{"id":159634,"date":"2021-01-21T15:16:40","date_gmt":"2021-01-21T12:16:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/30-things-we-learned-from-kenneth-branaghs-dead-again-commentary\/"},"modified":"2021-01-21T15:16:40","modified_gmt":"2021-01-21T12:16:40","slug":"30-things-we-learned-from-kenneth-branaghs-dead-again-commentary","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/30-things-we-learned-from-kenneth-branaghs-dead-again-commentary\/","title":{"rendered":"#30 Things We Learned from Kenneth Branagh&#8217;s &#8216;Dead Again&#8217; Commentary"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"ez-toc-container\" class=\"ez-toc-v2_0_84 counter-hierarchy ez-toc-counter ez-toc-custom ez-toc-container-direction\">\n<p class=\"ez-toc-title\" style=\"cursor:inherit\">Table of Contents<\/p>\n<label for=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-item-6a28941a5ed10\" class=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-label\"><span class=\"\"><span class=\"eztoc-hide\" style=\"display:none;\">Toggle<\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-icon-toggle-span\"><svg style=\"fill: #dd3333;color:#dd3333\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" class=\"list-377408\" width=\"20px\" height=\"20px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" fill=\"none\"><path d=\"M6 6H4v2h2V6zm14 0H8v2h12V6zM4 11h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2zM4 16h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2z\" fill=\"currentColor\"><\/path><\/svg><svg style=\"fill: #dd3333;color:#dd3333\" class=\"arrow-unsorted-368013\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" width=\"10px\" height=\"10px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" version=\"1.2\" baseProfile=\"tiny\"><path d=\"M18.2 9.3l-6.2-6.3-6.2 6.3c-.2.2-.3.4-.3.7s.1.5.3.7c.2.2.4.3.7.3h11c.3 0 .5-.1.7-.3.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7zM5.8 14.7l6.2 6.3 6.2-6.3c.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7c-.2-.2-.4-.3-.7-.3h-11c-.3 0-.5.1-.7.3-.2.2-.3.5-.3.7s.1.5.3.7z\"\/><\/svg><\/span><\/span><\/label><input type=\"checkbox\"  id=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-item-6a28941a5ed10\" checked aria-label=\"Toggle\" \/><nav><ul class='ez-toc-list ez-toc-list-level-1 ' ><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-1\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/30-things-we-learned-from-kenneth-branaghs-dead-again-commentary\/#Dead_Again_1991\" >Dead Again (1991)<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-2\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/30-things-we-learned-from-kenneth-branaghs-dead-again-commentary\/#Best_in_Context-Free_Commentary\" >Best in Context-Free Commentary<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-3\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/30-things-we-learned-from-kenneth-branaghs-dead-again-commentary\/#Final_Thoughts\" >Final Thoughts<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/nav><\/div>\n<p>&#8220;<strong>#30 Things We Learned from Kenneth Branagh&#8217;s &#8216;Dead Again&#8217; Commentary<\/strong>&#8221;<\/p>\n<div>\n<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\">\n                <\/aside>\n<p><!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 3.7.8--><i data-stringify-type=\"italic\">Welcome to\u00a0<\/i><b data-stringify-type=\"bold\"><i data-stringify-type=\"italic\">Commentary Commentary,<\/i><\/b><i data-stringify-type=\"italic\"> where we sit and listen to filmmakers talk about their work, then share the most interesting parts. In this edition, Rob Hunter revisits Kenneth Branagh\u2019s Hollywood debut, Dead Again!<\/i><\/p>\n<hr\/>\n<p><strong>Kenneth Branagh<\/strong>\u2018s shift from indie Shakespeare champion to populist film director has seen its ups and downs, but it started with one of the filmmaker\u2019s most entertaining <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/watch-movies-tv-seriess\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"8\" title=\"Watch Movies &amp; TV Series\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">movies<\/a>. <strong><em>Dead Again<\/em><\/strong> (1991) is a mystery\/thriller unafraid to go big at times, and the throughline from beginning to end is fun, energetic, and stylish. The film has finally come to Blu-ray \u2014 in Australia \u2014 and it\u2019s well worth the import for fans. One of the extras is a commentary track by Branagh recorded back in 2000, so we gave it a listen to celebrate the film\u2019s long overdue move into HD <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/social-mediaa\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"1\" title=\"Social Media\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">media<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Keep reading to see what I heard on the commentary for <em>Dead Again<\/em>.<\/p>\n<h3 class=\"graf graf--h3\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Dead_Again_1991\"><\/span>Dead Again (1991)<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p class=\"graf graf--p\">Commentator: Kenneth Branagh (director, actor)<\/p>\n<p class=\"graf graf--p\"><strong>1.<\/strong> \u201cWe wanted to set up the atmosphere of this film immediately,\u201d he says which is why it opens with a \u201clow grind\u201d of a score during the opening credits before ramping up with those murder headlines. The goal was to set expectations early for an entertaining gothic mystery.<\/p>\n<p><strong>2.<\/strong> One of the <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/news\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"2\" title=\"News\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">news<\/a>papers is dated December 10th, 1949, which is Branagh\u2019s birthday. \u201cSorry for the in-joke.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><strong>3.<\/strong> He received an influx of <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/download-scripts-themes-apps\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"9\" title=\"Download Scripts &amp; Themes &amp; Apps\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">script<\/a>s after the success of <em>Henry V<\/em> (1989), most of them historical epics, but when he read <strong>Scott Frank<\/strong>\u2018s screenplay aloud with his then-wife <strong>Emma Thompson<\/strong> they were both gripped from the opening onward.<\/p>\n<p><strong>4.<\/strong> While the black &amp; white was in earlier versions of Frank\u2019s script the detail had been dropped by the time a version reached Branagh. They discovered through previews, though, that audiences were confused by the time jumps \u2014 an issue that was fixed by switching the flashbacks to black &amp; white.<\/p>\n<p><strong>5.<\/strong> Roman Strauss\u2019 (Branagh) prisoner number, 25101415, is the date of the Battle of Agincourt \u2014 the famed battle featuring Henry V. \u201cWe felt that this kind of film was one in which you could allow yourself little moments like that.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><strong>6.<\/strong> Grace (Thompson) awakening from her dream to a stormy night features gothic touches in its visuals and score, and it\u2019s all part of Frank\u2019s enjoyment of \u201cthe vocabulary of this kind of film.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><strong>7.<\/strong> People assumed \u2014 as did I \u2014 that the introduction of Mike Church (Branagh) parked on the wrong side of the street was a little joke about Branagh being British, but it was actually because they wanted the shot to feature the skyscrapers in the background.<\/p>\n<p><strong>8.<\/strong> Mike is struggling to quit smoking, but Branagh was a non-smoker and was unable to convincingly portray the smoking scenes \u2014 he was so bad at them they ultimately had to be cut. \u201cThe sad, horrible truth is that sometime later I now do smoke.\u201d He hopes that this rewatch, once it reaches the gross scene with Gray Davis (<strong>Andy Garcia<\/strong>) smoking through his neck, will convince him to quit.<\/p>\n<p><strong>9.<\/strong> The commentary was recorded in 2000, and he name drops Agatha Christie unaware that seventeen years later he\u2019ll direct a pretty terrific adaptation of her <em>Murder on the Orient Express<\/em>.<\/p>\n<p><strong>10.<\/strong> The home playing the composer\u2019s mansion turned Christian orphanage is located in Pasadena, CA. They added the front gate and extra towers to maximize the gothic nature.<\/p>\n<p><strong>11.<\/strong> This was his first real go at a sustained American accent, and he would go out in Los Angeles to practice it with strangers. No one seemed to notice or care.<\/p>\n<p><strong>12.<\/strong> Thompson had worked with <strong>Wayne Knight<\/strong> previously, so they insisted that he be cast here.<\/p>\n<p><strong>13.<\/strong> Frank cameos as one of the cops in the elevator at the mental hospital.<\/p>\n<p><strong>14.<\/strong> He suspects the big issue that left a large number of other directors cold on the script was the introduction of hypnosis and past lives.<\/p>\n<p><strong>15.<\/strong> The flashback sequence with Roman and Margaret (Thompson) walking on the beach was filmed on a stretch of CA coast where Baywatch would be filmed years later. \u201cWho knows, it may have been the very bodies that they saw here that gave them the idea for that show. I may be wrong, I\u2019m not sure.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><strong>16.<\/strong> The shot of Cozy Carlisle (<strong>Robin Williams<\/strong>) looking at the couple after their grocery store chat at 46:43 was a quick insert Branagh grabbed unsure if he\u2019d use it. He told Williams \u201clet\u2019s just get a closeup of you looking a little bit odd so that we can continue to have your character as a possible candidate for the one who did it.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><strong>17.<\/strong> Cast and crew members on <em>Dead Again<\/em> told Branagh he was far more cheerful and fun to be around when he was playing Mike as opposed to when he was playing the brooding Roman.<\/p>\n<p><strong>18.<\/strong> The conversation between Mike and Grace amid the Christmas lights was a reshoot captured a few months after the film had wrapped. Preview audiences weren\u2019t buying into the couple\u2019s romance, so the scene was added to give the pair more personal time. \u201cYou can see that in my face there\u2019s a little more weight perhaps\u2026 something the makeup people weren\u2019t too pleased about.\u201d He was also out on his first ski <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/trip-and-travel\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"10\" title=\"Trip &amp; Travel\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">trip<\/a> in the days before the reshoots, and he caught hell from the producer and insurance people.<\/p>\n<p><strong>19.<\/strong> A pair of talented stunt performers doubled for Branagh and <strong>Campbell Scott<\/strong> during part of their bridge fight, but it was Branagh who \u201creceived the blow in the testicular area which was given to me live by Campbell Scott who was zealous to the point of inflicting actual bodily harm.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><strong>20.<\/strong> He credits producers <strong>Lindsay Doran<\/strong> and <strong>Sydney Pollack<\/strong> with using their weight to support the casting of both himself and Thompson, two Brits who were yet to become big stars, in a Hollywood thriller.<\/p>\n<p><strong>21.<\/strong> They apparently kept losing scissors on the set and had to keep bringing in replacements. Seems pretty obvious that Knight was the one stealing them.<\/p>\n<p><strong>22.<\/strong> He attended some <em>Dead Again<\/em> screenings and recalls a deathly silence in theaters during the reveal that Mike was Margaret in his past life.<\/p>\n<p><strong>23.<\/strong> Doran suggested that the introduction of Grace\u2019s apartment\/studio should feature insert shots of the scissor sculptures and artwork, but Branagh said no. He eventually realized his mistake and blames his own stubbornness adding \u201cquite frankly the director was stupid not to have listened.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><strong>24.<\/strong> Frank added the scene with older Gray smoking through his neck hole after seeing someone do it in a restaurant.<\/p>\n<p><strong>25.<\/strong> The character played by <strong>Derek Jacobi<\/strong> is named Franklyn Madison \u2014 as in \u201cFrank mad son\u201d \u2014 and that\u2019s something that not even Branagh noticed at first. \u201cI didn\u2019t spot it at the time, such is my piercing intelligence.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><strong>26.<\/strong> Not every filmmaker enjoys the preview process, but Branagh is a fan. Early previews \u201cwere disastrous\u201d and led to some fiddling with additional scenes and third-act edits that helped keep the audience entranced and in sync.<\/p>\n<p><strong>27.<\/strong> Grace\u2019s apartment was located at High Tower in the Hollywood Hills, but while they filmed the exteriors there the apartment\u2019s interior is a set. They took photos from within the real location and blew them up as translucent backdrops visible outside the set\u2019s windows.<\/p>\n<p><strong>28.<\/strong> It\u2019s a very serious scene, but on the day of filming the end fight the three friends \u2014 Branagh, Thompson, and Jacobi \u2014 found it endlessly amusing to be standing there, staring intently at each other, while one of them held a pair of bloody scissors.<\/p>\n<p><strong>29.<\/strong> The end beat with Franklyn leaping and landing on the large scissor sculpture \u2014 a jump that Jacobi had to be convinced was absolutely necessary \u2014 was to some \u201cmassively and campily over the top,\u201d but Branagh and friends found it entirely appropriate.<\/p>\n<p><strong>30.<\/strong> <em>Dead Again<\/em>\u2018s final shot is a fade from Roman and Margaret kissing to Mike and Grace kissing, and for the longest time, they had them lined up by actor \u2014 Thompson on the left and Branagh on the right. They ultimately flipped the negative on the second pair as it actually makes the most sense keeping in line with the film\u2019s past lives narrative.<\/p>\n<h3 class=\"graf graf--h3\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Best_in_Context-Free_Commentary\"><\/span>Best in Context-Free Commentary<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p class=\"graf graf--p graf--startsWithDoubleQuote\">\u201cThe script had been through a number of directors, let\u2019s put it that way.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI had fun.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cRobin Williams, very free with improvisation, and I tried feebly to keep up with him.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAnother terrible in-joke coming up I\u2019m afraid, but I couldn\u2019t resist it.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cUsed to love doing these scissor shots.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe\u2019s a baddie, you see.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis is a good moment in a movie like this, I think, he says immodestly.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOh hello, that\u2019ll be the villain, right on cue.\u201d<\/p>\n<h3 class=\"graf graf--h3\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Final_Thoughts\"><\/span>Final Thoughts<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p class=\"graf graf--p\"><em>Dead Again<\/em> remains a terrifically fun thriller that takes big swings in its story and style, and if you can get onboard its wavelength there\u2019s much entertainment to be found. Branagh\u2019s commentary sees him honest about his shortcomings as a green director, but it also highlights the thought and effort that went into the production. It\u2019s a good listen, and it\u2019s just one of two commentaries on the disc as another features Doran and Frank. This new Blu-ray is definitely worth a pick up from fans.<\/p>\n<p class=\"graf graf--p\">Read more Commentary Commentary from the archives.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<blockquote><p><strong><span style=\"color: #ff6600;\">If you liked the article, do not forget to share it with your friends. 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In this edition, Rob Hunter revisits Kenneth Branagh\u2019s Hollywood debut, Dead Again! Kenneth Branagh\u2018s shift from indie Shakespeare champion to populist film director has seen&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":159635,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/filmschoolrejects.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/dead-again.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[22447,90261,7677],"class_list":["post-159634","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-social-mediaa","tag-commentary-commentary","tag-dead-again","tag-kenneth-branagh"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/159634","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=159634"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/159634\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/159635"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=159634"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=159634"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=159634"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}