It was probably the mere presence of Johnny Depp that attracted me to watch a movie decade old. Depp has always been an actor who has the tendency to play the most eccentric characters ever written in the near times. However “From Hell” was done at a time before most of Depp’s legendary feats were ever screened. I would like to look at this production with a mindset from the year 2001.
Inspector Fredrick Abberline, who has quite an unorthodox talent in solving his cases, is shown to us as a Dragon Chaser (Liking/addiction to opium).Woken out of an opium daze by a handful across his face by his colleague Sergeant Peter Godly; Inspector Abberline is entrusted with the task of solving a murder mystery (A murder of an unfortunate (whore) from the slums of White Chapel in 1888 England).Sergeant Godly & Inspector Abberline bravely takes on the darkest hidden fraternal secrets in this twisted tale and paves their own destiny to the ferryman.
Unlike most of the movies I have discussed, I felt a different commendation is required on the decent production. I was fairly impressed equally by the efforts of the crew just as I was of the cast. Explicitly I need to do just to the outstanding detail in the costuming of the Victorian era. As I said before a decade ago such detail would have been only seen in productions like “The Gladiator”, “Brave Heart” and maybe in “Robin Hood – Prince of thieves”. Costume Designer Kym Barret (Who designed for “The Matrix”) and her team have done their home work in adding the extra detail to the fantastic job. Her efforts alongside with efforts of the Cinematography team bring the centuries old Whitechapel into your living room. The spectacular skyline of England with the Big Ben and the Abbey in it are just a few moments where it took the movie closer to the realism of 1888.. I personally feel this is the “Sherlock Holmes” of the yester decade. However I do not want to mislead you, “Sherlock Holmes” has its very iconic advance in terms of plot and Cinemax (effects in terms I like). Yet, the characters of Inspector Abberline, Sergeant Godly and the set design (Props, Cinemax & costuming) are very much the Holmes, Watson and their set design 8 years later.
Returning back to where I started off – Johnny Depp. At the time this movie was done, “Pirates of the Caribbean” was still on the drawing boards. Depp is yet to come out with his most spoken over portrayal of Jack Sparrow. Never the less, Depp brings out a character of calm & sharp inspector who is in control of his case and who knows where to look. With additional Psychic advancements he is bestowed, Depp does to me a very confident Inspector Abberline. That being said, I was a bit distracted with his whole beard twist gesture, which was profoundly funny and I felt he could have done without it! A simple character that could have been done by many stars at that time yet was the responsibility of Depp – he did it justice. If you are a fan of Johnny Depp and you like mystery movies and have not yet watched this decent production, I say, it’s a nice way to spend an afternoon.
Title: From Hell (2001)
Directed by: The Hughes Brothers
Starring: Johnny Depp, Heather Graham, Ian Holm, Robbie Coltrane
Rated: R for strong violence/gore, sexuality, language & drug content
Rating: 06/10