fait de mieux de toute éternité.
The reading by Danny Huston and Kate Mulgrew, in "The Dead and Other Stories from Dubliners" (still only available on cassette), is far more interesting, nuanced and touching... this movie was too Hollywooded up and this scene is just flat, IMO. A great opportunity wasted.
@TamaraMaraLand I have to disagree with you. This film adaptation is by far the best one ever made out of 'The Dead'. You are able to hear Joyce talking through the voice of John Huston just there. As a matter of fact, there's nothing Hollywoodian about this film.
As what regards your man's reading that you mentioned, fair enough if you feel that way. My point is simply that this is the best FILM adaptation, which it is. I actually wouldn't mind listening to this, though, if its available.
@FaithlessDwarf So far as I know it's only on cassette, still. Maybe I'm just spoiled by first reading it, then hearing it, and seeing it in my imagination before seeing it in John Huston's, but I disliked just boringly holding on Gabriel at the end, for example - it could have moved around the darkened room, faint snow-light on the walls and the bedclothes, or given us more meaningful views of the things outside in the snow.... JMO. I do hope you hear the tape one day, & that you like it :)
@TamaraMaraLand I totally understand what you mean. But you see, isn't that the very point, a sense of stasis? That's is what Joyce is mostly trying to portray there, IMO. Gabriel, at the end, finds himself having to face the harsh reality of Irish paralysi;, and that itself feeds into the idea of lack motion of the camera.
@FaithlessDwarf i'm an american - and i grew up with enough irish-americans to know that you'd like to think you've cornered the market on "emotionally stunted behaviors" :D but all kidding aside, this story transcends nationalism - it speaks to any man who's ever hoped he was more than he was, and suddenly understands he's wasted his life chasing ghosts
John Huston was dying when he made his valedictorian masterpiece, The Dead. He knew, as did his daughter, Angelica. It is exactly what Joyce intended, but not exactly what he wrote. That is the difference between a film and novella. But the story - the thing that needs to be said - is the same. What Joyce accomplished with the fullness of the English language, Huston does with the classic economy of the best motion pictures. It honors us that they left both of these works of Art.
"Yes, the newspapers were right: snow was general all over Ireland. It was falling on every part of the dark central plain, on the treeless hills, falling softly upon the Bog of Allen and, farther westward, softly falling into the dark mutinous Shannon waves. It was falling, too, upon every part of the lonely churchyard on the hill where Michael Furey lay buried." The Dead by James Joyce
The question is will Gabriel change for good after his epiphany, or is it just a moment of reflection only to reconstitute into something set and selfish?
@septip123 That IS the question, isn't it? Joyce deliberately left this question open - or rather simply posed it without being concerned with any answers himself. To me, that is the great finesse of his craftsmanship as a writer.
As a Dubliner i live so close to the Morkens house that i have been able to go inside and explore it, i also near to the Joyce center, i have watched this movie many many times and read the book over and over again i can honestly say that John Huston has captured the story extremely well, if not perfectly. This film is a masterpiece and a swan song to a country he lived in and loved, without the love he had put into it, it would never have been made for us to enjoy. Bliss.
christ tell me there is not this debasement. Don't mean to be a a dick, but the rest of ye can go and fuck yerselfs, if you you love life and love the things that true beauty make then listen.
I'm amazed at how many arrogant pseudo-intellectuals and faux-artsy jerks come on here and degrade others. They say, "You just don't get the glory of Joyce because you're an insensitive oaf who thinks Lady GaGa constitutes 'Art'. Not like me, I get it, I'm in the know, my mind is vast and my heart is large and I have the wisdom and sensibilities to grasp Joyce's art." Get over yourselves, people. You're being bores.
@Nyarl3 haven't seen that in the small bit of comments i've read, but yours is almost a year old, and maybe that's what was being laid down.. all i know is that the husband in the story is a self-inflated douche, and when i first read this story i saw enough of myself in him, i was ashamed. that was many, many years ago, and i'd like to think it made me a better man.. so pay no mind to anyone who brags about 'getting it' - there's no glory in 'getting it'..
in the outtakes, there is a different ending. after his speech about the 'living and the dead', he pulls out an AK-47 and goes on a rampage in the hotel. very symbolic..and very moving.
@JAMESMCCULLA Snow was falling softly falling so fuck that moaning cow she' s getting one in the napper, he said producing a (prototype) Kalashnikov. Didn't make the final cut for some reason
Im not saying its bad, just not my stuff. Just saying they could use a few explosions in here and it'd win an award somewhere. I'm kidding about the last sentence, and sorry for the lame comment I left a few months ago.
@Clydegraves You really don't get it. It is precisely that it hasn't got any explosions why it IS a masterpiece. Hollywood cares only for the likes of the Titanic and other shite in our present times. May James Joyce live forever in our memories.
@FaithlessDwarf Titanic was one of the worst, safest movies ever made. Cameron blew it totally with that sinking piece of crap. He could have made a Valentine to the brave immigrants who came to America, but instead he produced a 2nd rate love story.
This comment has received too many negative votesshow
Im sorry but how can anyone actually sit through this, I mean this is the most boring thing Ive ever seen in my life. I'd actually rather go spill a drink and clean it up, because to me that would be so much more interesting and lively.
@Clydegraves Do you know what you have just said says far more about you than it does this movie masterpiece. I take it a thought provoking Sly Stallone movie might suit you better. Try exercising your mind...you'll be surprised at what delights it may bring.
@Clydegraves If you want to have your holywoodians happy, self-digested endings you might as well watch American Pie. Like others said, tried to read between the lines, and think a little bit. You clearly had NO idea what was going on during the whole thing. James Joyce wasn't regarded as a genius for no reason.
This movie is a masterpiece.
It's as if John Houston speaks to us from beyond the grave.
NatSci 2 weeks ago
Beautiful, and the wonderful voice of Donal McCann, he used to drink in John Kavanaghs, The Gravediggers in Dublin, died so young, thank you for putting this up, sad but beautiful
Alfreda1970 3 weeks ago
My favorite Joyce story and Huston does a nice job interpreting it on film. "Generous tears filled Gabriel's eyes." I'll never forget that line from the actual story because someone wrote a whole journal article about it.
Jan96106 1 month ago
d'une beauté insurpassable
gammaGTgammajereste 2 months ago
So incredibly breathtaking! Especially if you know James Joyce and the Irish "way" - the internal dialogue is something we all engage in, something we all share. Beautiful!
danasmuse 2 months ago
That's the great Donal McCann - another great Dublin actor whom I had the privilege of seeing at the Gate Theatre in Dublin shortly before he died. These last words from John Huston's final movie never fail to stop me in my tracks.
Seanklang 2 months ago
Is that Gabriel Burnes voice?
Ringadoon 2 months ago
So, so lovely!!!
hollymarg 3 months ago
The wonderful Donal McCann...I LOVE this soliloquay. A really great adaptation of the short story.
mollyharg 3 months ago
That rare thing, a masterpiece of film translated from a masterpiece of prose. This final film of John Huston is a version of the final story in James Joyce's 'Dubliners'.
See it and weep, and even smile in places, but see it. But first of all, pick up the book. A masterpiece; an overworked word often misapplied, but I think it is validated here, in two mediums.
atheist1941 3 months ago
Beautiful.
glamourdaze 3 months ago
Joyce, specky Dooblin pervert he may have been, took the themes for 'The Dead' (a novella tacked onto the end of 'Dubliners' at the request of his publishers. (Shakespeare and Co.?)) from Ibsen. One line being "The day we dead awaken". Sugar lump for anyone who gets the play.
tinmccool 4 months ago
I must say the ending is the best part of the movie, as Ireland has a strong character in terms of dealing with death, from the years of the great famine and the years of oppressive rule under British colonial law, something to be found oddly creepy and fascinating at the same time.
CJCody2006 5 months ago
I would love to get the dvd of The Dead. Does anyone know where it is available for Australian viewing.
songsfromthehills 6 months ago
@songsfromthehills not available for Aussies, mate
tinmccool 4 months ago
@songsfromthehills as good a job as Huston did adapting the story, unless you read the words.. word after word.. you'll never feel the intensity of how Gabriel and Gretta, and the ghost of young Furey arrived in that place, at that moment. if you have, i apologize.. but if you haven't, you really should
kiddshellac 3 months ago
Hustons final work this is one of those rare gems it make's you think and feel so much.
HAPPYTHELEAF 7 months ago
Haunting. Sublime.
arkdog 7 months ago 2
LE meilleur film de tous les temps et de loin. Merci pour ce trop bref passage. C'est une merveille, c'est d'une puissance d'évocation presque surhumaine. C'est ce qui c'est fait de mieux de toute éternité.
Ygggdrasill 8 months ago 5
elegeiac. perfection.
earthsoulrocknroll 9 months ago
This is wonderful and revelatory.
barneswriter 11 months ago
The reading by Danny Huston and Kate Mulgrew, in "The Dead and Other Stories from Dubliners" (still only available on cassette), is far more interesting, nuanced and touching... this movie was too Hollywooded up and this scene is just flat, IMO. A great opportunity wasted.
TamaraMaraLand 1 year ago
@TamaraMaraLand I have to disagree with you. This film adaptation is by far the best one ever made out of 'The Dead'. You are able to hear Joyce talking through the voice of John Huston just there. As a matter of fact, there's nothing Hollywoodian about this film.
As what regards your man's reading that you mentioned, fair enough if you feel that way. My point is simply that this is the best FILM adaptation, which it is. I actually wouldn't mind listening to this, though, if its available.
FaithlessDwarf 11 months ago
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TamaraMaraLand 11 months ago
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TamaraMaraLand 11 months ago
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TamaraMaraLand 11 months ago
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@FaithlessDwarf So far as I know it's only on cassette, still. Maybe I'm just spoiled by first reading it, then hearing it, and seeing it in my imagination before seeing it in John Huston's, but I disliked just boringly holding on Gabriel at the end, for example - it could have moved around the darkened room, faint snow-light on the walls and the bedclothes, or given us more meaningful views of the things outside in the snow.... JMO. I do hope you hear the tape one day, & that you like it :)
TamaraMaraLand 11 months ago
@TamaraMaraLand I totally understand what you mean. But you see, isn't that the very point, a sense of stasis? That's is what Joyce is mostly trying to portray there, IMO. Gabriel, at the end, finds himself having to face the harsh reality of Irish paralysi;, and that itself feeds into the idea of lack motion of the camera.
FaithlessDwarf 11 months ago
@FaithlessDwarf haha, good save :) Maybe.
TamaraMaraLand 11 months ago
@FaithlessDwarf i'm an american - and i grew up with enough irish-americans to know that you'd like to think you've cornered the market on "emotionally stunted behaviors" :D but all kidding aside, this story transcends nationalism - it speaks to any man who's ever hoped he was more than he was, and suddenly understands he's wasted his life chasing ghosts
kiddshellac 3 months ago 2
John Huston was dying when he made his valedictorian masterpiece, The Dead. He knew, as did his daughter, Angelica. It is exactly what Joyce intended, but not exactly what he wrote. That is the difference between a film and novella. But the story - the thing that needs to be said - is the same. What Joyce accomplished with the fullness of the English language, Huston does with the classic economy of the best motion pictures. It honors us that they left both of these works of Art.
dvmp1 1 year ago 2
"Yes, the newspapers were right: snow was general all over Ireland. It was falling on every part of the dark central plain, on the treeless hills, falling softly upon the Bog of Allen and, farther westward, softly falling into the dark mutinous Shannon waves. It was falling, too, upon every part of the lonely churchyard on the hill where Michael Furey lay buried." The Dead by James Joyce
WinterofAshes 1 year ago
Cheer up mate
PsySwitch1983 1 year ago
oui, je suis bien d'accord
marflem12 1 year ago
une des plus belles scènes de l'hisoire du cinéma
gammaGTgammajereste 1 year ago 2
the best scene ever in a movie.
teamrookie 1 year ago
The question is will Gabriel change for good after his epiphany, or is it just a moment of reflection only to reconstitute into something set and selfish?
septip123 1 year ago
@septip123 That IS the question, isn't it? Joyce deliberately left this question open - or rather simply posed it without being concerned with any answers himself. To me, that is the great finesse of his craftsmanship as a writer.
FaithlessDwarf 1 year ago
As a Dubliner i live so close to the Morkens house that i have been able to go inside and explore it, i also near to the Joyce center, i have watched this movie many many times and read the book over and over again i can honestly say that John Huston has captured the story extremely well, if not perfectly. This film is a masterpiece and a swan song to a country he lived in and loved, without the love he had put into it, it would never have been made for us to enjoy. Bliss.
jobyred 1 year ago
christ tell me there is not this debasement. Don't mean to be a a dick, but the rest of ye can go and fuck yerselfs, if you you love life and love the things that true beauty make then listen.
tinmccool 1 year ago
this movie is nowhere near as good as the live musical i saw of it
PickledBananana 1 year ago
Huston knew he was dying when he made this, what a swan song.
tinmccool 1 year ago
I'm amazed at how many arrogant pseudo-intellectuals and faux-artsy jerks come on here and degrade others. They say, "You just don't get the glory of Joyce because you're an insensitive oaf who thinks Lady GaGa constitutes 'Art'. Not like me, I get it, I'm in the know, my mind is vast and my heart is large and I have the wisdom and sensibilities to grasp Joyce's art." Get over yourselves, people. You're being bores.
Nyarl3 1 year ago
@Nyarl3 haven't seen that in the small bit of comments i've read, but yours is almost a year old, and maybe that's what was being laid down.. all i know is that the husband in the story is a self-inflated douche, and when i first read this story i saw enough of myself in him, i was ashamed. that was many, many years ago, and i'd like to think it made me a better man.. so pay no mind to anyone who brags about 'getting it' - there's no glory in 'getting it'..
kiddshellac 3 months ago
in the outtakes, there is a different ending. after his speech about the 'living and the dead', he pulls out an AK-47 and goes on a rampage in the hotel. very symbolic..and very moving.
JAMESMCCULLA 1 year ago
@JAMESMCCULLA Snow was falling softly falling so fuck that moaning cow she' s getting one in the napper, he said producing a (prototype) Kalashnikov. Didn't make the final cut for some reason
tinmccool 1 year ago
Im not saying its bad, just not my stuff. Just saying they could use a few explosions in here and it'd win an award somewhere. I'm kidding about the last sentence, and sorry for the lame comment I left a few months ago.
Clydegraves 1 year ago
@Clydegraves You really don't get it. It is precisely that it hasn't got any explosions why it IS a masterpiece. Hollywood cares only for the likes of the Titanic and other shite in our present times. May James Joyce live forever in our memories.
FaithlessDwarf 1 year ago
@FaithlessDwarf Titanic was one of the worst, safest movies ever made. Cameron blew it totally with that sinking piece of crap. He could have made a Valentine to the brave immigrants who came to America, but instead he produced a 2nd rate love story.
septip123 1 year ago
John Huston must have known something about prose/poetry to express through his art the essence of another Master's genius and humanity.
samarian100 1 year ago
Sends shivers down my spine
TheoneParky 1 year ago 10
This comment has received too many negative votes show
Im sorry but how can anyone actually sit through this, I mean this is the most boring thing Ive ever seen in my life. I'd actually rather go spill a drink and clean it up, because to me that would be so much more interesting and lively.
Clydegraves 1 year ago
@Clydegraves
This is a film where you have to think, not just sit and be entertained by pretty explosions and things moving quickly.
AaronTAB 1 year ago 17
@AaronTAB How annoying of you to say so.
benarobinson 7 months ago
@Clydegraves Do you know what you have just said says far more about you than it does this movie masterpiece. I take it a thought provoking Sly Stallone movie might suit you better. Try exercising your mind...you'll be surprised at what delights it may bring.
spireman50 1 year ago
@Clydegraves If you want to have your holywoodians happy, self-digested endings you might as well watch American Pie. Like others said, tried to read between the lines, and think a little bit. You clearly had NO idea what was going on during the whole thing. James Joyce wasn't regarded as a genius for no reason.
FaithlessDwarf 1 year ago
spezzi il mio cuore, James, con queste parole...
strangeidea88 1 year ago
thanks so much for this. one of the greatest passages in the language, and a worthy adaptation.
misospecial 2 years ago