The Pale blue eye is an American dark murder mystery movie set in 1830 with a twist touched by tragedy. The actors are so fine in delivering what is expected, be it the reticent detective, the charming bright poet, the conventional army officials, or the suspenseful peculiar family. Set back in the past with the snowy winter backdrop, forest-clad West Point Military Academy add the gothic vibe to the thrilling conundrum.
The actual gloomy Edgar Allan Poe references can be seen surrounding the barbaric murders, though the fictional cadet in the movie E.A. Poe has only the poetic influence of the actual Poe on him. A few scenes are disturbing with a creepy eeriness and the pace of the movie is slow. It is based on the novel written by Louis Bayard. The period movies like pale blue eye set back in the past add a classic note to them, creating the aura for the audience to feel like a book has come to life narrating itself.
Genre: Dark Mystery, Tragedy, Drama, Thriller
Cast: Christian Bale as Detective, Harry Melling as Edgar Allan Poe, Lucy Boynton as Lea Marquis, Toney Jones as Dr Daniel Marquis, Gillian Anderson as Mrs Julia Marquis
Written by: Scott Cooper( for the screen ), Louis Bayard( Writer of the novel The Pale Blue Eye )
Directed by: Scott Cooper
Cinematography: Masanobu Takayanagi
Music director: Howard Shore
Rating: R (Bloody Images|Some Violent Content)
Release Date (Theaters): Dec 23, 2022, USA
Release Date (Streaming): Jan 6, 2023
Available on: Netflix
Runtime: 2h 10m
Synopsis
The screenplay, adapts Louis Bayard’s 2003 novel, The Pale Blue Eye.
The film opens in 1830 with Augustus Landor (Christian Bale), a retired detective called to West Point, New York, to the United States Military Academy, to investigate the death and violation of a cadet’s body. Leroy Fry a cadet of the academy hung himself in the woods, following that incident his heart was skillfully removed from his body. Upon worrying about the reputation of the academy, officials hire detective Landor. In the presence of the incharge Dr Marquis, detective Landor examines and finds a torn piece of note in fry’s fist which helps him prove that Fry was lured by an invitation into the woods by the murderer.
A curious cadet Edgar Allan Poe( Harry Melling) who has a penchant for poetry meets Landor. The detective asks cadet E.A. Poe to help with the case. Meanwhile few animals were murdered to make the scene look more like a cult. For further investigation, Landor and Poe refer to the library and find out about a book about Satanic worship.
Cadet Poe remembers he saw Lea Marquis the daughter of Dr Marquis, the morning after Fry’s death outside the academy. Mesmerised by Lea’s beauty, cadet Poe finds the ongoing investigation to be a good chance to get closer to Lea and find out what happened. Dr Marquis’s son Artemus too trains at the academy and his friend Ballinger who had a crush on Lea gets brutally murdered in the woods, the night after he attacks cadet Poe enviously for getting closer to Lea. The next day one of the cadets named Stoddard runs away from the academy.
Poe learns Lea was suffering from an incurable sickness, and Landor discovers the Doctors’ family was suspicious and confronts Dr Marquis by asking about the actual book of satanic worship present at their home. Lea and Artemus kidnap Poe and tried to take his heart for their worship ritual to make Lea healthy in the presence of Mrs Marquis, Landor saves Poe and a fire breaks out in the clash where Lea and her brother die. Mrs Marquis and the doctor were spared by the jury as their blamed children already died. Detective Landor gets relieved from his investigation duty.
Plot Twist
But the story doesn’t end here. The enigma surrounding the detective makes grieving Poe who is heartbroken by Lea’s death realise that the note was written by detective Landor to lure Cadet Fry. Landor accepts in front of Poe and explains how he was responsible for all the murders. He invited and killed Fry in the woods but he didn’t know the doctor in the morgue removed Fry’s heart to worship for the health of his daughter. To his surprise, Landor was called for investigation which gave him a chance to blame the person who took Fry’s heart. Including the animals, he killed Ballinger too.
The tragedy in the movie is the reason why the revengeful Detective is the one who actually committed the murders. Landor’s daughter died by suicide in trauma after being raped by Leroy Fry, Ballinger and the cadet who ran away. Vengeance led detective Landor to kill them but heartbroken Poe leaves the detective alone for hiding the truth and blaming Marquis’s family for everything. In the end, Landor goes to the same spot on the cliff from where her daughter jumped and tries to enact the same but it is left for interpretation if he actually jumped or not.
Rating
Sublime rating: 3.5/ 5
Rotten Tomatoes: 62%
IMDb: 6.6/10
Whose pale blue eyes inspired the title of the movie?
In the movie which is based on Louis Bayard’s novel The Pale Blue Eye,
one of the characters, Edgar Allan Poe writes a poem for his love, Lea Marquis to which he gives the title Pale Blue Eye referring to Lea’s beautiful eyes.
Fantastic movie.