The Pale Blue Eye

​"The Pale Blue Eye".

Watched English movie "The Pale Blue Eye". 

This movie is directed by Scott Cooper. Produced by Scott Cooper and others. Screenplay by Scott Cooper. Cinematography by Masanobu Takanayagi. Music by Howard Shore. It features Christian Bale, Harry Melling, Lucy Boynton, Gillian Anderson, Timothy Spall, Toby Jones, Simon McBurney, Harry Lawtey. Film runs for about 2 hour and 10 minutes and was released in 2022. I watched it on 23rd Sep 2023 on Netflix. 

Landor is a retired constable, a detective. He is summoned by the Captain and Colonel of military school to investigate gruesome murder of a cadet and violation of his body. A young cadet called Edgar Allen Poe becomes his assistant. One murder turns to two.

Landor has a painful past. His wife is dead and his daughter has run off, never to return. He lives in solitude until he starts investigating the murder. Poe is a physically unattractive but intelligent cadet who is bullied by pretty much everyone. Lea is a beautiful daughter of the local doctor who has epilepsy that no medicine can cure.

Landor is getting closer but not close enough. That’s testing the patience of the Colonel. To complicate the matters further, Edgar has fallen for Lea.

It’s a good story. Intelligent viewers can recognize the culprit. However there is a twist that many wouldn’t see coming. It takes the end of the movie to a new high.

For an English movie, it’s a long movie. It’s old times. So things move slowly. But the audience remains with the story. Credit to the director.

This movie is based on book by same name by Louis Bayard. I haven’t read the book, so can’t say how true the movie is to the book.

Positives: The twist.

Negatives:  Why wait till the end?

Recommend watching.