DEAD
AGAIN ($30) is a superb Hitchcockian thriller with a decidedly supernatural
flavor. This underrated gem comes from director/star Kenneth Branagh,
who made his name in the cinema with his marvelous adaptations of Shakespearean
plays. Branagh shows equal aplomb here, working in the contemporary settings
of Scott Frank’s ingenious screenplay. In DEAD AGAIN, Kenneth Branagh
portrays Mike Church, a Los Angeles private investigator, who is summoned
to the orphanage where he grew up to help with a small mystery. It seems
that a young woman (Emma Thompson) showed up on the doorstep of the orphanage,
without a clue as to who she is or where she is from. Reluctantly, Mike
agrees to help the amnesiac woman he has dubbed "Grace" discover
her identity. After having Grace’s photograph published in the newspaper,
an antiques dealer named Franklyn Madson (Derek Jacobi) shows up on Mike’s
doorstep with an offer of help. In addition to being an antiquarian, it
seems that Madson is also a hypnotist, who is convinced that he can unlock
the secrets of Grace’s past by regressing her in her mind to a time before
she lost her memory. Madson succeeds in taking Grace into the past, although
the regression proves to be too successful for everyone concerned.
Under hypnosis, Grace is able to recall a past life, describing in vivid
detail the romance of German conductor Roman Strauss (Branagh again) and
his pianist wife Margaret (Thompson). During her trance, Grace is able
to remember Roman and Margaret’s happy courtship, marriage and life in
Los Angeles. However, Madson’s familiarity with local history allows him
to fill in the missing details in Grace’s story, revealing that Roman
and Margaret’s marriage ended tragically. In fact, it turns out that Margaret
was murdered and Roman ended up being executed for the crime in 1949.
While the story of Roman and Margaret is genuine, Mike initially finds
the notion of reincarnation preposterous. However, as Mike digs into the
past, looking to find a clue that will restore Grace’s memory, he discovers
that there is some force is driving history to repeat itself. The plot
of DEAD AGAIN is filled with enough twists and turns to keep the
audience on the edges of their seats for the entire last third of the
film, so saying anymore about the plot would certainly spoil all the surprises.
Both Kenneth Branagh and Emma Thompson give great performances in their
dual roles, with each managing to pull off very convincing American accents
in the modern section of the film. Derek Jacobi, as always, is in fine
form and manages to steal quite a few scenes for himself. DEAD AGAIN
also features excellent work from a talented supporting cast that includes
Andy Garcia, Robin Williams, Wayne Knight, Hanna Schygulla, Campbell Scott
and Christine Ebersole. By the way, DEAD AGAIN includes one of
the best anti-smoking messages that I have ever seen worked into the plot
of a movie. So, watch this flick with a smoker that you want to quit,
hopefully it will make an impression.
The
folks at Paramount Home Entertainment have done a really first rate job
with their DVD release of DEAD AGAIN. DEAD AGAIN is presented
in its proper 1.85:1 theatrical aspect ratio and the DVD features the
anamorphic enhancement for playback on 16:9 displays. The transfer is
quite nice, displaying a sharp and detailed image. The present day sequences
in DEAD AGAIN are presented in color, while the flashback sequences
in black and white. Colors reproduce with a natural level of saturation
and healthy looking flesh tones. As for the black and white sequences,
they are surprisingly good, especially when you consider that the entire
movie was shot on color film stock and the that black and white sequences
were created off a color negative. Blacks are a deep inky black and there
is a good deal of subtlety in the shades of gray. Contrast is pretty even
in both the color and the black and white sections of the film. Film grain
was occasionally noticeable during the film, more so during the black
and white sequences. Shadow detail is good on this 1991 release, although
the definition is below the level one sees in a brand new movie. The film
element utilized for the transfer has a few blemishes, but none are distracting
in nature. Digital compression artifacts do not affect the image in any
adverse way.
The Dolby Digital 5.1 channel soundtrack seems to be a port of the original
Dolby Surround, although with cleaner channel separation. There isn’t
an abundance of directional sound effects, but what there are seem to
gravitate towards the forward soundstage. The surrounds kick in on occasion
for effects, but primarily add ambience and musical fill. Dialogue reproduction
is crisp and fully intelligible. Bass reproduction is solid, without being
excessive. Patrick Doyle’s thrilling score definitely gets a musical boost
from the Dolby Digital encoding. Like the movie, I think the Doyle’s score
is underrated, so having it available on DVD in full Dolby Digital will
allow audiences to really appreciate this great music. English and French
Dolby Surround soundtracks are also encoded onto the DVD, as are English
subtitles.
DEAD
AGAIN includes stylish looking, but basic interactive menus that provide
one with access to the standard scene selection and set up features, as
well as some nice supplements. Paramount shows that they are really starting
to get on the supplement bandwagon by presenting DEAD AGAIN with
not one, but two separate running audio commentaries. Director/star Kenneth
Branagh has plenty to say about the production of DEAD AGAIN and
his outgoing personality makes his talk quite an enjoyable listening experience.
Producer Lindsay Doran and screenwriter Scott Frank chime in on the second
commentary track, with equally pleasant and informative results. A theatrical
trailer fills out the supplemental section of the DVD.
DEAD
AGAIN is a great movie and an enjoyable ride for anyone who likes
a good thriller. This is one film that I though wouldn’t arrive on DVD
for years; I am delighted that Paramount had the foresight to release
it sooner, rather than later. The DVD presentation is very good and the
supplements make the disc a "must have" for Kenneth Branagh
fans. Highly recommended.
DEAD
AGAIN ($30) is a superb Hitchcockian thriller with a decidedly supernatural
flavor. This underrated gem comes from director/star Kenneth Branagh,
who made his name in the cinema with his marvelous adaptations of Shakespearean
plays. Branagh shows equal aplomb here, working in the contemporary settings
of Scott Frank’s ingenious screenplay. In DEAD AGAIN, Kenneth Branagh
portrays Mike Church, a Los Angeles private investigator, who is summoned
to the orphanage where he grew up to help with a small mystery. It seems
that a young woman (Emma Thompson) showed up on the doorstep of the orphanage,
without a clue as to who she is or where she is from. Reluctantly, Mike
agrees to help the amnesiac woman he has dubbed "Grace" discover
her identity. After having Grace’s photograph published in the newspaper,
an antiques dealer named Franklyn Madson (Derek Jacobi) shows up on Mike’s
doorstep with an offer of help. In addition to being an antiquarian, it
seems that Madson is also a hypnotist, who is convinced that he can unlock
the secrets of Grace’s past by regressing her in her mind to a time before
she lost her memory. Madson succeeds in taking Grace into the past, although
the regression proves to be too successful for everyone concerned. 
Under hypnosis, Grace is able to recall a past life, describing in vivid
detail the romance of German conductor Roman Strauss (Branagh again) and
his pianist wife Margaret (Thompson). During her trance, Grace is able
to remember Roman and Margaret’s happy courtship, marriage and life in
Los Angeles. However, Madson’s familiarity with local history allows him
to fill in the missing details in Grace’s story, revealing that Roman
and Margaret’s marriage ended tragically. In fact, it turns out that Margaret
was murdered and Roman ended up being executed for the crime in 1949.
While the story of Roman and Margaret is genuine, Mike initially finds
the notion of reincarnation preposterous. However, as Mike digs into the
past, looking to find a clue that will restore Grace’s memory, he discovers
that there is some force is driving history to repeat itself. The plot
of DEAD AGAIN is filled with enough twists and turns to keep the
audience on the edges of their seats for the entire last third of the
film, so saying anymore about the plot would certainly spoil all the surprises.
Both Kenneth Branagh and Emma Thompson give great performances in their
dual roles, with each managing to pull off very convincing American accents
in the modern section of the film. Derek Jacobi, as always, is in fine
form and manages to steal quite a few scenes for himself. DEAD AGAIN
also features excellent work from a talented supporting cast that includes
Andy Garcia, Robin Williams, Wayne Knight, Hanna Schygulla, Campbell Scott
and Christine Ebersole. By the way, DEAD AGAIN includes one of
the best anti-smoking messages that I have ever seen worked into the plot
of a movie. So, watch this flick with a smoker that you want to quit,
hopefully it will make an impression.
The
folks at Paramount Home Entertainment have done a really first rate job
with their DVD release of DEAD AGAIN. DEAD AGAIN is presented
in its proper 1.85:1 theatrical aspect ratio and the DVD features the
anamorphic enhancement for playback on 16:9 displays. The transfer is
quite nice, displaying a sharp and detailed image. The present day sequences
in DEAD AGAIN are presented in color, while the flashback sequences
in black and white. Colors reproduce with a natural level of saturation
and healthy looking flesh tones. As for the black and white sequences,
they are surprisingly good, especially when you consider that the entire
movie was shot on color film stock and the that black and white sequences
were created off a color negative. Blacks are a deep inky black and there
is a good deal of subtlety in the shades of gray. Contrast is pretty even
in both the color and the black and white sections of the film. Film grain
was occasionally noticeable during the film, more so during the black
and white sequences. Shadow detail is good on this 1991 release, although
the definition is below the level one sees in a brand new movie. The film
element utilized for the transfer has a few blemishes, but none are distracting
in nature. Digital compression artifacts do not affect the image in any
adverse way. 
The Dolby Digital 5.1 channel soundtrack seems to be a port of the original
Dolby Surround, although with cleaner channel separation. There isn’t
an abundance of directional sound effects, but what there are seem to
gravitate towards the forward soundstage. The surrounds kick in on occasion
for effects, but primarily add ambience and musical fill. Dialogue reproduction
is crisp and fully intelligible. Bass reproduction is solid, without being
excessive. Patrick Doyle’s thrilling score definitely gets a musical boost
from the Dolby Digital encoding. Like the movie, I think the Doyle’s score
is underrated, so having it available on DVD in full Dolby Digital will
allow audiences to really appreciate this great music. English and French
Dolby Surround soundtracks are also encoded onto the DVD, as are English
subtitles.
DEAD
AGAIN includes stylish looking, but basic interactive menus that provide
one with access to the standard scene selection and set up features, as
well as some nice supplements. Paramount shows that they are really starting
to get on the supplement bandwagon by presenting DEAD AGAIN with
not one, but two separate running audio commentaries. Director/star Kenneth
Branagh has plenty to say about the production of DEAD AGAIN and
his outgoing personality makes his talk quite an enjoyable listening experience.
Producer Lindsay Doran and screenwriter Scott Frank chime in on the second
commentary track, with equally pleasant and informative results. A theatrical
trailer fills out the supplemental section of the DVD.
DEAD
AGAIN is a great movie and an enjoyable ride for anyone who likes
a good thriller. This is one film that I though wouldn’t arrive on DVD
for years; I am delighted that Paramount had the foresight to release
it sooner, rather than later. The DVD presentation is very good and the
supplements make the disc a "must have" for Kenneth Branagh
fans. Highly recommended.
