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IMDbPro

Dead Again

  • 19911991
  • RR
  • 1h 47m
IMDb RATING
6.8/10
29K
YOUR RATING
Kenneth Branagh and Emma Thompson in Dead Again (1991)
Home Video Trailer from Paramount Home Entertainment
Play trailer2:16
1 Video
99+ Photos
CrimeDramaMystery
A woman who has lost her memory is taken in by a Los Angeles orphanage, and a private eye is enlisted to track down her identity, but he soon finds that he might have a past life connection ... Read allA woman who has lost her memory is taken in by a Los Angeles orphanage, and a private eye is enlisted to track down her identity, but he soon finds that he might have a past life connection to her that endangers their lives.A woman who has lost her memory is taken in by a Los Angeles orphanage, and a private eye is enlisted to track down her identity, but he soon finds that he might have a past life connection to her that endangers their lives.
IMDb RATING
6.8/10
29K
YOUR RATING
    • Kenneth Branagh
    • Scott Frank
  • Stars
    • Kenneth Branagh
    • Emma Thompson
    • Andy Garcia
    • Kenneth Branagh
    • Scott Frank
  • Stars
    • Kenneth Branagh
    • Emma Thompson
    • Andy Garcia
  • See production, box office & company info
    • 142User reviews
    • 71Critic reviews
    • 66Metascore
  • See more at IMDbPro
    • Nominated for 1 BAFTA Award

    Videos1

    Dead Again
    Trailer 2:16
    Watch Dead Again

    Photos160

    Kenneth Branagh and Emma Thompson in Dead Again (1991)
    Kenneth Branagh and Emma Thompson in Dead Again (1991)
    Kenneth Branagh and Emma Thompson in Dead Again (1991)
    Kenneth Branagh and Emma Thompson in Dead Again (1991)
    Kenneth Branagh and Emma Thompson in Dead Again (1991)
    Kenneth Branagh and Emma Thompson in Dead Again (1991)
    Kenneth Branagh and Emma Thompson in Dead Again (1991)
    Kenneth Branagh and Emma Thompson in Dead Again (1991)
    Kenneth Branagh and Emma Thompson in Dead Again (1991)
    Kenneth Branagh and Emma Thompson in Dead Again (1991)
    Gregor Hesse and Hanna Schygulla in Dead Again (1991)
    Robin Williams and Emma Thompson in Dead Again (1991)

    Top cast

    Edit
    Kenneth Branagh
    Kenneth Branagh
    • Roman Strauss…
    Emma Thompson
    Emma Thompson
    • Grace…
    Andy Garcia
    Andy Garcia
    • Gray Baker
    Lois Hall
    Lois Hall
    • Sister Constance
    Richard Easton
    Richard Easton
    • Father Timothy
    Jo Anderson
    Jo Anderson
    • Sister Madeleine…
    Patrick MontesDeOca
    Patrick MontesDeOca
    • Pickup Driver
    • (as Patrick Montes)
    Raymond Cruz
    Raymond Cruz
    • Supermarket Clerk
    Robin Williams
    Robin Williams
    • Dr. Cozy Carlisle
    Wayne Knight
    Wayne Knight
    • 'Piccolo' Pete
    Patrick Doyle
    Patrick Doyle
    • Cop #1…
    Erik Kilpatrick
    Erik Kilpatrick
    • Cop #2
    Gordana Rashovich
    • Handcuffed Woman
    Derek Jacobi
    Derek Jacobi
    • Franklyn Madson
    Obba Babatundé
    Obba Babatundé
    • Syd
    • (as Obba Babatunde)
    Christine Ebersole
    Christine Ebersole
    • Lydia Larson
    Vasek Simek
    • Otto
    • (as Vasek C. Simek)
    Hanna Schygulla
    Hanna Schygulla
    • Inga
      • Kenneth Branagh
      • Scott Frank
    • All cast & crew
    • Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

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    Storyline

    Edit

    Did you know

    Edit
    • Trivia
      This movie was shot entirely in color. It was decided during editing, however, that the movement between past and present could be made clearer by printing the Roman and Margaret scenes in black-and-white. Director Sir Kenneth Branagh comments on the DVD that the costume and set designers were disappointed by this, because they would have used different colors for those scenes, which would photograph better in black-and-white, had they known this.
    • Goofs
      In the opening credits, the newspaper stories (other than the obvious headlines) consist of the same five paragraphs printed 37 times in succession.
    • Quotes

      Cozy Carlisle: Someone is either a smoker or a nonsmoker. There's no in-between. The trick is to find out which one you are, and be that. If you're a nonsmoker, you'll know.

    • Crazy credits
      Jo Anderson and Patrick Doyle are each credited twice for their dual roles in this movie.
    • Connections
      Featured in The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson: David Steinberg/Kenneth Branagh/The Harper Brothers (1991)
    • Soundtracks
      Lush Life
      Written by Billy Strayhorn

    User reviews142

    Review
    Review
    Featured review
    7/10
    The Karma: More Twists Than a Pretzel
    This movie is about dual parallel stories occurring in Los Angeles in the late forties and again four decades later in the early nineties. The segments that make up 1948-1949 portion are in black and white flashbacks, and focus on the tragic love affair of music composer and conductor Roman (Kenneth Branagh) and pianist Margaret Strauss (Emma Thompson). The opening montage is made of compiled newspaper headlines and clippings that scream about the murder of Margaret (MURDER . . . TRIAL . . . GUILTY . . .). We quickly learn that Roman was convicted and executed for the scissor-murder of his wife. Roman goes to the electric chair proclaiming his innocence. Margaret had been suspicious that ominous housekeeper Inga (Hanna Schygulla) and her strange and stuttering son Frankie (Gregor Hesse) may have stolen jewelry items from Roman. But Inga had saved Roman from Hitler, so she kept her position. In turn, Roman was unhappy that his wife seemed to have taken an inordinate amount of interest with newspaper writer Gray Baker (Andy Garcia).

    The early 1990s part involves private investigator Mike Church (Branagh again), who has been asked by Father Timothy (Richard Easton), a priest, to unearth the identity of a woman (Thompson again) who has lost both her voice and her memory. She experiences terrible nightmares. Church had intended to drop off Thompson at the local madhouse, but after seeing conditions there he decided to put her up for a night or two. He gives her a faux-name, "Grace." Helpful newspaper man Piccolo Pete (Wayne Knight) puts her photograph in the local rag. Peculiar hypnotist (and antique dealer on the side!), Franklyn Madison (Derek Jacobi) responds quickly. Now Franklyn believes that a trauma from the woman's past is causing mute amnesia. When Franklyn, with permission from Mike Church, places Grace under hypnotism, she begins to have visions from the 1940s, i.e., Roman and Margaret's life (before Grace was born). Grace soon regains her voice, but not her memory. As she begins to grow closer to Mike, she notices the similarities between their lives and the previous ones of Roman and Margaret. As she looks even deeper into her past, she begins to fear Mike, feeling that – like Roman earlier – he will eventually kill her (as he is apparently Roman re-incarnated). But did Roman really kill Margaret? At a critical point Church tells Grace, "I would never hurt you, MARGARET" (Freudian slip), Grace screams right away.

    Cozy Carlisle (Robin Williams), ex-psychiatrist turned supermarket worker, soon warns Mike that he should indeed kill Grace before she kills him because fate is what it is. There are similarities between past and present lives. Reincarnation also means that one may return in a different gender: Grace could be Roman while Mike may be Margaret (heavy stuff here)! After researching, Piccolo Pete tells Grace that her real name is Amanda Sharp, an artist who lost her memory after being mugged. (Note the Salvador Dali copy of his famous painting in her spacious apartment ("The Persistence of Memory"). After, when Mike agrees to be hypnotized, he uncovers a startling secret. When Mike later locates the aged and decrepit Gray in a wretched condition at a nursing facility, he is told that Inga the housekeeper knew everything that went on in the Strauss household. When asked about her and son Frankie, Gray says "They had opened some sort of shop . . . AN-tiques." Mike's utter surprise sets up the denouement. Under Patrick Doyle's rousing musical score, there is a grand operatic clash with slow-motion shots and with cuts between the (black and white) past and (color) present times. It is a bit pretentious, though (but dig those gigantic scissors!).

    Yes, the story is complicated and relies on coincidence but it is a good tale, and very inventive. Each of the plot twists is given suitable build-up that avoids viewer confusion. One gets so swept away with the yarn and buys into the story that he/she ignores the coincidences (like Mike's meeting with Grace/Amanda in the first place). The character development is at a high level, while the sets and scenes are imaginatively well-done. Acting performances are first-rate. Derek Jacobi (of "I, Claudius" fame) is excellent as the hypnotist with a sinister agenda. An innovative touch occurs when he puts folks under not just to obtain information about the past, but also to pry from subconscious minds the whereabouts of certain antiques that may somehow fetch him big dollars. Robin Williams, as Cozy Carlisle, believing that the world has thoroughly porked him, leaves no room for anything but the blackest of humor in his top performance. Kenneth Branagh directed, and he and his then wife Emma Thompson shared the lead roles of both eras effectively, with the nod going to the latter. Matthew Leonetti's cinematography is effective at capturing moods. Whether or not you want believe in reincarnation does not matter (this writer does not) as the film's entertainment value is high. But you need to pay close attention to the story!
    helpful•5
    2
    • romanorum1
    • Feb 13, 2015

    FAQ1

    • Any recommendation for other movies similar/recommendation to Dead Again?

    Details

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    • Release date
      • August 23, 1991 (United States)
      • United States
      • United Kingdom
      • English
      • German
    • Also known as
    • Filming locations
      • Los Angeles, California, USA
    • Production companies
      • Paramount Pictures
      • Mirage Enterprises
      • Renaissance Theatre Company
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Box office

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    See detailed box office info on IMDbPro

    Technical specs

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    • 1 hour 47 minutes
      • Color
      • Black and White

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