From Hell (2001)

Directors:

Albert Hughes
Allen Hughes

Writers (WGA):

Alan Moore (graphic novel) and
Eddie Campbell (graphic novel) ...

Release Date:

19 October 2001 (USA)

Genre:

Biography | Crime | Horror | Mystery | Thriller

Tagline:

Evil has a new address...

Plot:

In Victorian Era London, a troubled clairvoyant police detective investigates the murders by Jack The Ripper.

Plot Keywords:

Prostitute | Jack The Ripper | Inspector | Murder | Police

Awards:

8 nominations

Cast

Johnny Depp	...	Inspector Frederick Abberline
Heather Graham	...	Mary Kelly
Ian Holm	...	Sir William Gull
Robbie Coltrane	...	Sergeant Peter Godley
Ian Richardson	...	Sir Charles Warren
Jason Flemyng	...	Netley, the Coachman
Katrin Cartlidge	...	Dark Annie Chapman
Terence Harvey	...	Benjamin 'Ben' Kidney
Susan Lynch	...	Liz Stride
Paul Rhys	...	Dr. Ferral
Lesley Sharp	...	Kate Eddowes
Estelle Skornik	...	Ada
Nicholas McGaughey	...	Officer Bolt
Annabelle Apsion	...	Polly Nichols
Joanna Page	...	Ann Crook

Also Known As:

Jack (USA) (working title)

MPAA:

Rated R for strong violence/gore, sexuality, language and drug content.

Runtime:

122 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Colour:

Colour

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

DTS | Dolby Digital

Certification:

Iceland:16 | Malaysia:18SG | South Korea:18 | Brazil:16 (re-rating) | Argentina:13 | Australia:MA | Brazil:18 | Canada:18A | Finland:K-18 | France:-12 | Germany:16 | Hong Kong:III | Japan:R-15 | Mexico:C | Netherlands:16 | New Zealand:R16 | Norway:15 | Peru:18 | Philippines:R-18 | Portugal:M/16 | Singapore:M18 | Singapore:PG (cut) | Spain:18 | Sweden:15 | Switzerland:16 (canton of Geneva) | Switzerland:16 (canton of Vaud) | UK:18 | USA:R (certificate #38515)

Filming Locations:

Barrandov Studios, Krizeneckeho namesti, Prague, Czech Republic

Company:

Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corporation

Trivia:

The Hughes Brothers originally wanted Daniel Day-Lewis to play the lead role. When that fell through, they interviewed Sean Connery, Jude Law, and Brad Pitt before settling on Johnny Depp.

Goofs:

Continuity: When Abberline is taking Mary into the gallery to view the picture of Prince Albert Victor, they pass the same lady in the white dress twice in different shots.

Quotes:

Sir William Gull: Have you forgotten the most telling fact? What ever the Prince may be, he knows little or nothing about human anatomy.

Movie Connections:

Featured in "HBO First Look: A View from Hell (#8.13)" (2001)

Soundtrack:

The Nobodies (Wormwood Remix)

Simply a fantastic movie

The critics, nit-pickers and historical pedants who've trashed this superb piece of truly cinematic movie-making have totally missed the point.

So what if Johnny Depp's English accent isn't exactly "right" for his character? (English accents have always been problematic for all but the most skilled of American actors: Depp pulls it off entirely passably, way way better than - say - Keanu Reeves, risible in Coppola's Dracula. Think of Kevin Costner, who didn't even bother trying in Robin Hood Prince of Thieves.) I'm a Londoner by birth, and for me the accent in no way detracted from Depp's excellent performance.

As for history, again, who cares if the filmmakers have employed a degree of dramatic licence? This is a movie, not a documentary. Nobody knows for sure who Jack the Ripper was, and in order to make the film interesting and enjoyable the writers have speculated a little. Fine by me.

OK, so Heather Graham was impossibly glamorous, but movies with big budgets need a little bit of star appeal. The notion of the "tart with a heart" is a cliché, sure, but nevertheless her character works in the context of the film. (Contrast the depiction of prostitution generally in this film with the utter garbage that is Pretty Woman.)

What's so great about this film? The quirky, literate script; the performances (all, with the possible exception of Graham, excellent); the wonderful photography and production design; the depiction of the murders themselves - elliptical, shocking, mesmerising; and above all the aura of brooding menace, gloom, cruelty, darkness, melancholy and downright despair running through it as deeply as the veins through a block of marble. This is marvellously thoughtful, evocative film-making, very bold and brave. No happy Hollywood ending, no phoney saccharine or cheap laughs to satisfy the popcorn brigade. This is a proper grown-ups movie that probes some of the darkest regions of the human psyche, places mainstream filmmakers like Lucas, Spielberg, James Cameron and their ilk don't dare to go, or couldn't go even if they wanted to. To me it appeals almost on a subconscious level, forcing us to confront our deepest fears and taboos - death, pain, suffering, human wickedness. I can't think of a recent major release that is so relentlessly downbeat.

Don't let the detractors put you off. It's hardly surprising a generation weened on MTV - folk with the the attention span of a gnat and the emotional depth of a paper cup - didn't like it. They've got their Screams and their Scary Movies, and they're welcome to them. This is super stuff, and the Hughes brothers and their collaborators should be heartily congratulated for it.

A classic, not so much for the plot, which is a little contrived, but for its sure command of cinema as a visual storytelling medium.