R | 2h 8m | Murder Mystery | January 6, 2023
Murder mysteries such as “The Name of the Rose,” “Murder on the Orient Express,” or “Death on the Nile” are usually situated in well-defined, cordoned-off communities. It’s then up to the intruding outsider—the detective—to sniff out the intrigue and connections, until he manages to get hold of a loose strand of yarn and unravels the sweater of secrecy shrouding said community in untruths.
Based on a novel by Louis Bayard, director Scott Cooper’s “The Pale Blue Eye” sets the mystery at a wintry West Point Military Academy in 1830. The somber dreariness—from the misty woods to the overhanging cliffs and quiet, trickling waters—is Gothic. And yet, paradoxically, while snowy almost to the point of being shot in black and white, with its night scenes lit by candles, fireplaces, and lanterns, the setting has an atmosphere bordering on coziness….