Romantic Detective VS. Conspiracy Cult?

Rating: 7/10 (20 February 2010)

From Hell is one of the more famous movie about Jack the Ripper, the series murderer who gutted several prostitutes in London, and left disturbing messages. The reason that his story is highly fascinating, is because this is an unsolved case, and until today, Jack the Ripper is still at large, if you can say so.
The movie boasted technical achievements on several levels. The extremely gritty and bleak portrait of London slums is more than an eye candy, if you can say so. That is to say the art decoration of From Hell is literally from baroque era and Balzac. Compared to more recent productions like Sweeny Todd, who also aimed the camera on the slums and dirty gritty side of British glory, From Hell is really more disturbing and depressing to watch because of the social scope and context it examined.It's horrifying because it has a more realistic tone and accuracy on certain levels. When you see the prostitutes being constricted by a rope in a row in a church sleeping, while waiting for their nightfall to work and be killed, you really can't help but feel bad.All the special make-up effects just added more edge to its poignancy and trivial features. Coincidentally and ironically, this movie also stars the brilliant Johnny Depp in the leading role. I can only imagine inspector Abberline chasing down Sweeny Todd in a bloodier scenario. Cheers! However, From Hell's view on a series killer at large is also very stereotypical and intentionally romantic. The way they examine each character and each motivation is full of post-modern skepticism except for the leading role played by Depp. Jack the Ripper is not only a high-ranking royal officer, but essentially a leading conspirator in a cult that controlled England for centuries. If only the decisive historical evidence for this theory can be found, the whole world will shake. Every character who has even a bit of connection to the villains group would ended up a co-conspirator or someone with extremely ugly motivations(even the queen didn't escape this). Perceived by inspector Abberline who is the closest thing to a hero in this movie, everything and every attempt to solve the case is pointless, not only because the case would be covered up consequently but also because the result of his efforts will have nothing to do with him. When he died in the opium house at the end, the movie nailed nothing but the desolation of humanism and faith into our mindset, which is already bleak and hopeless enough. So, allow me to call the movie a elongated depiction of destruction of human souls.
Modern skepticism about Christianity is often based on people's perception that churches(or the church if you are catholic) is that this religious group is only one of the many "players" in the society who strive for survival, identity and consensus. Yes, no denying that ever since there was a church, there was a corruption in the church, not to mention later eras only brought more power and corruption to it. We really can't ask a person to prove his/her faith is untouched like virgin Mary, but we may still need to have a more balanced perception and thinking of the reality in order to see the original messages in this faith. From Hell provided us with a "bigger picture" which is based on many speculations and if considered seriously, insults on certain historic figures. Yet, it holds a "hero of the humanity" in the core of its story and spirit, giving people more reasons to adore themselves and the heroism they have each day in fighting their bosses or lifting up an elder citizen from snow. It is only a matter of time until people come to realize that the capital From Hell to "cushion" their morality standpoint is a broken one and leads to deeper darkness.Not to mention those nature-born pessimists. Anyway, giving a movie a more romantic undertone doesn't make it worthy your time and emotion. Thanks for reading.