Dead Again
Kenneth Branagh
Mike Church is a sardonic private detective. He investigates the past of a young amnesic woman Grace, who is haunted by the death, in the 1940s of brilliant concert pianist Margaret Strauss. Anitques dealer Franklyn Madson hypnotises the young woman, who looks strangely like Margaret Strauss. With him Grace goes back to her previous life...
With : Kenneth Branagh, Andy Garcia, Emma Thompson, Lois Hall, Richard Easton, Jo Anderson, Patrick Montes
Screenplay : Scott Frank
Image : Matthew F. Leonetti
Decors : Jerry Adams
Music : Patrick Doyle
Editing : Peter E. Berger
Screenplay : Scott Frank
Image : Matthew F. Leonetti
Decors : Jerry Adams
Music : Patrick Doyle
Editing : Peter E. Berger
Production : Mirage, Lindsay Doran, Charles H. Maguire
Distribution: Paramount
Distribution: Paramount
When the film was released, American critics compared Kenneth Branagh to Orson Welles. The film's atmosphere and camera work are indeed a reminder of the Hollywood master. From the point of view of the plot, however, the British director pays tribute to Hitchcock. The film is packed with references to other films based on the thriller side of the film. "During the shoot I thought about my childhood and the films I liked such as Rebecca, or Dial M for Murder..., and all of a sudden I found myself in a film like that. For me Dead Again is in the same spirit and I wanted to stay in that tradition" (Kenneth Branagh). Playing on two periods, the 1940s and today, Dead Again alternates between black and white fr the flashbacks and colour for the present. "I have tried to combine the classic tradition with freedom full of emotion, the emotional boldness that you encounter in the best American films", explained Branagh.