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From Hell is a 2001 film about the Jack the Ripper
murders, based on the graphic novel of the same name by Alan Moore and Eddie Campbell. It was directed by the
Hughes
brothers, the first film that they directed outside of the urban film genre. It was
first released on October 19, 2001.
Plot
It is 1888 in London, and
the poor lead horrifying lives in the city's deadliest slum, Whitechapel. Harassed by gangs and forced
to work the streets for a living, Mary Kelly and her small group of
prostitutes trudge on through this daily misery, their only
consolation being that things can't get any worse.
Yet things somehow do when their friend Ann is kidnapped and
they are drawn into a conspiracy
with links higher up than they could possibly imagine. The
kidnapping is soon followed by the gruesome murder of another
woman, Martha, and it becomes apparent that they are being hunted
down, one by one.
Sinister even by Whitechapel standards, the murder grabs the
attention of Inspector Frederick Abberline, a brilliant yet
troubled man whose police work is often aided by his psychic "visions". Abberline
becomes deeply involved with the case, which takes on personal
meaning to him when he and Mary begin to fall in love.
It is then revealed that Sir William Gull, the
doctor of the Royal Family, is Jack the Ripper. He has been killing
the witnesses to Prince Eddy's forbidden Catholic marriage to a prostitute who bears
his legitimate daughter (Alice), who is therefore the heir to the
British throne. The Freemasons, a secret society of which Gull is a
member, decide to lobotomize him to protect the Royal Family
from the scandal. Mary Kelly doesn't die; Jack mistakes Ada, the Belgian girl, for her and kills her
instead. Mary lives happily ever after with Alice in a cottage on a
cliff by the sea. Inspector Frederick Abberline dies alone of an opium overdose, knowing he can
never see Mary again without endangering her.
Cast
- Johnny Depp as
Inspector Frederick Abberline, the visionary
and sympathetic police officer who has to investigate the murder
series. The consumption of drugs makes him dream scenes from the
murders. The investigation itself, though, he carries out based on
a conclusive line of thought.
- Heather Graham as Mary Kelly, a
young "bangtail" who builds up a relationship to Abberline and
eventually falls in love with him.
- Ian Holm as Sir William Gull, a fine gentleman, retired
surgeon and physician ordinary to Queen Victoria, now teaching at
the Royal London Hospital. Because of his expertise in anatomy and
the soul, he becomes the scientific adviser of Abberline.
- Robbie
Coltrane as Sergeant Peter Godley, the humorous and literate
subordinate assistant and friend of Abberline. The character is
based on Sgt. George
Godley.
- Ian
Richardson as Sir Charles Warren, a stiff bureaucrat
and Abberline's superior.
- Jason
Flemyng as Netley, the coachman and stooge of the
murderer.
- Katrin
Cartlidge as Annie Chapman, aka Dark Annie, bangtail
and gullible 3rd victim of the murderer.
- Terence Harvey as Ben Kidney, the head of the Special Branch of
the Metropolitan Police.
- Susan Lynch as
Liz
Stride, the spirited bangtail and 4th victim that "wasn't
finished".
- Paul Rhys as Dr.
Ferral, an ambitious young doctor and specialist in treatment of
dementia.
- Lesley Sharp
as Kate
Eddowes, the mothering bangtail and 5th victim.
- Estelle
Skornik as Ada, the old friend of Liz from Bruxelles.
- Nicholas McGaughey as Officer
Bolt
- Annabelle
Apsion as Polly Nichols, the 2nd victim of the
murderer.
- Joanna Page as
Ann Crook, an ex-bangtail and now wife to Albert and young mother
of a daughter.
- Mark Dexter as Albert Sickert/Prince Edward Albert Victor,
husband to Ann and grandson of Queen Victoria. A composite
character based on Walter Sickert and Prince
Albert Victor
- Danny Midwinter as Constable Withers, a cheeky member of the
task force led by Abberline.
- Samantha
Spiro as Martha
Tabram, the 1st victim of the murderer.
- David Schofield as McQueen, a
crook who extorts the bangtails.
- Bryon Fear as Robert Best, a reporter.
- Peter Eyre as Lord
Hallsham, a confidential servant of Queen Victoria and judge
of...
- Cliff Parisi
as Mac Bartender
- Sophia Myles
as Victoria Abberline, dead wife of Fred Abberline who appears in
on of his dreams.
- Ralph Ineson
as Gordie, a stooge of McQueen.
- Liz Moscrop as Queen Victoria
- Ian McNeice as
the coroner Robert Drudge
- Vincent Franklin as George Lusk
- Anthony Parker (actor) as Joseph Merrick then known as John the
Elephant Man
- Simon Harrison (actor) as Thomas Bond
Reception
The film got mixed reviews from critics. Ebert and Roeper gave the film a
"two-thumbs up" (Roger
Ebert alone gave it 3 out of 4 stars).
E! Online stated it is "two hours
of gory murders, non-sequitur scenes, and an undeveloped romance"
and gave the film a C-. The New York Post called it a "gripping
and stylish thriller".
The film grossed $31.6 million domestically and $74.5 million
worldwide. [1]
Trivia
Influences and
interpretations
- When Godley doubts the testimony of Mary and calls her a whore,
Abberline's look at him causes him to ask "A rose by any other
name". This is a reference to William Shakespeare's play Romeo & Juliet.
- During the murder of Liz, Netley yells at a Jewish passer by "What the
fuck are you looking at, Lipski?", a reference to Israel Lipski's
connection to the murder cases.
Differences from graphic
novel
The film version of From Hell differs enormously from
the graphic novel.
- In the film Abberline is a young, psychic widower who is
addicted to opium. In the book, and historically, Abberline is a
gruff, middle-aged, married detective. Towards the end of the
graphic novel he is assisted by a professed psychic who, despite
being fraudulent, eventually leads them to the killer. In the
novel, as in real life, Abberline dies many years after the Ripper
murders.
- In the original graphic novel the small group of prostitutes
attempt to blackmail the
House of
Hanover regarding the Anne Crook scandal, thus giving a more
clear reason for their murders.
- In the graphic novel, Martha Tabram is barely mentioned and
Catherine Eddowes is shown as a minor character murdered by
mistake. Neither was a part of the group of prostitutes covered in
the storyline.
- In the graphic novel, Mary Kelly is shown as a promiscuous lesbian, but in the film much
of that subplot has been transferred to Elizabeth Stride.
- In the film, Mary Kelly and Abberline have extensive dealings
and an actual relationship. In the book their relationship is far
smaller in scale, with the two being portrayed as having a
coincidental friendship under false pretenses (Abberline claiming
to be a saddle-maker and Kelly going by the name of "Emma"),
completely unrelated to their respective involvements with the
Ripper case, and with neither ever learning the truth about the
other.
- The film condenses or ignores much of the graphic novel's
discussion of the supernatural and occult.
- The graphic novel makes no mystery of Jack's identity,
concentrating instead on the psychology of the character and of the era,
while the film is a whodunit mystery.
See also
References
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