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Pick of the Indies
Dead good movies from master director Huston
A two-month John Huston film season kicks off this weekend with a screening of his James Joyce adaptation The Dead.
The Dead was put together by various members of the Huston family – directed by John Huston (pictured), starring Angelica Huston and the screenplay written by John’s son Tony.
Two elderly sisters Julia and Kate host a Christmas dinner party, and the story centres around the family memories of the time. Among their guests are writer Gabriel Conroy (Donal McCann) and his wife, Gretta (Anjelica Huston).
The story telling stirs up some unhappy memories for Gretta. She recalls her first love and it leads to a new understanding between her and her relatives.
The observation of the mores of a well-heeled home at an Irish household in the early 1900s is beautifully observed, and the simple setting makes this feel like it should be on stage rather than screen.
It was Huston’s last film and was partly made because of his own love of James Joyce’s works – his attention to the smallest detail show how well-thumbed his own copy of this Joyce short story was.
Other titles due to be screened include his classics the Maltese Falcon, Asphalt jungle and African Queen.
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