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From Hell
***
Cinema Releases - February 8, 2002
Rated on a 4-star scale. Certificate 18. 121
minutes. Directed by Albert Hughes, Allen Hughes. Written by Terry Hayes,
Rafael Yglesias; based on the comic book series by Alan Moore, Eddie Campbell.
Starring Johnny Depp, Heather Graham, Ian Holm, Ian Richardson, Robbie Coltrane,
Lesley Sharp, Susan Lynch, Katrin Cartlidge.
"From Hell" is a vivid, loud and
gory telling of the Jack the Ripper story featuring extreme close-ups of
newsprint, eyes and faces, on top of views of blood-red skies and stylised
but nonetheless grotesque images of Victorian London's gutters, asylums and
murders. This is a movie of gusto, with a bold orchestral score, rich
cinematography and ominous shots of crying ravens.
The film assumes the structure of a procedural
drama and uses it as a vehicle for effectively exaggerated atmosphere and
style. Johnny Depp plays the inspector in charge of the case, a strange cop
who indulges in laudanum, absinthe and opium, and follows visions instead
of hunches. The prostitutes being pursued by the Ripper are played by Heather
Graham, Lesley Sharp, Susan Lynch and Katrin Cartlidge -- actresses with
surface beauty that makes them endlessly watchable, and talent that allows
them to possess the grime of their surroundings.
"From Hell" subscribes to the theory that the
Ripper murders were the result of a conspiracy to dispose of witnesses to
the illicit marriage of Prince Edward and a common prostitute -- the goriness
of the murders was the result of Masonic ritual, and the killings stopped
so suddenly because the mission was perceived to be complete. My limited
knowledge of the Ripper case leads me to believe that the Masonic theory
is the one that makes the most sense -- it's also the most cinematic, featuring
cutaways to rooms of portentous ceremony and giving rise to a feeling of
things closing in on the characters. Ironic, considering today's royal scandals,
that Edward's seedy affair was thought to have the potential to "rip the
empire to pieces."
Depp is fascinating in the lead role -- ethereal
and meditative in a way that never drifts into self-parody but still somehow
feels like it's giving us the slightest of winks. Robbie Coltrane, as Depp's
partner, is a slightly more animated and down-to-earth complement, talking
in straightforward terms and making sure Depp doesn't completely fly away
into the world of poetic mysticism. Heather Graham stands out among the actresses
playing the prostitutes, mixing her innate feistiness and sex appeal with
true grit and an entertainingly theatrical Cockney accent. Ian Holm gives
a wonderful supporting performance as the only man in high society with the
slightest genuine manners -- but manners, of course, aren't
everything.
The story of Jack the Ripper has been filmed more
than thirty times before. Most of those movies use the same damn images
(smog-filled streets and shadows of a guy with a knife and a hat) to make
the same damn point (Jack was a scary guy, and his identity is a complete
mystery). "From Hell", based on an acclaimed graphic novel, is bold enough
to delve into theories and relationships, and do so with operatic grandiose.
The movie was directed by the Hughes brothers, who made "Menace II Society"
and "Dead Presidents", and now memorably declare that they are in no way
limited to telling tales of black America.
COPYRIGHT©
2002 Ian Waldron-Mantgani
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