The movie "
The Raven," is superior to expectations. The screenwriting is so eloquent, its almost
Shakespeare;
the actors have caught genuine humanity rather than a superficiality
that would have come easily with this subject. All the details of
costuming and creativity of filming truly add to the tone and mood of
Baltimore in the 1840's. And it was filmed in Hungary and Croatia. Good
job Eastern Europeans!
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| Poe and Emily. |
John Cusack presents
Edgar Allen Poe as
the intelligent, distraught individual that history describes. But he
is not frenetic; the activity is in his mind and from his pen. The
characters created for this story are so genuine, you feel that you
could look them up in Wikipedia. Emily is so caught up in the courtly
beauty of Edgar's poetry, she really loves him. He is truly attractive
to her.
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| Old School Graphic Novel |
If you have been fortunate enough to have a sound
public school background in literature, you will recognize references to
Poe's stories, poems, and some Shakespeare, too.
MacBeth
appears. And for Poe scholars, I think you will be satisfied with
references to his life, including his mentioning West Point, and his
final words.
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| 1858 illustration, "The Raven" |
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Raven
http://www.literature.org/authors/poe-edgar-allan/tell-tale-heart.html
http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/annabel-lee/
http://xroads.virginia.edu/~hyper/POE/cask.html "The Cask of Amontillado."
http://poestories.com/read/pit "The Pit and the Pendulum."
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| Masque of the Red Death, illustration 1919 |
http://www.online-literature.com/poe/36/ "The Masque of the Red Death."
I
am guessing Poe could also be sarcastic, and the screenwriters gave him
a great line. When someone mentions the serial killer is using Poe's
ghastly stories as inspiration, Poe quips, "If I'd known that would
happen, I'd have written more erotica."
As for the
'R' rating, it is well-earned. Don't take middle-schoolers. Maybe
Juniors and Seniors in high school. This is not a supernatural tale, and
life is scarey enough without viewing what a demented mind can do to
another human on a huge, bloody screen. A 45-foot swinging pendulum is
not something you need in your dreams when you're 13 years old.
Here
is some of the music by Lucas Vidal written for the movie. It is
interesting. Even some sort of techno, I think. Incidental music also
included a nocturne by Chopin.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uqVM55fLjPc&feature=related
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| I took this pic at the Tower of London. Who knew ravens liked french fries? |
http://mzteachuh.blogspot.com/2014/10/best-articles-for-educators-10514.html 
