The Raven (film)
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1paradoxosalpha
Is anybody here itching to see The Raven? I'm of mixed minds about it, and the press has been pretty lukewarm. Generally, police procedurals aren't my thing, even if they are set in the 19th century with a great author as a central character.
2RandyStafford
Yes, I'm going to go this weekend. I'm just putting my critical faculties on hold and going with it.
I do find it curious that, like two other movies I've seen about Poe, it seems to be set to to portray him as a humorless only child -- instead of a guy who was a middle child who wrote a lot of humorous (at least for the time) stuff.
Slate had an article about the movie today which mentioned three other Poe-as-hero movies which I had never even heard of. And they all seem to have Poe as sort of a detective.
Poe: Last Days of the Raven was a pretty good movie from a few years ago. It mixed dramatisations of Poe's stories with his life. (You have to buy the movie directly from the filmmaker. I don't think it's been released by a major distributor yet.)
The Raven (1915) is not a very good biopic either. Based on a play, it's more of a temperance tract than anything else.
Eric Woolfson, formerly of the Alan Parsons Project, did a stage project called Poe which I've seen on dvd. It's worth a look since it combines music based on his life with dramatisations of his stories. It really plays around with a largely fallacious notion of Poe as opium addict. The Alan Parsons Project's Tales of Mystery and Imagination is better as a musical work based on Poe.
I do find it curious that, like two other movies I've seen about Poe, it seems to be set to to portray him as a humorless only child -- instead of a guy who was a middle child who wrote a lot of humorous (at least for the time) stuff.
Slate had an article about the movie today which mentioned three other Poe-as-hero movies which I had never even heard of. And they all seem to have Poe as sort of a detective.
Poe: Last Days of the Raven was a pretty good movie from a few years ago. It mixed dramatisations of Poe's stories with his life. (You have to buy the movie directly from the filmmaker. I don't think it's been released by a major distributor yet.)
The Raven (1915) is not a very good biopic either. Based on a play, it's more of a temperance tract than anything else.
Eric Woolfson, formerly of the Alan Parsons Project, did a stage project called Poe which I've seen on dvd. It's worth a look since it combines music based on his life with dramatisations of his stories. It really plays around with a largely fallacious notion of Poe as opium addict. The Alan Parsons Project's Tales of Mystery and Imagination is better as a musical work based on Poe.
3semdetenebre
Here is Ebert's take:
The Raven
Sounds like a case for Poe
Release Date: 2012
Ebert Rating: **
By Roger Ebert Apr 25, 2012
On Oct. 3, 1849, Edgar Allan Poe was found wandering the streets of Baltimore, raving and incoherent. He died on Oct. 7, at age 40. His death was about as much of a surprise as the passing of such modern icons as Kurt Cobain and Amy Winehouse. Poe was an acute alcoholic, particularly fond by the notorious spirit absinthe. He also used opium and who knows what other substances, and as a man supported only by his writings, may have been badly nourished. This is a lifestyle known to lend itself to incoherent wanderings.
"The Raven," a feverish costume thriller, attempts to explain Poe's death by cobbling together spare parts from thrillers about serial killers. It should not be mistaken for a movie about Edgar Allan Poe, although to be sure, he buys a drink for a man in a tavern who is able to complete this line of poetry: "Quoth the raven…" When I heard that John Cusack had been cast for this film, it sounded like good news: I could imagine him as Poe, tortured and brilliant, lashing out at a cruel world. But that isn't the historical Poe the movie has in mind. It is a melodramatic Poe, calling for the gifts of Nicolas Cage.
The film opens with Poe on a Baltimore park bench, beneath a tree limb holding a large, malevolent raven. Mad magazine would know what to do with that image. Then it flashes back to Poe, broke and in serious need of a drink, bursting into a tavern and expecting to imbibe on credit. He boasts of his fame, issues "The Raven"-quoting challenge and immediately establishes himself as a disappointment to those who find Poe a complex and fascinating man.
Poe wrote fiction that is read for pleasure to this day. He has possibly inspired more movies than anyone except Shakespeare. In "The Raven," we quickly meet one of his editors, Henry Maddox (Kevin McNally), editor of a trashy Baltimore tabloid, who orders Poe to return to the lurid horror tales he's famous for, instead of his more introspective recent stuff. Poe soon finds the inspiration for macabre material.
Two women are discovered murdered in a locked room. Emmett Fields (Luke Evans), the detective on the case, discovers that the killer must have escaped in the same way used in Poe's "The Murders in the Rue Morgue." It has slipped from Fields' memory that the killer in that tale was an orangutan, but never mind: Poe becomes a suspect. Shortly after, a man is discovered sliced in two in the manner used in Poe's "The Pit and the Pendulum." It is a grievous death: The victim cries out that he is too insignificant to justify such a laborious means of death; after all, he screams, "I'm only a critic."
Now Poe and Fields find themselves working in tandem, since the killer is apparently a man willing to go to much trouble to draw attention to the works of Poe. A rich young woman named Emily (Alice Eve) is kidnapped, and ransom notes demand that Poe write an account of their investigation for Henry Maddox's scandal sheet. "The Raven" now indulges in a plot that will remind you of any number of serial-killer movies, in which we're expected to believe that a madman goes to astonishing trouble while killing a lot of people simply to devise an elegant puzzle for the hero to solve. This can work nicely, as in "Se7en," but in "The Raven," it is all concoction, a device to link Edgar Allan Poe with modern serial-killer formulas and shovel in a great deal of special-effects violence.
The use of sensational effects may be a temptation for a director like James McTeigue, whose first feature, "V for Vendetta" (2005), was actually pretty good. They create a problem of proportion for a period film like this, where personality and atmosphere should create suspense; extreme violence is unnecessary, although I realize that at least some Friday-night moviegoers will be hoping for it and have only a vague notion of when 1849 might have been.
http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20120425/REVIEWS/12042...
The Raven
Sounds like a case for Poe
Release Date: 2012
Ebert Rating: **
By Roger Ebert Apr 25, 2012
On Oct. 3, 1849, Edgar Allan Poe was found wandering the streets of Baltimore, raving and incoherent. He died on Oct. 7, at age 40. His death was about as much of a surprise as the passing of such modern icons as Kurt Cobain and Amy Winehouse. Poe was an acute alcoholic, particularly fond by the notorious spirit absinthe. He also used opium and who knows what other substances, and as a man supported only by his writings, may have been badly nourished. This is a lifestyle known to lend itself to incoherent wanderings.
"The Raven," a feverish costume thriller, attempts to explain Poe's death by cobbling together spare parts from thrillers about serial killers. It should not be mistaken for a movie about Edgar Allan Poe, although to be sure, he buys a drink for a man in a tavern who is able to complete this line of poetry: "Quoth the raven…" When I heard that John Cusack had been cast for this film, it sounded like good news: I could imagine him as Poe, tortured and brilliant, lashing out at a cruel world. But that isn't the historical Poe the movie has in mind. It is a melodramatic Poe, calling for the gifts of Nicolas Cage.
The film opens with Poe on a Baltimore park bench, beneath a tree limb holding a large, malevolent raven. Mad magazine would know what to do with that image. Then it flashes back to Poe, broke and in serious need of a drink, bursting into a tavern and expecting to imbibe on credit. He boasts of his fame, issues "The Raven"-quoting challenge and immediately establishes himself as a disappointment to those who find Poe a complex and fascinating man.
Poe wrote fiction that is read for pleasure to this day. He has possibly inspired more movies than anyone except Shakespeare. In "The Raven," we quickly meet one of his editors, Henry Maddox (Kevin McNally), editor of a trashy Baltimore tabloid, who orders Poe to return to the lurid horror tales he's famous for, instead of his more introspective recent stuff. Poe soon finds the inspiration for macabre material.
Two women are discovered murdered in a locked room. Emmett Fields (Luke Evans), the detective on the case, discovers that the killer must have escaped in the same way used in Poe's "The Murders in the Rue Morgue." It has slipped from Fields' memory that the killer in that tale was an orangutan, but never mind: Poe becomes a suspect. Shortly after, a man is discovered sliced in two in the manner used in Poe's "The Pit and the Pendulum." It is a grievous death: The victim cries out that he is too insignificant to justify such a laborious means of death; after all, he screams, "I'm only a critic."
Now Poe and Fields find themselves working in tandem, since the killer is apparently a man willing to go to much trouble to draw attention to the works of Poe. A rich young woman named Emily (Alice Eve) is kidnapped, and ransom notes demand that Poe write an account of their investigation for Henry Maddox's scandal sheet. "The Raven" now indulges in a plot that will remind you of any number of serial-killer movies, in which we're expected to believe that a madman goes to astonishing trouble while killing a lot of people simply to devise an elegant puzzle for the hero to solve. This can work nicely, as in "Se7en," but in "The Raven," it is all concoction, a device to link Edgar Allan Poe with modern serial-killer formulas and shovel in a great deal of special-effects violence.
The use of sensational effects may be a temptation for a director like James McTeigue, whose first feature, "V for Vendetta" (2005), was actually pretty good. They create a problem of proportion for a period film like this, where personality and atmosphere should create suspense; extreme violence is unnecessary, although I realize that at least some Friday-night moviegoers will be hoping for it and have only a vague notion of when 1849 might have been.
http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20120425/REVIEWS/12042...
4RandyStafford
I don't know where Ebert is getting his information on Poe favoring absinthe. There is actually some dispute as to how much Poe drank. He definitely seems to have had some sort of problem with alcohol, but it may have been a metabolic disorder in processing. As for opium, I think I remember maybe one instance from bios on him where we know he took laudunum -- hardly rare for the times. (For that matter, American culture's all time per capita consumption of alcohol was, I believe, in the 1830s-1840s, so lots of people were drinking hard.)
As for the serial killer -- that's the part I'm most dreading. Serial killers bore me. For me, at least, the only variation in serial killer movies is how the victims are selected and how they're killed.
As for the serial killer -- that's the part I'm most dreading. Serial killers bore me. For me, at least, the only variation in serial killer movies is how the victims are selected and how they're killed.
5paradoxosalpha
> 2
Yes, I always liked that Alan Parsons Project LP. It was their first album, wasn't it?
Yes, I always liked that Alan Parsons Project LP. It was their first album, wasn't it?
6semdetenebre
>4 RandyStafford:,5
I did like the point about the orangutan, though. I fear that a lot of young people now will think that Poe was some kind of CSI superhero.
I did like the point about the orangutan, though. I fear that a lot of young people now will think that Poe was some kind of CSI superhero.
7RandyStafford
>5 paradoxosalpha:
Yes. It was the first album. Then they reissued it with more narration by Orson Welles. And then they released a third version which was, I believe (I'd have to check the liner notes) a remastered version of the second with alternate versions and promo material.
Yes. It was the first album. Then they reissued it with more narration by Orson Welles. And then they released a third version which was, I believe (I'd have to check the liner notes) a remastered version of the second with alternate versions and promo material.
8Soukesian
Starting from low expectations, I found this movie quite enjoyable. I'm a little baffled at the general surprise and dismay that a film in which Poe has to solve a series of murders based on his stories is unrealistic, rather silly and not a fit tribute to his genius. Theatre of Blood doesn't exactly do justice to Shakespeare either.
9semdetenebre
>8 Soukesian:
THEATER OF BLOOD doesn't feature Shakespeare as a main character. I'm also ready to go into a film with high expectations and have them fulfilled.
ETA
I'm also curious- apparently Poe the drunk is portayed in the film. Does it go into the absolutely tragic circumstances of his life in order to at least partially explain such behavior?
I think I'd like to see a true biography of the man brought to the cinema.
THEATER OF BLOOD doesn't feature Shakespeare as a main character. I'm also ready to go into a film with high expectations and have them fulfilled.
ETA
I'm also curious- apparently Poe the drunk is portayed in the film. Does it go into the absolutely tragic circumstances of his life in order to at least partially explain such behavior?
I think I'd like to see a true biography of the man brought to the cinema.
10artturnerjr
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/04/22/movies/the-tough-job-of-adapting-edgar-allan-p...
'Diluted, a nightmarish tale like “The Masque of the Red Death” can begin to feel more than a little silly, and that feeling is the plague of fantastic fiction. When the audience’s willingness to suspend disbelief is allowed to weaken, the game is up.'
'Diluted, a nightmarish tale like “The Masque of the Red Death” can begin to feel more than a little silly, and that feeling is the plague of fantastic fiction. When the audience’s willingness to suspend disbelief is allowed to weaken, the game is up.'
11semdetenebre
>10 artturnerjr:
The NYT piece provides a good overview. The silent USHER directed by Epstein (an associate of Bunuel, if memory serves) is temporarily unavailable from Netflix, but when it's available again I'll make it a priority. I have Argento's The Black Cat from TWO EVIL EYES on VHS. Maybe I'll dig that out for a retro re-watch one of these days.
The NYT piece provides a good overview. The silent USHER directed by Epstein (an associate of Bunuel, if memory serves) is temporarily unavailable from Netflix, but when it's available again I'll make it a priority. I have Argento's The Black Cat from TWO EVIL EYES on VHS. Maybe I'll dig that out for a retro re-watch one of these days.
