Dead Again (1991)
Directed by Kenneth Branagh
In 1949, composer Roman Strauss is executed for the murder of his wife. In 1990s Los Angeles, a detective comes across a mute amnesiac woman who is somehow linked to the Strauss murder.
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What critics compared Dead Again to
As the dark truth about the Strauss' marriage emerges, and as it begins to parallel the romance and foreboding between Mike and Grace, there are echoes of Hitchcock at his most cornball-Freudian (the plot incorporates elements from Spellbound and Rebecca), and Branagh makes devious use of the sort of vintage-thriller motifs (a telltale anklet!
Peele’s homework for his sensational star, Lupita Nyong’o, included, according to Entertainment Weekly, “The Birds,” “The Shining,” “Dead Again,” the original “Funny Games,” “The Sixth Sense,” “A Tale of Two Sisters,” “Let the Right One In,” “The Babadook” and “It Follows.”
Mirror images are everywhere, from the symmetrical shape of the oversized scissors that are the intruders’ weapon of choice (a nod to Kenneth Branagh’s Dead Again?) to the numbers on a digital clock that recall a briefly glimpsed apocalyptic sign (“Jeremiah 11:11”) and are almost inaudibly echoed in a TV sports commentary that burbles away in the background.
Esta inquietud nace de otras influencias en el cine de horror con películas y series que muestran el miedo a encontrarse con uno mismo: ahí tenemos el episodio de “Mirror Image” de The Twilight Zone (1960), tenemos Dead Again de Kenneth Brannagh (1991), tenemos Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1978) o la muy inquietante Enemy (2013) de Denis Villeneuve.
Before filming on Us began, Peele gave Nyong’o a list of 10 horror movies to watch to prepare for the role: Dead Again , The Shining , The Babadook , It Follows , A Tale of Two Sisters , The Birds , Funny Games , Martyrs , Let the Right One In , and The Sixth Sense .
Films Jordan Peele had his cast watch before making 'Us' “Dead Again” “The Shining” “The Babadook” “It Follows” “A Tale of Two Sisters” “The Birds” “Funny Games” "Martyrs” “Let the Right One In” “The Sixth Sense”…
If you really want an entire movie about that, I recommend Dead Again .
It reminds me of the best moment of Robin Williams's career, the one line he has in a meat locker in Kenneth Branagh's Dead Again in which he describes the karmic payment plan: "Buy now, pay forever."
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He’s also one of the best actor-directors working today, and his wearing of two hats on “Murder on the Orient Express” recalls his exuberant work on “Henry V” (1989) and “Hamlet” (1996), as well as on the nifty little crime film that was his sophomore effort, “Dead Again” (1991).
I was never in doubt of Kenneth Branagh’s direction skills, Dead Again remains one of my all-time favorite mysteries (which makes Derek Jacobi’s appearance here almost heart-warming).
As a filmmaker he can either be boldly expressive (“Dead Again,” “Hamlet“) or safe and ineffective (“Sleuth,” “Frankenstein“).
Yet, while no one will confuse Branagh’s work here with his brilliant turns in Henry V, Dead Again, Hamlet or Rabbit-Proof Fence, that does not make his gloriously theatrical presentation any less masterful.
Though the filmmaker has crafted thrillers with equal tension and emotion in the past, such as “Dead Again” and his fine remake of “ Sleuth ,” Branagh’s latest film doesn’t make you feel much at all throughout the fairly cold and routine retelling.
When he first started as a filmmaker, the director brought new life to several Shakespeare plays and rendered Dead Again (1991) and Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein (1994) with relentless pacing.
What makes this especially strange is that Branagh has shown himself perfectly capable of making a crackerjack Christie-style mystery-thriller with “Dead Again,” the 1991 sleeper that I would still rank as one of his very best films.
He directed the great thriller Dead Again —which is getting a repertory showing at PFF—30 years ago, as well as some first-rate Shakespeare adaptations, including the 1996 Hamlet film that was shot in 70mm.
With the Bard out of the picture, Branagh’s remaining work reveals him as a nimble journeyman leaping from the likes of Thor to Jack Ryan to Cinderella, occasionally stumbling into disasters (Mary Shelly’s Frankenstein, Artemis Fowl), but generally straddling a baseline competency that even when it pulls in exciting unpredictable directions (Dead Again, Sleuth) never quite broaches the remarkable.