Dead Again (1991)
Dead Again (1991), directed by Kenneth Branagh.
Who doesn't love a romantic reincarnation murder mystery? Better yet: some of the characters from 1948 are still alive and know both ends of the story. And: big plot twist!
This is meant to be fun, a "heightened" film mythology with the familiar LA characters and settings then and now. Some tone mixing is a problem: drenching the plot in a lush multi-time love story confuses me: love -- unless it is romantic comedy -- is meant to be taken seriously, isn't it?
Other issues:
They have constructed the story with care, but we have an overload of clues and linkages, way too much business: scissors, anklet, piano, dying words, smoking.
Kenneth Branagh and Emma Thompson had dialect coaches on hand but their "American" is distracting. He is a little too "heightened" as an LA gumshoe.
They were married at the time. Could we have turned up the heat a little? A bit more chemistry?
The big action climax sets some sort of record for ridiculous overblown excessiveness. Operatic score and message-hammering editing contribute mightily to the disaster.
Still, it is fun, although at moments I am puzzled as to what I am supposed to be puzzling out. It occurred to me that this, in a small way, is like Vertigo (1958): because of a plot reveal it is a different film on second viewing.
And maybe after a third: it opens with curious events on death row. After the murder might two souls be melded in one body? This could easily cause problems in the next life.
Rich supporting cast:
Andy García is the brash reporter of 1948, later an old man of 1990. Nicotine addiction? For real.
Derek Jacobi, eccentric antiques dealer and hypnotist who can regress you to past lives, expertly deflecting suspicion with dry humor. Jacobi was a last minute replacement and the first to point out that his character's name is "Franklyn Madson" = "mad son".
Robin Williams, disgraced shrink now running a grocery. He explains reincarnation rules to us, a much better choice than going to some distinguished academic in more typical screenwriting.
Wayne Knight as the private eye's best friend. He worked with Emma Thompson before!
Hanna Schygulla -- Wrong Move (1975) -- famous for Fassbinder films which I have yet to see.
Campbell Scott has one scene, a good one.
Spot young Raymond Cruz working in the grocery -- he has a line!
Some of the minor characters appear in both 1948 and present day but I did not notice them and I doubt if anyone else did. Originally 1948 was in color but preview audiences were confused. Contrasting then and now is important and b&w for the 1940s suits the mythology well.
The theme of doomed lovers reuniting in cycles of reincarnation occurs in HR Haggard's She and was stolen for the first The Mummy (1932) screenplay and has since become part of that mythology.
Score by Patrick Doyle, who also has a cameo as one of the policemen in the hospital elevator.
Photographed by Matthew F. Leonetti -- Raise the Titanic (1980), Extreme Prejudice (1987), Star Trek: First Contact (1996), Star Trek: Insurrection (1998). The framing and texture sometimes look off to me, as if the film were zoomed during editing.
Available on DVD. Import Blu-rays are available, including a late 2020 edition from Imprint in Australia, but I haven't seen any of them.
The DVD has two commentary tracks:
The director gives a retrospective both fond and frank. He points out his mistakes.
Producer Lindsay Doran and writer Scott Frank have a great time, both appreciative and poking fun. Duncan defends the practice of rewrites and edits after advanced screenings, of which there were many in this case. The audiences tell you what parts confuse them. Complaints about specific details are a clue that the scene is boring, else the viewer would skip over the details.
