Movie Review: The Pale Blue Eye
The Pale Blue Eye is a haunting period detective mystery drama from writer-director Scott Cooper, adapted from the 2003 novel of the same name by Louis Bayard. Set in the time of Edgar Allan Poe, the story picks up the breadcrumb trail after an untimely death of a cadet at a military academy, which appears to be murder. Hiring an unconventional detective to piece together the mystery behind the hang man, his methods prove to be effective even if his gruff demeanour puts him at odds with his employers.
Led by Christian Bale, a fine actor who needs no introduction, his fiercely independent spirit as a retired world-weary detective helps compel the slow unfurling of this Gothic mystery with the aid of a young Edgar Allan Poe, played with fragility and purpose by Harry Melling. The accomplished and stellar cast also encompasses the likes of Gillian Anderson, Toby Jones, Simon McBurney, Timothy Spall, Lucy Boynton and Robert Duvall, each doing a great deal with their limited screen time.
The detective duo of Augustus Landor and Edgar Allan Poe works interdependently of one another, not trying to mimic Sherlock and Watson. Set before Poe’s writing took flight, his presence in the story is a way to inform The Pale Blue Eye’s overall mood and tone, serving as a low-key origin story with many references. The focus is primarily on Landor’s ongoing investigation as his progress is stunted by the academy’s code of silence, enlisting Poe’s help as an insider to get closer to the truth.
“Ah, distinctly I remember it was in the bleak December.”
A dark period piece drama, the wintry setting, wardrobe and styling gives The Pale Blue Eye a sombre mood, moving at an old world pace using natural lighting and void of the modern affectations of crime scene investigation. A beautifully realised world of shadows and secrets, The Pale Blue Eye paints a bleak 1830 against the backdrop of a United States military academy near West Point, New York.
While the period mystery drama and slow-creeping Gothic horror is stylish, stellar and intriguing, it really is a case of ornate bookends, starting and finishing with vigour but finding a sluggish no man’s land in between. It has enough acting calibre, veiled intrigue and style to power through with a twist that redeems some of the more plodding moments. However, as much as it upscales what comes before, the big twist in the tale doesn’t seem hard-earned.
The bottom line: Beguiling
