❘ Published: 2022-12-22T14:25:43
❘ Updated: 2022-12-22T14:25:43
The pale blue eye. Christian Bale as Augustus Landor in The Pale Blue Eye. Chrome Scott Garfield/Netflix © 2022
The Pale Blue Eye is a landmark murder mystery with twists, turns, and a sting to its story: here, star Christian Bale reveals why you’ll need to watch the movie twice.
Written and directed by Scott Cooper, and based on the novel of the same name by Louis Bayard, The Pale Blue Eye is a crime novel with the following synopsis…
West Point, 1830. A world-weary detective is hired to quietly investigate the gruesome murder of a cadet. Hindered by the cadets’ code of silence, he recruits one of them to help unravel the case: a young man the world would know as Edgar Allan Poe.
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There are allusions to Poe’s work throughout the story, from the appearance of a raven to human hearts playing a prominent role. We asked Christian Bale (who plays the detective in question) and Harry Melling (who plays Poe) what else audiences should keep in mind while watching The Pale Blue Eye.
Edgar Allen Poe Easter Eggs in The Pale Blue Eye
Pointing out that the name of the film is Poe’s, Bale states, “Obviously, the title comes from The Tell-Tale Heart that Poe wrote.”
In that story, the narrator kills an old man, and one of his motives is the old man’s creepy eye. Poe writes: “One of his eyes resembled that of a vulture: a pale blue eye, with a film over it.”
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Other more general details of the film are drawn from the horror auteur’s work, with Bale listing: “An interest in the supernatural and the occult and grisly murder and detective story.”
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Harry Melling points to a name that appears in both the film and Poe’s stories: “Eleanor: there are many Eleanors scattered throughout his poetry. There are more pieces scattered inside. I have to rewatch it now to really… the world felt so rich I’m sure there are pieces scattered here and there and everywhere.”
Why do you need to watch the movie twice?
Regarding those scattered pieces, Bale said of the director: “Scott Cooper, the director, put a lot of effort into making it second-view as well, so once you’ve seen it the first time, you can go back and see little. crumbs that have given you clues throughout the film, which is just wonderful and enjoyable.
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The Pale Blue Eye hits select US theaters tomorrow (December 23) and will stream on Netflix starting January 6.