Film From Hell

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Film From Hell

" From Hell" is anther movie based on the case of Jack The Ripper, by

the New 20th Century Fox Production. The Ripper haunted Whitechapel, a

district of East London, during the late 1880s. He was said to be the

first documented and investigated serial killer at the time. One thing

we should ask ourselves when we are watching this two hour

masterpiece: was the movie historically accurate? I believe the answer

is far more complicated than a sheer yes or not. The deliver of the

Whitechapel in 1880s and the illustration of the everyday lives of its

resident were very accurate. On the other hand, the plot of the movie

had deviated theatrically from the historical fact. But the

combination of historical facts and fiction, gives us the movie " From

Hell". And we shall ask why the movie is filled with make-up stories?

These inaccuracies in the film would mislead those who have no

previous knowledge of the ripper case false.

The portrayal of the Whitechapel district was very realistic:

A. Murders were common in Whitechapel in the 19th century. Pubs and

prostitutes were side by side with shops. The poverty and despair can

be easily noticed in the film.

Most streets in Whitechapel were narrow. People often lived in cellar

rooms with little light and ventilation. The area was filled with pubs

where the Ripper's victims found their "customers." Some of the

popular hangouts of 1888, like "The Ten Bells," are still open and are

still famous.

On August 31, 1888 the Ripper's terror first struck Whitechapel. Mary

Ann ("Polly") Nichols, a 42-year-old mother of five who lived on

Flower and Dean Street, was brutally murdered...

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... London's East End in the fall of 1888. The Ripper, the center

character in the novel, does not have as large a role in this

treatment; the story is mostly told from Abberline's point of view.

B. Hollywood's tradition to have a happy ending story.

Conclusion:

In the end, From Hell straddles that fine line between fact and

fiction so often found in Hollywood's "historical epics." While the

Hughes brothers are to be commended in capturing much of the

authenticity of the times, location and the case, the film should

certainly not be viewed as an authentic representation of the Ripper

crimes as a whole. Those interested in the real facts of the case are

urged to pick up Sugden's Complete History of Jack the Ripper or

Rumbelow's The Complete Jack the Ripper. Either book serves as a good

introduction to the case.

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