The Dead

For his final work, John Huston, one of America's finest directors and a great translator of literary works from page to screen, turned to a James Joyce short story featured in The Dubliners and created one of his most exquisite films. The Dead is a perfect cinematic short story, attuned to the rituals and touchy bonds of family and friends gathered in early 20th-century Dublin to celebrate the Feast of the Epiphany. Anjelica Huston and Donal McCann anchor the 1987 production as Gretta and Gabriel, a married couple whose cool relationship is unnoticed by the other guests but becomes obvious as Huston deftly brings us into the gathering, like an unseen visitor, to witness privileged moments of intimacy. Donal Donnelly is both funny and sad as a tippling cousin who is always in danger of embarrassing himself, and Dan O'Herlihy is fine as a patriarch who becomes increasingly red-faced and slurred as the evening progresses. Huston never comments upon the characters directly; he simply allows them—in all their generosity as well as their flaws and foibles—to speak for themselves. His direction is pure grace, creating a world of personal connections and a history of family in the rhythms and glances and statements (guarded and unguarded) of the participants. The disc quality of this long-awaited DVD debut is slightly noisy and hazy, qualities that may not be noticeable on most TVs but are readily apparent on high-definition sets. Recommended. (S. Axmaker)