The Raven

Hey guys, Alex (Tally) here. I know it's been a couple of months since I've been on here, but you know, things happen. So, I'm going to make a useful contribution to this blog that I've been dying to put somewhere. 

I recently took a trip via airplane, as I often do. While flying, I downloaded a movie on mommy dearest's kindle fire so that I could watch it. That movie just so happened to be The Raven. I've been wanting to see the said movie for some time, especially since Edgar Allan Poe is one of my absolute favorite authors of all time. I adore his work, and after visiting the Edgar Allan Poe House in Philadelphia last summer, I have also grown to appreciate his difficult, sorrowful, and strife-filled life as well. Here's a brief summary (according to IMDb) of the movie, in case you aren't familiar with it:

When a madman begins committing horrific murders inspired by Edgar Allan Poe's works, a young Baltimore detective joins forces with Poe to stop him from making his stories a reality.

Intense, I know. I'll admit, I never read any type of description/summary of The Raven before settling in to read it. That was my first mistake. I actually expected this movie to be a theatrical version of Edgar Allan Poe's popular poem The Raven. Stupid me, I know. Naturally, I figured out the plot not too far into the movie. It took me a little while to accept this plot since it is extremely far-fetched and very historically inaccurate. Those were my two major problems with this movie. I know, it's a work of fiction based (very, very) loosely on fact, but...I don't know. I feel that if Poe could be with us today to watch this movie, he would laugh, or perhaps scoff at the way in which Emily, his wife (or, in the movie, fiance) is portrayed. Then again, he was never a very predictable fellow, so maybe he would love it and think it was a charming representation of his life. However, I seriously doubt that.

Here's some major points at which the movie was historically inaccurate:

1. Poe was not a raving drunk. Sure, he was arrested for public drunkenness a few times and kicked out of a few taverns in his life, but he wasn't a crazy man whose very life revolved around a bottle of whiskey. That's exactly what his character is like in the movie, however.

2. At the time of their marriage, Emily was only thirteen. You take a look at Emily in the movie and tell me she's thirteen. I didn't think so. She wasn't intended to be thirteen in the movie, and I know it would have otherwise been ridiculous if they hadn't tweaked that detail, but it just sort of...bothers me.

3. Anabel Lee was written after Poe's wife's death. In the movie, it is presented to her as a love poem; historically, this is not the case.

4. In the movie, it seemed to me that Poe only wrote stories for money and to make a living. I know that many authors do this, but there must be some passion behind the stories or they are meaningless. Poe obviously had this passion, but I did not feel this reflected in the movie. He seemed to magically conjure up a poem or story when he needed some extra cash. Some of his struggles with getting his works published were reflected in The Raven, and I did like that. He lived most of his life in poverty, but that wasn't focused on much in the movie. This wasn't a movie about his life, so I guess gritty details like that aren't completely relevant, but it still would have been nice.  

5. The publication of some of his works were out of order. I know, I'm probably the only one who would catch this, but I just thought it should be said. It doesn't take away from the movie at all; it's just a little historical flaw.    

I did think that the director did a fabulous job of showing how unfortunately misunderstood Poe was during his life. People took him as a madman who was to be ignored; many people though him an atheist  and everyone thought him politically incorrect. He didn't care, though, and I though that this movie overall did a very good job of displaying that.

As for a horror/detective/mystery type movie, I though The Raven was very good and original  It almost reminded me a bit of Urban Legend, but just a little bit. In Urban Legend the characters are murdered based on urban legends, and in The Raven people are murdered based on Edgar Allan Poe's stories. About halfway through the movie, Poe's beloved Emily is kidnapped by the murderer and hidden somewhere, and Poe must find each dead body, receive a clue from each, and find Emily based on the clues before she dies. If you have a substantial knowledge of Poe's works, you will probably recognize most of the murders and may be able to identify which murder goes with which story. If you have a very vast knowledge of Poe's life story and his works (not to toot my own horn, but I just so happen to fall under this category...) then you will most likely be able to figure out who the murderer is, where he/she has hidden Emily, and which story the final scenario is based on about three-fourths of the way through the movie (at least, that was about when I figured it out). I was watching The Raven with my mother, who majored in English and literature in college. We exchanged predictions throughout the movie, and she had some good ideas as well. It's been a long time since she's read Poe though, so she said that this movie was a good "memory refresher". 

The acting in this movie was mostly mediocre, except for the part of Edgar Allan Poe, played by John Cusack. He is an amazing actor and did an awesome job. It wouldn't have hurt him to understand Poe's genius a little better perhaps, but overall, he did a pretty good job. 

All in all, The Raven wasn't a bad movie at all. Historically speaking, well, it wasn't very accurate and was extremely far-fetched and exaggerated. But if you're looking for an entertaining movie based loosely on an iconic literary genius, you may want to look into The Raven.