Quoth the Raven

Since I’m on Spring Break, I have found the time to watch a few movies that I’ve always wanted to see but have never taken the time to see.  Earlier this week I watched The Raven, a film directed by James McTeigue (The Matrix trilogy, V for Vendetta, Star Wars Episode II) starring John Cusack as Edgar Allen Poe.  In The Raven, a serial killer is using Poe’s literature as inspiration, matching every detail of his gruesome killings to Poe’s horror stories.  Upon the film’s ending, I found myself locked in mental discussion for a good part of the night.

The film’s depiction of Poe is interesting.  He is an underappreciated and misunderstood writer whose genius the audience accepts, but his world renounces.  He is looked down on as a drinker and a troublemaker, although he does have a few admirers.  He is involved in a relationship with a young girl named Emily, though it is behind her father’s back and she pretends to despise him.  That is threatened to change, however, when she wants to marry him.  That revelation could put Poe’s life in danger from her father, but alas, she doesn’t get the chance.  She is kidnapped by the psychotic killer first.  Thus begins a thrilling chase that will drive the maddened poet to the very brinks of his shaky sanity.

SPOILER ALERT

After many twists and turns, Poe faces the killer.  Ironically, the killer is an admirer who considers himself an artist much the same as Poe.  In a desperate search for his beloved Emily, he makes an agreement with the man.  He drinks poison in exchange for being told Emily’s location.  He is able to find her before the poison takes full effect, and later dies on a park bench, but not before giving a concerned man information to give to Detective Fields that leads him to the killer’s identity and subsequent arrest.  Given that this is a take about Edgar Allen Poe, we all knew he was going to die.  That doesn’t stop the ending from leaving us with disappointment.

There’s a lot to be said for this film.  I was hesitant to watch it at first because I don’t want to be somebody that enjoys the suffering of others.  However, after reading some reviews of it, I decided to give it a shot.  The film is bloody at times, one of the killer’s murders is done by a swinging blade that cuts into his abdomen, and another is by a somewhat graphic slitting of the throat.  The real depth of the film, though, comes at the end.

Poe’s discussion with the killer reveals the murder to be a very disturbed individual.  He is a psychopath, and even considers himself to be an artist.  Poe recognizes that, showing that he at least has enough sanity to realize the difference between his stories and the gruesome executions of his adversary.  It is a very scary reality that he faces.  That shows me that we are dealing with danger when we entertain with violence and bloodshed.  The real message, though, comes with Poe’s sacrifice.

Poe recounts the story of his beloved wife’s death.  He speaks of his love for her and his horror when she became sick and started coughing up blood.  He says that after she died his life was left in ruins.  That is, until he met Emily.  When it came down to it, his love for her was selfless.  He was willing to sacrifice himself in order to save her life.  Amidst a culture that professes love as liking that which makes me feel good, this is a refreshing message.  At the end of  the film, I did not find myself basking in the violence.  Rather, I found myself asking the question: would I have made the sacrifice that Edgar Allen Poe made?