Nothing is as it seems in the new detective thriller The Pale Blue Eye. This mystery’s chilly facts are not for the faint of heart. Even the youthful Edgar Allan Poe (Harry Melling) is not spared in this case.
As Poe and detective Augustus Landor (Christian Bale) pursue a vicious killer, they discover secrets that they may wish they had never discovered. The answer to this enigma is nearly as terrible as the crimes themselves. Continue reading for an in-depth analysis of The Pale Blue Eye and what lies beyond.
The climax of The Pale Blue Eye pulls one rug out from under the viewer after another. First, it is revealed that young Lea Marquis (Lucy Boynton) removed the hearts of cadets Fry and Ballinger in a desperate bid to heal her condition by occult means.
Then, just as Landor has saved Poe from Lea and Artemus, the second shoe drops. “I hope nobody sees this coming,” says writer-director Scott Cooper to Tulum.
In the concluding scenes of the film, Poe reveals the next layer of the mystery: Lea and Artemus did indeed remove the hearts of the deceased cadets. However, they did not kill them; Augustus Landor committed that crime.
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Some keen-eyed viewers may anticipate the plot surprise, but the film’s protagonist was stunned. “I did not anticipate it,” Bale says.
The author of The Pale Blue Eye, Louis Bayard, came up with the twist. “We assume that the investigator is on our side, that he is as ignorant about the crime as we are, and that he is our proxy, in fact guiding us into this mystery,” he explains. The realization
that he knew who the killer was the entire time is, in my opinion, both enlightening and healthy.
“The governor of New York has recommended a legendary constable to discreetly solve these killings,” Cooper continues. “Over the course of the narrative, we learn that he has also suffered a big loss, which at the beginning of the film is fairly obscure; only then do we get why he did what he did.”
Landor’s daughter Mattie (portrayed by Hadley Robinson and only seen in flashbacks) recently passed away. Meanwhile, toward the conclusion of the film, Poe discovers the truth: Mattie committed suicide after being viciously attacked and raped by West Point cadets. The cadets that are slaughtered by a vengeful Landor in the film are those same cadets.
Obviously, Landor soon learns that another crime has been committed: the theft of the hearts of his victims by a third party. The disclosure provides the guilty detective with the opportunity to conceal his own crime.
Cooper was keen to play fair with the audience from the very beginning of the picture, planting breadcrumbs that would show themselves to repeat viewers. Cooper reminds us that the film begins with Christian Bale washing his hands after putting away a bloodied truncheon that he used to incapacitate someone.
“In the next scene, he returns to his cottage to find the West Point second-in-command captain waiting for him; he requests a meeting with the superintendent. Augustus Landor responds, “What if I choose not to come?” Well, you’re a private individual, so it’s your business. He believes at that time that he has been discovered.
Bayard states, “Landor’s hatred for West Point is a natural consequence of what happened to his daughter.” “I believe there are elements that make greater sense the second time through after you know the conclusion, and I hope that people will revisit it.”
For Bale, the film’s revenge-driven twist completes a loose thematic trilogy of his works with Cooper, spanning from 2013’s Out of the Furnace to 2017’s Hostiles to The Pale Blue Eye. “I view the three films that Scott and I have collaborated on as the ‘ethics of revenge trilogy,'” explains Bale. “They all share the same theme. Scott endeavors to bring order out of chaos, and he really seeks solutions.
These replies also have a profound impact on the fictitious portrayal of Poe in the film, as well as on the actor who portrays him. “The twist absolutely stunned me. “I had no clue it would transpire in such a manner,” Melling tells Tulum. “I believe that a large number of people will enjoy returning to see all these plates spinning at the same time on multiple occasions.”
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Young Edgar Allan Poe (Harry Melling) observes the night.
In the film’s fictional universe, this is also what transforms Poe from a young and cheerful guy into a familiarly sinister character. Cooper states, “I hypothesize that these occurrences affected Poe’s worldview.” “Poe frequently stated that no one is who they appear to be, and no one understood this more than Poe. And I assert that this occurred due to the last scene in this film.”
Melling agrees. “When we see him for the first time in the film, he is a very young man. He’s not guilty. “He’s really experimenting with these many personas, this identity as a young poet, with which he’s falling in love,” he explains.
In the course of the narrative, he meets Landor, who fills the vacuum in his sense of belonging. Poe’s perception of Landor’s betrayal sends him reeling and transforms this imaginary depiction of the man into the renowned dejected poet.
Cooper says, “I hope the audience feels it’s earned.” “I believe that some individuals may be troubled by the fact that the primary investigator is also the perpetrator. He undoubtedly leaves Edgar Allan Poe brokenhearted.
A morally uncertain finale for a morally ambiguous character, Landor is left standing at the same cliff edge where his daughter threw herself. Cooper finds the moment to be encouraging.
“I believe he has now accepted the death of his daughter,” he says. I believe he is following in her footsteps, but I believe he will eventually discover there is more to life. Cooper even suggests that Landor and Poe maintain their imaginary friends and that Poe creates the poem he promised his tutor at an earlier moment.
Bale, on the other hand, is rather more reticent about the film’s (literal) cliffhanger. “[It is] a return to a physically and emotionally significant location,” adds Bale. “Above and beyond that, the solution lies with each viewer. Whatever they believe, they are correct.
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