A far-fetched but stylish 'Hell'

Rating: 7/10 (29 January 2002)

From Hell turns the mystery of Jack the Ripper, that late 19th century murderer of prostitutes, into a double political and religious conspiracy. A bit too far-fetched because this pseudo-conspiracy includes the British royal family and a fanatic Masonic sect'. Nevertheless, the movie does a fine job at hinting to the ridiculousness of religious and ethnic discrimination, and it succeeds in portraying the oppression of low-class women.
Johnny Depp returns as the serious investigator (as last seen in Sleepy Hollow, notice the similarities?); he portrays Inspector Abberline, who follows his intuition and visions to solve his cases, and is appointed to solve this particular mystery. Depp's performance is genuine because he obviously takes his role very seriously. Abberline is clever, melancholic, psychoanalytical, clairvoyant, and, above all as opposed to his superiors, moral, even human. He is troubled of course, having lost his family in tragic circumstances, and is addicted to opium and laudanum, which aid him in his visions'. In the end, he sacrifices his relationship with Mary Kelly (and consequently his only chance for happiness) out of fear for her safety. An epic 'hero', more or less.
The presence of his assistant (Robbie Coltrane, Hagrid in Harry Potter) is fortunate. I say fortunate because his character prevents the movie from taking itself too seriously. His sarcasm is tinted with genuine compassion towards the murderer's victims and a respectful affection towards Abberline. Coltrane gives a truly fine performance there, though it doesn't compare to Ian Holm's.
Ian Holm (Bilbo in The Fellowship of the Ring) plays a double-role in the movie, and the transition from the poised physician to the devilish fanatic was remarkably done in terms of facial expression, voice tone, elocution, and, symbolically, size and makeup. In its own way, this movie is expressionistic.
The prostitutes, or unfortunates' as they would rather call them, look and sound exactly as they're supposed to. They are worn-out, cynical, foulmouthed, but, in their own way, they look after each other. The odd one out here is the female lead, Mary Kelly, played by Heather Graham (argh!). She is too clean, too pure, and too elegant to be the companion of the other women. She is supposed to be of Irish decent, and naturally, the filmmakers made her a red-head. And a flamboyant one at that, with obviously dyed hair. Her so-called Irish accent sounds as convincing as my Swahili. If you should ever want to cast Heather Graham for your film, make sure you never show a close-up of her face; she's got the most inexpressive pair of painted ping-pong balls, er, eyes, I've ever seen.
And now for the visuals: the only description that would fit here is psychedelic'. London has never looked foggier, with a smoky red sky and overall reddish ambiance. Abberline's visions of the murders are somewhat unsettling and gory (blood, flies on body parts, hazy photography etc...), but it's never cheap horror. Even the murder scenes are cleverly choreographed' so that we experience the act more through sound and feel rather than explicit violence. The whole mood of the movie is more graphically melancholic and dark than cheap and gory, really.

Though not quite from hell', it's the survival of the fittest in the gloomy streets of Victorian London, where corruption rules till the end.