Character Analysis
(Avoiding Spoilers)
Grew Up… in Ireland initially. When he was nine, James and his family moved to the United States. But his father ended up deserting his family soon after that and returned to Ireland to commit suicide. This forced James to grow up fast and take care of his family working in a machine shop. Needless to say, his family never had any money growing up, which contributed to James’ miserly ways today.
Living… at his summer house with his wife, Mary, in the early 1900’s. His sons Edmund and Jamie are grown up now, but they have both recently come back home to live with them. Jamie is home for the summer because he has no job and needs a place to stay, while Edmund, more distressingly, has been feeling very ill. Tonight, everyone has gathered together in the living room.
Profession… former Broadway star. James rose from poverty to become a successful and critically acclaimed actor. James was the lead actor in a play that showcased his acting talent years ago, and he subsequently toured the country with it. James, now in his old age, is frustrated that he's became pigeonholed into this one part. He did it for the money, but he wonders if that was the right thing to do. As he says to Edmund, "What the hell was it I wanted to buy, I wonder, that was worth – well, no matter. It's a late day for regrets."
Interests… Shakespeare, whiskey, and pinching his pennies.
Relationship Status… married to Mary. James and Mary had been happy in the past, but their marriage has deteriorated over the years. After she gave birth, Mary developed a morphine habit she has never been able to kick. And now Mary has just come back home after another stint at a treatment facility. Although she appears healthier, she's still got some leftover anxiety from her addiction, a certain restlessness, and insomnia.
Challenge… dealing with his family. His wife is an addict, Jamie loathes him, and Edmund is getting sicker and sicker. And James is slowly coming to realize that he is partly responsible for how dysfunctional his family is. He is going to need some more whiskey to get through the night.
Personality… opinionated, proud, and self-involved. James cares about his family, but he cares ultimately the most about himself. He finds it hard to accept other options and constantly berates his sons about their choices. Overall, he has good intentions, but his actions at times lead to more harm than good.
Get to Know him in...
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Adaptation of Eugene O'Neill's play.
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The film follows one day in the lives of the Tyrone family, each member is troubled and has been damaged by alcohol and/or drugs. In addition, they have issues with each other that lead to fights and an inability to reconcile completely with one another.
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Eugene O'Neill's autobiographical play Long Day's Journey into Night is regarded as his finest work. First published by Yale University Press in 1956, it won the Pulitzer Prize in 1957 and has since sold more than one million copies. This edition, which includes a new foreword by Harold Bloom, coincides with a new production of the play starring Brian Dennehy, which opens in Chicago in January 2002 and in New York in April. "By common consent, Long Day's Journey into Night is Eugene O'Neill's masterpiece. . . . The helplessness of family love to sustain, let alone heal, the wounds of marriage, of parenthood, and of sonship, have never been so remorselessly and so pathetically portrayed, and with a force of gesture too painful ever to be forgotten by any of us."--Harold Bloom, from the foreword "Only an artist of O'Neill's extraordinary skill and perception can draw the curtain on the secrets of his own family to make you peer into your own. Long Day's Journey into Night is the most remarkable achievement of one of the world's greatest dramatists."--Jose Quintero "The play is an invaluable key to its author's creative evolution. It serves as the Rosetta Stone of O'Neill's life and art."--Barbara Gelb "The definitive edition of a 'play of old sorrow, written in tears and blood, ' as O'Neill described it in dedicating it to his wife, Carlotta."--Boston Globe
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Luo Hongwu returns to Kaili, the hometown from which he fled many years ago. He begins the search for the woman he loved, and whom he has never been able to forget.
