by Yazmin Ghonaim

FROM HELL Albert and Allen Hughes (2001) From Hell revamps the mysterious case of the notorious nineteenth century serial killer, Jack the Ripper, and offers a speculative exploration of the murderer's identity and motivations. Based on the acclaimed 1999 graphic novel by Alan Moore (originally published as a ten-part series in the periodical Taboo), From Hell transports viewers to the Whitechapel district of London in 1888, and submerges them inside the grim underworlds of prostitutes, pimps, opium houses and insane asylums. However, since the film's plot examines possible clues leading to Jack the Ripper along an indiscriminate cross-section of society, it rises from above the sordid life of poverty, disease and crime on the streets --that is, from hell-- and reaches upward to the highly elitist and intriguingly secretive universes of respectable medical research institutes, of the Order of Freemasons, and of the royal family of Buckingham Palace. Faced with the enormous task of tracking the elusive Ripper, Sergeant Peter Godley (Robbie Coltrane) recruits Inspector Fred Abberline (Johnny Depp: Chocolat; Sleepy Hollow; The Ninth Gate), whose questionable and unconventional methods for interpreting evidence involve intuition and dream visions. (From Hell emphasizes the surreal quality of the opium-addicted detective's fantasies and hallucinations, often by using stop-framed editing and dramatic light and shadow). Struggling with his own emotional burdens (he had lost his wife as she underwent labor) Abberline carries forth a personal sense of tragedy as he studies the female victims' eviscerated bodies. Especially drawn to Mary Kelly (Heather Graham: Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me; Boogie Nights), one of the few remaining prostitutes of the district, Abberline heightens his commitment to finding the man behind the gruesome --yet extremely meticulous and methodical-- killings, and to uncovering the reasons for his preference for prostitutes. Applying what his superiors describe as "a cheap sort of intelligence", Abberline arrives indiscriminately at the conclusion that the serial killer exhibits sophisticated knowledge of human anatomy. Defensively, the ruling class rejects Abberline's offensive theories that allow him to associate the criminal with the educated class. Nevertheless, Abberline has gained access to the advice of Sir William Gull (Ian Holm: The Sweet Hereafter; Joe Gould's Secret), physician to the royal family, who confirms that the killer's skills extend beyond those of a common butcher and reflect a concern for ritualistic killing. Abberline steps on dangerous ground, however, when his research seems to support a number of scandalous conspiracy theories. From Hell, which refers to the return address on a letter written by Jack the Ripper, benefits from appropriate costumes and realistic settings. (Shooting locations included historical castles outside of Prague and sets recreated the Whitechapel district, where the real-life murders occurred.) Yet the film most effectively establishes the psychologically unhealthy atmosphere of the time and place. From Hell exposes the disturbing reality of extreme poverty, as particularly experienced by the set of prostitutes who prove to be in most danger of street violence. Directors Albert and Allen Hughes, best known for their acclaimed film Menace II Society, describe From Hell as a "ghetto story", for "...it concerns poverty, violence and corruption, which are themes [that] fascinate us...We're revealing [this story] from the perspective of the people who lived in squalor, in the neighborhood where this terror was inflicted." The film furthers its overall morbid ambiance by stressing the unchecked intervention of a powerful medical and scientific community that regulates --mostly via brain experiments-- the behavior of its physically and morally "defective" citizens. (In one scene, a prostitute who claims to be impregnated by a member of the royal family is "appeased" with brain surgery. In another scene, the presence of John Merrick --a.k.a. "The Elephant Man"-- suggests the need for scientific participation in the wretched lives of such individuals.) In addition to the horridness of these representations, From Hell visualizes with increasingly visceral detail each subsequent murder scene (often after showing how the victim is lured with an attractive cluster of plump grapes), yet is nevertheless unable to avoid falling into a repetitive cycle that seems to hinder plot advancement more so than heighten suspense or anguish. Similarly, the film invalidates its investment of realism in the murder depictions, as it ultimately aims at accentuating the horror by shifting attention away from the murders and toward the identity of the murderer. This inconsistency of interests (which is crystallized in the last murder scene, where the Ripper is finally identified and where his madness reaches a climactic point, culminating in the most barbaric and ritualistic of all the murders), reduces From Hell to an elaborate dramatization that simply reacts to the question: How can such an educated person be capable of such morbid crimes? Never quite answering the question it painstakingly raises (and often deviating from it by wandering through a subplot of an inconsequential love story), From Hell nevertheless offers a fairly conscientious revision of the always sensationalist case of Jack the Ripper.		DVD Music Books Search by keywords:
Outstanding Features: Photography, Set Design, Costume Design From Hell Movie Review © 2001 Cinephiles - All rights reserved Photo © 2001 20th Century Fox You may find more information on this film at: Landmark Theatres