Bringing Out the Dead

"Any call can be murder, any stop can be suicide, any night can be the last."

1999 2h 1m EN

👍

6.6

SOLID

★6.6TMDB · 1,285

Drama

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

Once called "Father Frank" for his efforts to rescue lives, Frank Pierce sees the ghosts of those he failed to save around every turn. He has tried everything he can to get fired, calling in sick, delaying taking calls where he might have to face one more victim he couldn't help, yet cannot quit the job on his own.

“Any call can be murder, any stop can be suicide, any night can be the last.”

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Cast

Nicolas Cage
Frank Pierce
Patricia Arquette
Mary Burke
John Goodman
Larry Verber
Ving Rhames
Marcus
Tom Sizemore
Tom Wolls
Marc Anthony
Noel
Mary Beth Hurt
Nurse Constance
Cliff Curtis
Cy Coates

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Martin Scorsese
Writers: Paul Schrader, Narges Takesh, John Davis
Languages: English
Countries: United States of America

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 8

MONEY

Did you know

Earned back only 52% of its budget on initial theatrical — a commercial disappointment on release.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

ERA

Did you know

27 years old — old enough to be someone's favourite childhood film.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

CAST

Did you know

221+ people credited in cast and crew — a small city's worth of labour.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by Martin Scorsese, shot by Robert Richardson. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Original score by Elmer Bernstein. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor Thelma Schoonmaker shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

CAST

Did you know

Nicolas Cage and Patricia Arquette and John Goodman carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

FACT

Did you know

Marketing tagline: "Any call can be murder, any stop can be suicide, any night can be the last.".

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Martin Scorsese directs. Robert Richardson behind the camera. Elmer Bernstein scores. Thelma Schoonmaker cuts. A commercial under-performer on release. Produced in United States of America. Dialogue in English.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

1Earned back only 52% of its budget on initial theatrical — a commercial disappointment on release.
227 years old — old enough to be someone's favourite childhood film.
3221+ people credited in cast and crew — a small city's worth of labour.
4Directed by Martin Scorsese, shot by Robert Richardson. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
5Original score by Elmer Bernstein. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
6Editor Thelma Schoonmaker shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
7Nicolas Cage and Patricia Arquette and John Goodman carry the top of the cast.
8Marketing tagline: "Any call can be murder, any stop can be suicide, any night can be the last.".
9IMDB entry: tt0163988 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
10Classified under 16 themes, including "dying and death", "new york city", "coma", "based on novel or book".

The technical file

Cinematography: Robert Richardson
Original score: Elmer Bernstein
Editing: Thelma Schoonmaker
Production design: Dante Ferretti
Costume design: Rita Ryack
Makeup / hair: Scott W. Farley
VFX supervisor: Michael Owens
Sound: Tom Fleischman
Stunt coordinator: G.A. Aguilar
Runtime: 121 min · 2h 1m
Aspect ratio (typical): 1.37:1 (Academy)
Status: Released
Budget: $32,000,000
Box office: $16,797,191
Return: 52% of budget
Original language: EN
Certification (US): R
IMDB: Bringing Out the Dead (1999)

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What people are saying

John Chard2014-06-28
★ 9/10
Powerful and engrossing cinema from a truly great team. Frank Pierce is a member of the Nork York paramedics, serving the Hell's Kitchen district he is witness to some terrible incidents. As he starts to crack under the pressure of the job, and getting no help from a succession of zany partners, Frank may just find solace with an ex-junkie girl who's father he brought in dying of a heart attack. Martin Scorsese can never be accused of not being adventurous, after dabbling in Eastern spiritualism with 1997s Kundun, he returns to New York and tackles a wing of America's tortured heroes. Based on the novel by Joe Connelly, Bringing Out The Dead is at times a difficult watch in many ways, but it's haunting poignancy is told with brilliantly adroit ease from one of America's famed directors, whilst it has to be said that the humour that is in there is darkly genius in its execution. We are along for the ride with haunted Frank for three days (and nights) as he and his borderline bonkers partners deal with overdoses, heart attacks, drunks and a notably cynical virgin birth! As Frank starts to see ghosts of people he couldn't save in the past, Scorsese and his team treat us to an adrenalin fuelled nightmare, the editing (Thelma Schoonmaker) is swift and explosive like, Robert Richardson's cinematography framing certain aspects of this journey with impacting deftness, and then we have the soundtrack. Scorsese is always a man who takes great care in sound tracking his movies, in fact few modern day directors can touch his knack for a perfect soundtrack. Fusing Motown with 70s Punk Rock would seem an odd combination, but all of it works as the paramedics start to feel the strain and (in some cases) as the mania takes hold. It's rare to hear a New York Dolls track in a movie, to hear a Johnny Thunders solo track is as rare as a dog that speaks Norwegian, and here the use of Thunders' You Can't Put Your Arms Around A Memory is pitch perfect, impacting so. Such is the use of early Clash standards as our protagonists feed off each others precarious mental conditions, it's a soundtrack to savour basically. Nicholas Cage plays Frank Pierce, and it's a great performance full of restraint and honesty, it's the sort of performance that his detractors tend to forget about such is its emotive simplicity. Tom Sizemore (wonderfully manic), Ving Rhames, John Goodman and Patricia Arquette fill out the cast and all do fine work, but I'm sure they would be the first to acknowledge the excellence of Paul Schrader's screenplay. This piece is far from being a masterpiece, but with it's intensity sitting side by side with a paramedics need for coping, it's clear that Scorsese and his talented team have made one of the most astute and undervalued pieces of the 90s. 9/10
JPV8522024-10-19
★ 4/10
Been a long time since I last watched this and according to IMDb I gave it a 3/10. With the new Paramount release on 4K, I decided to give it another watch and while I can appreciate some of the style and even performances, this one just didn't do much for me and is one of Scorsese's lesser movies. Probably won't ever revisit this one. 2.25/5