It is said that Edgar Allan Poe— the first known writer to have been paid for his work in the 18th century— was fascinated or, more accurately, feared death, thus the inspiration for his career delving into the macabre and the grotesque.
His writings have influenced countless generations of writers, including the author of the book The Pale Blue Eye, Louis Bayard.
His work was adapted for a Netflix movie, which piqued my curiosity, not because of the movie’s literary reference to the writer as mentioned earlier — who happens to be one of the characters portrayed in the book— but because of the brilliant actor who plays the lead role in the movie, Christian Bale.
The Pale Blue Eye perfectly casts Bale as Augustus Landor — a constable renowned in military circles for investigating and solving murders and complicated crimes with unparalleled skill. He is requested to lend his expertise to West Point (the top military school in the United States), which was rocked by a grizzly murder of a cadet.
Sullen and deeply scarred, Landor uses his uncanny ability to detect bullshit from anybody. He was known to have made a murder suspect admits to his crime just by staring at him, according to a dialogue between Landor and cadet Edgar Allan Poe, played by the eerily talented Harry Melling.
Bale— post-Batman— is a once-in-a-lifetime talent. He is known to take method acting to the extreme. Disturbingly thin as rails, his character in the Machinist exemplifies how far this dude will go in looking the part and immersing himself into character.
Lest we remember his implosion in the set of Terminator Salvation, where a recording was leaked on YouTube, he can be heard angrily giving the director of photography a piece of his mind.
This combustible dedication from the actor always manages to come through in his performances; this movie is so fascinating to watch.
“It was just every day working with Christian, the most generous of actors, to work out what this relationship was. It was a real joy.” co-star Harry Melling told Yahoo Canada about Bale.
You can’t help but wonder whether society has become desensitized from all the violence we see daily online. Director Scott Cooper’s visceral treatment of the scene where the medical pathologist carves up the chest of the murderer’s victim can be listed as one of the more disturbing things seen on TV.
Faithful to the source material from Poe, this reached the threshold of horror we should expect from the revered 18th-century writer.
“The boundaries which divide Life from Death are at best shadowy and vague. Who shall say where the one ends and where the other begins?” Poe poignantly and eloquently writes in his story The Premature Burial.
The murder mystery story is anchored on the famous poet’s words, setting the tone for the movie. From the hanging of a cadet, his carved-up chest, a missing heart, and the suspicious introduction of Edgar Allan Poe’s fictional namesake, one is left with more questions.
Each character becomes a target of your skepticism. The way the story circles back to a moment, a piece of evidence, a reaction, or an inconsistency of the protagonist’s actions somehow reflects the dreariness of examining one’s life and death.
Surprisingly towards the end, there will be a crucial moment of clarity and melancholy, as you would expect, at the very least from something inspired by Poe’s work.
You would recognize Gillian Anderson for her work in the long-running TV series the X-files. Her character as the overly protective and fanatical mother of a cadet and sickly daughter was sublime, if not as disturbing, as someone took over by an alien.
You know there is something wrong with her that you can’t pinpoint initially after her character is introduced, but you know that lady has got some issues.
This brings us to the point that as much as the clues are laid out for you to see, how they are revealed is still quite satisfying.
3 out of 5 stars for this dark Edgar Allan Poe-driven mystery period piece.
