Film Review : FROM HELL * * * 1/2
From Hell (2001)
CAST Johnny Depp, Heather Graham, Ian Holm
DIRECTOR The Hughes Brothers
From Hell brings to light one certain angle that could have been the circumstances involved ith Jack The Ripper.
This is a fictitious account of The Jack The Ripper murders as seen through the eyes of the talented Hughes brothers directing duo. It stars Johnny depp as Inspector Abberline, a young opium addicted detective, who claims that under the influence he dreams answers to cases he works on. He meets Mary Kelly (Graham), a prostitue working in the white chapel district of London. Her friends in the prostitution business are one by one being killed in a most gruesome manner. Her and others feel it might be done her "pimp". However, the film doesn't really explore that option. The film suggests a politically angled theory, which seems all too possible in the film's depiction.
The performance are all strong. However the film doe not take off right away, and there are moments of confusion in the first thirty minutes. It's really hard to tell where the picture is trying to go. it does recover from that as the murders begin to happen and the actual investigating begins to take a shape. There are twists and surprises in this film. It carries an eerie feeling through out. The job Heather Graham and Johnny Depp do with the accents is exceptional. The directing is a high point with this movie. With the Hughes brothers doing a film that is not in their regular element of young blacks in a drug and gang atmosphere, this movie shows that these young men are more than one dimensional. The cinematography is excellent as with the art direction. it looks like we are in late nineteenth century London, England. Their is a mystery here. One that keeps you tangled up with it, scene by scene and shot by shot. The gore is softened by our imaginations, which in a sense makes it more horrible to our senses. i was very pleased with this film. A true murder mystery with quality performances and a sincere script.
