"The Pale Blue Eye" came out of nowhere for me. I am always extremely skeptical about Netflix, considering the disaster that they made in terms of productions in the last few years, but I just cannot say no to a Christian Bale movie. I mean, the guy stole the scene as always, but also the rest of the cast was competent and could keep the beat. Landor is a retired detective that had a wonderful career, bringing to justice many dangerous criminals and he is called by the American Military Academy to investigate a young cadet murder. The plot is intriguing and it kept me glued to the screen. The director slowly reveals all the details of this crime, by maintaining the typical giallo narrative structure. There is even a decent plot twist at the very end, that could be predicted halfway through, and I never read the original novel, so I did not know anything about the story.
I really liked the photography, I think that matched perfectly with the dark mood of the plot. There are some beautifully conceived shots: I liked the locations, being able to see the vast nature of the New York countryside region, during wintertime. The old wooden buildings, the small and familiar interiors of a cottage or of a bar, lit just by just candles is something that I enjoyed very much. I liked this slow-paced detective story: the editing is old-style and it is particularly well made. The camera focuses on certain details, providing the point of view of the detective. The dialogues are intense and well played. Though, the movie drags a bit at the end and I would have cut a few scenes in the last 30 minutes. Aside from that, it is a solid production that deserves a 7 out of 10 stars.
I really liked the photography, I think that matched perfectly with the dark mood of the plot. There are some beautifully conceived shots: I liked the locations, being able to see the vast nature of the New York countryside region, during wintertime. The old wooden buildings, the small and familiar interiors of a cottage or of a bar, lit just by just candles is something that I enjoyed very much. I liked this slow-paced detective story: the editing is old-style and it is particularly well made. The camera focuses on certain details, providing the point of view of the detective. The dialogues are intense and well played. Though, the movie drags a bit at the end and I would have cut a few scenes in the last 30 minutes. Aside from that, it is a solid production that deserves a 7 out of 10 stars.