The Dead

The Irish Arts Center presents Irish Literature On Film, an opportunity to see some of Ireland’s best-loved plays and novels in their cinematic format.

The Dead was adapted from the story by James Joyce, in the 1914 collection Dubliners. Screenplay by Anthony Huston.
The film details a New Year’s Eve dinner at the house of two spinster musician sisters and their niece in turn-of-the-century Ireland, attended by friends and family. Among the visiting attendees are the sisters’ nephew Gabriel Conroy (Donal McCann) and his wife Gretta (Anjelica Huston). The evening’s reminiscences bring up melancholy memories for Gretta concerning her first, long-lost love when she was a girl in rural Galway. Her recounting of this tragic love to Gabriel brings him to an epiphany: he learns the difference between mere existence and living. The all-Irish cast and careful period detail give the piece richness and gravity, and Donal McCann and Anjelica Huston are unforgettable as the Conroys. 103 mins