CRIMSON PEAK
US, 2015, 119, Colour.
Mia Waskowski, Jessica Chastain, Tom Hiddleston, Charlie Hunnam Jim Beaver, Burn Gorman, Leslie Hope, Doug Jones, Jonathan Hyde.
Directed by Gulliermo Del Toro.
Once upon a time, the word ‘Gothic’referred to large and beautiful European cathedrals. Later centuries, especially with the 19th century fascination with mediaeval architecture in English-speaking countries, the word had overtones of larger than life melodrama, mysterious buildings, suspicious sinister characters, touches of the supernatural, images of blood and death.
It is safe to say that Crimson Peak is contemporary Gothic movie-making. It is the creation of Mexican, Guillermo del Toro, who has made films based on such graphic novels as Hellboy and Pacific Rim its gigantic undersea monsters rampaging through the world. But he also made striking films in Spain, The Devil’s Backbone set during the Spanish Civil War and the blend of grim fairytale and World War to realism, Pan’s Labyrinth.
The colour photography for this film is very striking indeed as are the sets, costumes and decor, opening in the American city of Buffalo in the 19th century and then moving to Cumberland in snowbound and frozen northern England. The film is also full of premonitions, ghosts, dastardly doings and revenge. This Gothic atmosphere is certainly reinforced in the episodes in Cumberland, in Allendale Hall, an enormous mansion out in bleak fields, its huge facade looking like no other building – except, perhaps, the front of St Pancras Station in London. As for the interiors, with gaps in the roof, snow falls within the building which is a mixture of ancient warehouse, whirring machinery, old-fashioned living quarters and a sinister basement.
The characters also have a Gothic touches. At the centre is a young woman, Edith, who lost her mother and has ghostly premonitions. She is played by Mia Wasikowska – who in recent years also played Jane Eyre. Actually, Allendale Hall is a place where Mr Rochester might have felt at home, with ample wings and rooms to conceal his mad wife. Then there are a British brother and sister who come to Buffalo promoting a machine for the extraction of a particularly enriched soil on their property. The brother, Thomas, played by the versatile British actor, Tom Hiddleston, seems to fall in love with Edith, and she him. We are all more wary of the sister, Lucille. This reviewer did not check who was playing Lucille before the preview of the film and could not place the familiar looking face, only to find it was American Jessica Chastain – who really steals the film with her most powerful performance.
While things may have been hard in Buffalo, matters are a far more disturbing in Cumberland, ghosts, mysterious past marriages, money and disappearing spouses, the strange machine, the blood- soaked soil, and more than a little vengeful blood and gore.
For those whose imagination tends to the Gothic, Crimson Peak can be recommended. For those of a more simple and stable imagination, it might be too much.
1. The Gothic tradition, plot, characters, ill-fated romance, settings, style, visuals?
2. Murder, mayhem, madness, melodrama?
3. The setting, the house, Edith as a child, sleeping, the ghost of her mother, the appearances, the effect on her? Premonitions?
4. The film as a ghost story, Edith as a child, adult, her imagination, writing ghost stories, Alan and his explanation of the photos and the retaining of past images? Ghosts and vengeance?
5. The city of Buffalo, the visuals of the city, exteriors, mansions and interiors, offices? Lavish? Edith and her writing, the discussions with the publisher, thinking that her handwriting was female, discussions with her father, in the office and her writing, her friendship with Alan?
6. Thomas and his arrival, commenting on Edith’s writing, the interview with her father, the discussions, the machine, asking for funding, refusing?
7. Socials in the city, the Mc Michael’s and the attitude of the mother, promoting Eunice, Alan and Edith? Her snobbery, wanting to put Edith in her place? Lucille at the piano, Lucille and Tom as brother and sister, the waltz, the candle still lit, the effect on Edith?
8. Tom, loving Edith, her response?
9. Her father, employing the private detective, his investigation about Tom and Lucille? Sharing the information? In the club, shaving, the sudden appearance of the killer and his brutal murder? The later revelations that it was Lucille? His will, Edith and her inheritance?
10. The courtship, marriage, going to England, Allendale Hall, the Gothic mansion in Cumberland? The winter, the bleak aspect, the snow, isolated? The Gothic mansion, its size, exteriors, the interiors, the snow falling inside, the lights, the lift, the different floors, the design of the corridors, the basement, the
kitchen?
11. Tom as a person, love for Edith, the courtship, bringing her to England, his tour of the house, his room and study, his inventions, the machine for the soil, involvement, the demonstrations, buying the new parts, success? The soil, blood red, the graphics of the blood in the ground, the surface, in the snow?
12. Lucille as a person, the touch of the sinister with charm, formal, her black dresses, playing the piano, accompanying Tom? Her reaction to Edith in the house, the plans for Edith, the poisoning with the tea? Tom and his acquiescence?
13. Edith and her fears, and nightmares, wandering the house, the appearances of the ghosts, like spectres, the basement, the chest with the initials, the phonograph records, the blood, the vats, the spectres rising to the surface? The role of the blood and the soil?
14. Edith’s wanting to go to town, collection of letters, the documents to sign, the letter from Milan, staying the night, of the time, the return and Lucille’s tantrum?
15. Edith taking the key from the ring, opening the chest, returning the key surreptitiously, listening to the records, the information about the women, the past marriages, their inheritance, disappearance? The issue of the baby, Lucille’s child? It’s death?
16. Lucille and her story, her antagonism towards her father, the brutal killing of the mother, she at 14, Tom at 12, her being taken to an institution? The incestuous love for Tom, Edith seeing them together?
17. Alan, his concern, the letters, using Holly for investigations? The newspaper headlines about the killing? Going to England, to Cumberland, in the town, the snow in the storm, his walking, arrival?
18. Edith and the signing of the documents, Tom intervening and burning them?
19. Lucille and the poison, the tea and the porridge,Tom confronting her?
20. Alan’s arrival, the clash, his being stabbed? Tom asking him for the right place for the further knifing? Survival, in the basement, Edith helping?
21. Edith, the confrontation with Lucille, the fight, stabbing and death, Tom’s intervening, outside, the fight, Tom appearing as a ghost, distracting Lucille, her death?
22. Alan and the rescue, walking away from the Hall, the future? The voice-over and the resume of what had happened?
