❝You of all people know that the people we lost... are always with us... Man will do most anything to cheat death, won't he?❞
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I was surprised to see so many negative reviews for The Pale Blue Eye considering the stacked cast and interesting trailer, so I went into it with low expectations; thankfully the 2 hour experience was very entertaining.
I haven't read the book, so I don't know if this is a faithful adaptation, but I thought the plot was great, if a little predictable towards the end. It would've been nice to see more interactions between Edgar and the other cadets, to establish his character's 'weirdness' a bit better, as well as more with Lea to explain why he gelled so well with her and deepen their relationship. In regards to Augustus, I think fleshing out his bond with Mattie would also have made her death more impactful; perhaps seeing them lean on each other after his wife/her mother's death leading up to the incident would make Augustus' actions even more justified.
Christian Bale always delivers, and his role as grizzly and jaded detective Augustus Landor was no exception. Harry Melling, though, was a dark horse who stole the show; his performance as Edgar Allen Poe was outstanding and entirely convincing. The rest of the cast also did good jobs, and I wish we could've seen more of Gillian Anderson.
The costuming was fantastic, and paired with the great architecture immersed me in the time period of 1830. I think the locations were perfectly chosen for each scene too. The cinematography was beautiful: the use of natural lighting and dark and drab colour palette created an ominous atmosphere which absolutely added to the twisty plot. I also loved that candles/old-fashioned lamps were the primary source of light; although they were historically accurate, they also contrasted with the cold hues of the snowy environments, as well as casting shadows which added to the creepiness of certain scenes.
Altogether this is an overlooked and well-acted Netflix film with sombre themes and grisly encounters.
❝You of all people know that the people we lost... are always with us... Man will do most anything to cheat death, won't he?❞
• ───── ✬✥✬ ───── •
I was surprised to see so many negative reviews for The Pale Blue Eye considering the stacked cast and interesting trailer, so I went into it with low expectations; thankfully the 2 hour experience was very entertaining.
I haven't read the book, so I don't know if this is a faithful adaptation, but I thought the plot was great, if a little predictable towards the end. It would've been nice to see more interactions between Edgar and the other cadets, to establish his character's 'weirdness' a bit better, as well as more with Lea to explain why he gelled so well with her and deepen their relationship. In regards to Augustus, I think fleshing out his bond with Mattie would also have made her death more impactful; perhaps seeing them lean on each other after his wife/her mother's death leading up to the incident would make Augustus' actions even more justified.
Christian Bale always delivers, and his role as grizzly and jaded detective Augustus Landor was no exception. Harry Melling, though, was a dark horse who stole the show; his performance as Edgar Allen Poe was outstanding and entirely convincing. The rest of the cast also did good jobs, and I wish we could've seen more of Gillian Anderson.
The costuming was fantastic, and paired with the great architecture immersed me in the time period of 1830. I think the locations were perfectly chosen for each scene too. The cinematography was beautiful: the use of natural lighting and dark and drab colour palette created an ominous atmosphere which absolutely added to the twisty plot. I also loved that candles/old-fashioned lamps were the primary source of light; although they were historically accurate, they also contrasted with the cold hues of the snowy environments, as well as casting shadows which added to the creepiness of certain scenes.
Altogether this is an overlooked and well-acted Netflix film with sombre themes and grisly encounters.
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