Film Review: Christian Bale and Harry Melling in Scott Cooper’s “The Pale Blue Eye”

Early American-style murder is emphatically served cold The pale blue eye, an imaginatively gruesome account of murders at the United States Military Academy at West Point, circa 1832, which attracted the attention of one Edgar Allan Poe, among others. Beautifully crafted in the dead of winter and generally adept at playing its dramatic cards, the film’s plot derives from its unusual academic background, the ritualistic whimsy of the murders, the characters’ intelligence and the admittedly narrow-minded depiction of the United States just growing. on his feet.

In his sixth and third feature films starring Christian Bale, director Scott Cooper deftly juggles dramatic balls, but drags the final scene forward rather than rushing to its climax, resulting in drama with good and special qualities rather than accelerating his climax. than one that is really exciting. The film opens in select locations on December 23rd and should attract a solid following when it’s released on Netflix on January 6th.

After a gruesome murder in West Point, the veteran New York detective Augustus Landor (Bale) must be called. The man sometimes seems tired enough to fall asleep at work, but nevertheless is so fascinated by the circumstances and brutality of this crime (the victim’s heart was cut out of his chest) that he cannot resist, at least a first attempt to venture into it. hand. Look. Bale’s 19th-century detective bears a certain resemblance to Robert Mitchum’s veteran cops a century later, but even this veteran pro is surprised by the uniquely gruesome circumstances of this murder.

Poe, charming and geeky played by Harry Melling, is unforgettable as Dursley Dursley in Five Harry Potter Travel and recently in The Queen’s Gambit, came along with Landor to chronicle the crime himself. Like some other great detectives of yesteryear, Poe is a heavy drinker and a true misfit with a strong will of his own, and the two peas in a pod get along just fine. You also get the feeling that Poe wants and even needs to be present at such events to better encourage his creativity and get to know his subjects from every angle.

Not long after, a second murder takes place in the Hudson Valley, in which the victim is brutally hanged and castrated. This is the point where you’d think it’s time for the film to kick into high gear, but instead it jumps into a long flashback dedicated to explaining and clarifying things. The actual ending is first spooky, then just as wonderful, and the actors are all good enough to really pay attention, although overall the film is a little short, despite a surprising climax.

In the event that The pale blue eye proved successful, it would be easy to imagine other films and series about the trials, tribulations and forbidden behavior of young cadets in the early days of West Point or other similar institutions, before they became world-renowned military giants. Meanwhile, the film takes an unusual, unusual look at a small institution before it became a global household name.