Direction: Scott Cooper
Country: USA
Based on Louis Bayard's novel, The Pale Blue Eye is an austere mystery thriller shrouded in gothic mist. It's written and directed by Scott Cooper and stars Christian Bale (American Hustle; The Dark Knight; The Fighter) in the role of inspector Augustus Landor - a widowed, alcoholic and tortured veteran assigned to investigate a sordid murder case in the US Military Academy, and Harry Melling (known for several Harry Potter installments) as the morbid young cadet and future writer/poet Edgar Allen Poe. This is the third time that Cooper directs the incredibly adaptable Bale, following Out of the Furnace (2013) and Hostiles (2017).
With the gloomy mise-en-scene and wintry atmosphere making it even colder, the film, set at the West Point in 1830 New York, tells a macabre story that oozes mysticism and blood. However, if its first part is solid and entertaining, the second is wobbly, marked by a descending curve in the script until crashing in an arguable final twist.
Although not producing real brilliance, the systematized gothic tones and oppressive heaviness produce a quietly gripping surface. It’s a visually wow-inducing whodunit - with cinematography by Cooper’s regular Masanobu Takayanagi - that feels dour and slow at times.
