Integrity is something that all films possess, even when they are un good. “The Crow,” which is the story of a man who is killed along with his soul mate and resurrects to take vengeance on her killers is a great example. There are many elements that do not come together (for example, a pertaining about Eric Draven having a traumatic childhood and being committed as a teenager into a psychiatric institution comes off as pointless) and one has to hand it to the actors, as it is essential for the film’s central romance that the audience finds them particularly appealing. Zach Baylin and William Schneider’s script takes its sweet time depicting the frightening event that is the focal point of the entire plot, and the point where ‘The Crow’, a self grafittiing, somewhat jokerish angelic figure avenger of death, is reached only at the final stages. I will also mention many other problems issues that are present and will come to them in a while.
However, it claimed less attention than necessary in regards to itself and its methods which includes a whole metaphysical dimension that ultimately manages to make sense. This film is not, as reality show contestants tend to declare, about making friends, rather it is about being what one truly is and in that regard, it is certainly unflinching even at the time of the conclusion which is a celebration of the sentiment of John Keats and Edgar Allan Poe, as well as the original material in James O’Barr’s graphic novel. Among the revenge thriller films, this is probably the most violent almost to a fault, and goes above and beyond what the genre requires, almost self indulgent like ‘Drive’ or ‘Only God Forgives’, as if it has one primary goal – to offend everybody.
What is also notable is the creative decision to reveal a heartbroken and depressed Eric Draven (Bill Skarsgård) before his supernatural resurrection, a very interesting idea, as this combination of silliness and seriousness, along with the development of Eric’s lover Shelly (a goth girl hiding from a secret which has yet to be revealed) as a fully formed character pays off much later in the plot, although it is a bit dull in the beginning. After the death of Shelly, the narrative shifts to something, I’m not going to say what, is glorious romanticism, say, pertaining to “Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard,” so in modern society there is an abhorrence towards sincerity for its impulsive “cringe,” let incorporate such things into cinema, and even further, praise it for holding on to that and giving the audience, albeit the saddest conclusion that is fitting for the story.
But this still feels as if it is being forced down the throat as there is some kind of uniqueness that does make the film feel special which includes clear intent here that is free of corporate hijinks, so this cannot be seen as purely a cash grab. However, explain the nonsensical world created by a so called cosmology invented in order to avoid simplistic plots; none of which are complex, how about introduction of character diegetics without personality. For a start, there is no such thing as a person in the world who will make such a movie just for the sake of business.
He is the villain in this this picture, and his name is Roeg perhaps named for the great director Nicolas Roeg and played by Danny Huston who is always cast as the bad guy. Roeg is not your average criminal, he is vile and has been around for a long time and has the power to rot mortals. A legitimate scourge and in contrast to previous movie renditions of the Crow’s legends, the movie with Roeg is not merely about the childish idea of bringing back the dead. Yes, it is true that as in horror films about the devil, demons, and thieving of souls, this Crow depicts evil as a kind of energy that one can possess, use as a weapon, and alter and defile others with it. This brings the story nearer to the myth of Orpheus, who goes to Hades to rescue his wife Eurydice, although this version of the Crow spends most of its scenes depicting the character’s development in a purgatory of sorts.
Proyas’ version was always likely to be yet another example of a ‘style over substance’ film where the portrayals were ‘one dimensional’ or ‘iconic’ and the visuals were taken from popular music videos, album covers and comic book art of the time. The movie effectively started to move in that direction when its lead actor Brandon Lee died as a result of an accidental shooting by a prop gun while still in the process of filming. The production team somehow managed to piece together a finished product using lit up silhouettes and some crude composite imagery. More than this death in the making for other reasons, too, it was the film’s bold and complex vision. We can probably state that the result, however, gained more attention than it should have because even if most spectators were unaware of the negative emotions associated with the creation, some were definitively. (Disregarding this matter, I should state that there was only praise for Proyas’s “The Crow” from the first months and its soundtrack went into cassettes since it came out.
This reevaluation was ultimately beneficial not just to the origins and narrative of ‘The Crow’ but also the style and pace as a whole. It had opened up space to gracefully plunge and bask in the suffering. It’s a neo noir quintessential dystopian America, driving rain from the skies.
The cut body, Skarsgård however, does not possess Lee’s panache not doesn’t try to; if Lee’s Eric Draven is a mischievous sprite, Skarsgård’s is a mute dreary golem of clay. There’s a promotion made only for destruction in the name of evil.
And who cares. It is a different way of doing things, and eventually this time, not only does it work, it almost makes the film touching despite the film itself. This ‘Crow’ seems to grasp itself best when portraying Eric, reprogramming himself as a deadly avenger in the name of the justice, saying that he has had enough of love, the love that made him a better person when Shelly was alive. The quote is powerful. Edgar Allan Poe, “Years of love have been forgot, In the hatred of a minute.” Each episode, the second part especially, appears to be on an artistic trip guided by a hidden frequency that only the filmmakers can comprehend. It is incomprehensible to any other mainstream movie for this year. Even when the film lost its so called ‘look mill,’ there were some palpable moments that made the ‘hair’ on my back stand tall.
There is a part in the film where Eric and Shelly cross a bridge, and Shelly, half joking, says she might jump off. They picture how at least they both would die if they double jumped, and Shelly envisions a time when teens would build altars in their honor. I think with time, teenagers will honor this film and build a shrine to it in their very own style. It is such a film that if you watched it at the age of fourteen, you will watch it for ten or twenty more times, and want to borrow some books from the library, and perhaps even learn several poems by heart.
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