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 From Hell |
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From Hell (2001) Directed by the Hughes Brothers The movie From Hell is based on the graphic novel with the same name by Alan Moore and Eddie Campbell, and the novel is based on the famous case of Jack the Ripper. The movie is for adults, not only showing naked bodies and sex, but also a good deal of terrible slaughtering, where blood is shed bucket wise, and that in full colour close-up. It’s an extremely dirty movie showing the dirt from the end of the nineteenth century. I think most of us know the case of Jack the Ripper, but in short: in 1888, five prostitutes were killed in London’s Whitechapel. They were not just murdered, but slaughtered - ripped to pieces. The murderer has never been found. Ever since, many possible suspects have been presented to the public by so-called Ripperologists, each giving way to yet another conspiracy. The story is known, the circumstances are known, the characters are known. The movie is much like a documentary at points, showing authentic details. It follows most of the facts, but gives -like any good Ripper story- an own view on the suspect. It would be a pity if I gave away the whodunit here, so I won’t. The idea is rather clever and based on well-known conspiracies. The point of view for the story is that of inspector Abberline, who should solve the Ripper case. This inspector is played by Johnny Depp, which is quite a miscasting: the fake Cockney-accent just made me laugh. The other actors, among them some very famous, do their job very well. Pity though they couldn’t find a real redhead to play Mary Kelly, who now has ugly dyed red hair... The movie is to my taste very beautifully filmed. It’s not an action movie and runs slow, but not too slow. The camera-angles are surprising and clever. There are some fading effects that give the movie the right atmosphere. The basic colours are absinthe green, blood red, and sepia, with a lot of black and greys. This fits excellent into the story and the shabby setting of Whitechapel. This poor district of nineteenth century London is pictured very well which might bring one to original ideas for a Victorian setting. The featuring conspiracies are also inspiring. In the movie, there is place for the Royal conspiracy, for that of the Freemasons, and the “Jewish connection”, each giving a different view of Victorian society. Those who are interested in conspiracies and secret societies should do some research on the Ripper-case. Nothing is too weird there. The fantastic There are some scenes in the movie that are fantastic, sometimes even close to magic. These are dream-scenes, but more pronounced: the visions Abberline has. The inspector is chasing the dragon (using opium) and is a laudanum and absinthe junkie and he foresees the future at times, he sees the victims and other things that help him solve the case. I watched this movie with eyes that have read many a book on the Ripper case. To me, it was good fun watching it. Someone else, who was not a Ripper addict, found the story a bit hard to follow. Some disappointment may come to those who came to see Johnny Depp - he is in no way the mysterious, crazy or cute character he normally plays. Others might tell they had the wrong suspects and left out a few facts - but hey, it still is fiction and there is inner logic in the movie. Featurettes On the luxury double DVD there are featurettes that are interesting enough to get hold of this more expensive DVD. There is a “the making of”, which is not that interesting, a hilarious killer-sites tour by the Hughes Brothers themselves (they have a very twisted kind of humour), and a “View from Hell” by Heather Graham - more or less the usual stuff found on DVDs. But there is also an item about the victims of the Ripper and the Ripper suspects, that gives insight in the case. If you are not familiar with the Ripper-case, this is a very good featurette to get into it. Another item is about the graphic novel, which is a bit tempting. I mean, the novel looks pretty cool, and by seeing those pictures I wanted to buy it... even though it’s not that easy to get hold of one. Last but not least, there is an item about absinthe. Absinthe doesn’t play a big part in the movie, but the movie -and Johnny Depp in particular- did a lot for absinthe. Both From Hell and Moulin Rouge (that was released in the same period) made absinthe a cult drink in a larger circle. From Hell made people even put laudanum in their absinthe... © Yaghish 2004 |
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