The crimes of the academy or how to revive Edgar Allan Poe

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Edgar Allan Poe comes to life thanks to a new Netflix production that leaves no one indifferent. Suddenly, a side of the famous writer and poet that surely always attracted you is shown: that of detective and investigator of convoluted and macabre enigmas.

The pale blue eye (2003) is one of the most successful books by novelist Louis Bayard. The plot could not be more seductive: after a brutal murder on the grounds of the West Point military academy, the services of a veteran New York detective, Gus Landor, are hired. In these investigations he will have the help of a very special figure: Edgar Allan Poe.

Netflix did not hesitate to buy the rights to this best-seller and make it one of your biggest bets at the beginning of 2023. The crimes of the academy It is a film with a captivating gothic atmosphere that has its greatest attraction in Poe. For the first time, we see the classic figure of American literature incarnated at that time when he was still an outstanding poet in the making.

Foggy settings, barren trees, snowy forests, cawing crows, streets illuminated by flickering gas lights, ritual murders and enigmatic messages. This production, directed by Scott Cooper, had everything to conquer the heart of any mystery lover and fanatic Bostonian writer. However, beyond the two powerful performances of its protagonists, there are elements that go out of tune…

Edgar Allan Poe entered West Point in July 1830. The military academy overlooked the Hudson River and, for a time, he distinguished himself as a good student. However, just seven months later, he was tried by a court-martial for neglecting his duties and disobeying orders.

The pale blue eye is the novel on which it is based The crimes of the academy.

Poe, the poet with the soul of a detective at West Point

The fact that Edgar Allan Poe left West Point in 1831 was a blessing for the history of literature. His biographers say that he was bad at mathematics and that he did not conform too closely to military discipline. That period of his at the academy, next to the Hudson River, is still a most interesting time. No wonder Louis Bayard used it to write his novel.

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The truth is that this is not the first time that a representation of Poe playing a detective role has been used. We also saw it in the interesting movie The enigma of the crow (2012), in which a magnificent John Cusack put himself in his stormy skin to investigate atrocious murders based on his own poems.

This production, like The crimes of the academy, is based on a fairly solid possibility. The famous poet and writer was a great lover of criminology; In fact, we owe the roots of the detective story to him. Sherlock Holmes, for example, would not exist if Conan Doyle had not been fascinated by his Auguste Lupine in The crimes of morgue Street either The mystery of Marie Rogêt.

“The crimes of the academy” and the search for its origins

Edgar Allan Poe died at just 40 years old and with more shadows than lights in his life. From him we keep an exceptional literary legacy and deep enigmas around his person. The mere idea of glimpsing some specific periods of his existence arouses great fascination and even more so if we delve into his origins, into his youth.

The Academy Murders (The Pale Blue Eye) begins with a vision of the Hudson Valley, with its misty forests sprinkled with snow, trapping us in an atmosphere of subtle mystery. Masanobu Takayanagi, director of photography, offers this film one of its greatest attractions, that of creating a setting that emanates sadness, enchantment and a wonderful territory of the gothic.

It doesn’t take us long to meet Detective Gus Landor, represented by Christian Bale. accustomed as always to bringing us difficult characters, those who mask dark secrets. Here it couldn’t be less. He is tasked with investigating an alleged suicide at that institution (West Point) about which he holds grudges and bad memories. He soon recruits a singular assistant, a cadet who gives him a clue about the murderer he must look for: a poet.

Taking a man’s heart is trafficking in symbols. And who better equipped for such a task than a poet?

Poe and Landor, two traumatic figures

Edgar Allan Poe (played by a very perfect Harry Melling) and Landor are two dark souls that connect instantly. The latter is a widower and lives with the trauma of the disappearance of his wife. The first talks to his deceased mother. In some way, the detective is also the mirror of what the Bostonian writer and poet himself will become in the future: an alcoholic who carries with him the loss of several female figures.

The origin of his rugged literary universes

Scott Cooper, director of The crimes of the academyis also its scriptwriter. One of the purposes of the film is to make us intuit the origin of many of the obsessions, stories and literary figures that Poe bequeathed us in his stories. There are brushstrokes that trace reminiscences of The crimes of morgue Street already more than one character from his stories.

All of these resources keep us alert and make us smile. The pity is that, despite the juicy plot, the ritual crimes and those esoteric and enigmatic games, a la Dan Brown, in the end the viewer may be disappointed. The mystery narrative requires cautious eyes to appreciate the details, but the plot quickly becomes predictable and even superficial.

Our gaze, encouraged by the fascination of its protagonists, longs that they had delved into more aspects, into more stimulating nooks. However, everything remains hollow, but well adorned with superficiality.

The best of The crimes of the academy is its exceptional casting and powerful performance by Harry Melling.

A face full of angles and a mind that left its mark on the world

Harry Melling’s Poe hypnotizes because he is all cheekbones, chin and cavernous eyes full of verve and passion.. It doesn’t take us long to realize that this West Point cadet, with his speech, reasoning and sensitivity, is someone who will leave his mark on the world.

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However, we also sense that he belongs to that type of person who dances with darkness and despair. And, sometimes, those who border on the extraordinary end in tragedy. Be that as it may, we will always appreciate it when cinema tries to trace what Poe’s life could have been like. Such an undertaking is not easy, nor is it usually easy to bring his work to the screen.

This year we will have an exciting opportunity to prove the latter. Mike Flanagan (The Haunting of Hill House, Midnight Mass) will bring us a new adaptation: The fall of the house of Usher.