from hell 2001 movie

[Fortinbras]

I will try to say some mistake I saw in from hell movie (with my bad english)and I also want to ear your opinion of the movie cause all of you know much more than me about Jack the Ripper

my humble opinion about from hell
I think that movie not respect real fact who happened in 1888 the movie contain a lot of mistake easy to find

#1=Inspector Abberline who was (45 in 1888) was playing by Jonnhy Deep (38 year old in 2001) I'm ok with that but Peter Godley who was (32) is playing by Robbie Coltrane who was 51 in 2001 a lot of difference between 32 and 51,they pretend Abberline was more young than Peter Godley.

#2=at the end of the movie you can see Abberline died at the same time that Mary Kelly is in irland playing with Alice..suppose Alice was born in 1887 that's mean Abberline died
in about 1896/1897 (in the movie) in real life he died in 1929 at 86..if you see jonnhy deep when dying you will see he is a man of medium age in his fortish and not eigthish

#3=not exactly a mistake there but they always romantizing Mary Jane Kelly...a prostitute who don't sleep with any man she walk the
street like a prostitute she dress like a prostitute she talk about she should get some money with client but she don't sleep with any man...weird

#4=Abberline said to Mary kelly to go with her friend Ada in a house where nobody know that they can be found there but the matter s that in real Life she was killed in the same home she lived for 1 year and 8 months

#5=you can see the deceased Mary kelly oh no I meant Ada body lying in the right side of the bed if we see the picture of MAry Jane Kelly she lying in the left side of the bed(so the wrong body in the wrong house in the wrong position )

I found much more mistake about other character butI just write about those 2 character Jonny Deep and Heather Graham I really think huges brother should come see this wonderful site and learn basic things about Jack the ripper and then make a movie about Jack The Ripper

I want to hear opinion of all of ya cause I'm not a real rippierologist and perhaps I'M wrong when I said it was a movie with a lot of mistake.So if something whant to diagree I'm all ears I respect all opinion :-)

ps:Katrin Cartlidge the woman who play Annie Chapman in the movie died the folowwing year at 41 from peunomia and septicaemia (to be honest even in the movie she had a sick face)

[Glenn Lauritz Andersson]

Hi Fortinbras,

You are quite right. However, I don't think it's correct to speak about 'mistakes' since From Hell never has made any claims on being historically accurate at all.

It's pure fiction anyway from start to finish - based on a comic novel book - and the things you point out is most likely a matter of Hollywood's version of 'artistic license' and rather deliberate. Especially since we know they had access to well known and respected Ripper researchers who tried to correct their errors, but obviously weren't listened to.
In short, they didn't care about being historically accurate.

All the best

[Chris George]

Hello Fortinbras

When we are talking about a project that is in the hands of Hollywood, you can forget about historical accuracy. A Hollywood film takes on a life of its own quite apart from what the historical truth might have been. Hollywood has a long history of altering "based-on-the-facts" stories for their own purposes.

The big disappointment for me is that the Hughes brothers, who made an artistically interesting and worthwhile film in their earlier movie, "Dead Presidents," did such a poor job with the Ripper story. Despite having Ripperologists advising them, and despite talking to some of us in the chatroom of this very website, they went ahead and made what I regard as a regurgitated Royal conspiracy type movie.

Perhaps they thought that was what the "public" wanted but their own artistic integrity might have told them that something better was required, rather than a repeat of the types of movies that had been made before theirs.

Fortinbras, in short, there is nothing much to talk about in terms of "From Hell" -- it is just a poor film, riddled with historical inaccuracies. It is an embarrassment. The Michael Caine TV film of 1988, "Jack the Ripper," though also based on the Royal Conspiracy theory, is a considerably better film, and if you have not seen it, I advise you to rent or buy it and check it out.

All the best

Chris

[sdreid]

Hi Fortinbras,

No problems with the English.

I agree with the others that the film is a dramatization but I agree with you that they could have and should have done a better job. Although not a bad movie in my opinion, all in all it was a squandered opportunity.

Another thing I'm totally with you on is the age discrepancy with the actors. Depp was way too young to play Abberline and should have switched with Coltrane except this wouldn't have fit in the star system.

Maybe it was something you wouldn't notice but Depp had a really lousy English accent too.

[Mike Covell]

Hi Fortinbras, Try these out for size,

Factual errors: William Gull says that he is the Royal Family's physician-in-ordinary. In fact, Gull was the Royal Family's physician-in-extraordinary (the original comic book got this right).


Continuity: When Abberline first meets, and discusses the Ripper killings with Sir William Gull, Abberline's drawing of a Liston knife keeps changing shape and position on the blackboard between shots.


Anachronisms: Electric lighting was rare, but not unheard of, in 1888. Even so, the electric light in the library is of a modern design.


Factual errors: The surgeon Ferral is called "Doctor". In England, surgeons are not (and were not) called "doctor", but "mister".


Miscellaneous: The coachmen's ear is whole in some scenes and it is cut in other scenes


Continuity: Upon arriving at the murder scene (in the back yard of a house), Inspector Abberline's coat and hat are clearly hung upon the fence a moment before we see him actually hang them there.


Revealing mistakes: During the cemetery scene, the head stone from which the crow flies moves visibly as the bird pushes off.


Anachronisms: Some of the constables and law enforcement officers shown in nighttime scenes are carrying flashlights, which were not patented until ten years after the film's date of 1888.


Anachronisms: Prince Albert Victor's painting in the gallery declares him to be the Duke of Clarence, a title he would not receive until three years later, in 1891.


Factual errors: In 1888, a bottle of laudanum would not have been labeled as poison, as it was a popular, socially acceptable, and inexpensive painkiller and sedative at the time.


Continuity: When men broke into the room where the couple was having sex at the beginning of the film, the woman quickly covers up her bare breasts with her sheets, then during the close up of the man, she is again trying to cover her breasts.


Factual errors: Liston knives were not serrated as they were used for the cutting of muscle. Only bone saws and the like had serrated edges.


Continuity: When Abberline is taking Mary into the gallery to view the picture of Prince Albert Victor, they pass the same lady in the white dress twice in different shots.


Continuity: When Ferrall is performing the lobotomy on Anne, on the last tap we cut to Gull talking. In the glass we see the reflection of Ferall performing the tap, but there's no sound. In the following shot of Ferrall he repeats the tap this time with sound.


Anachronisms: We see a shot of the Royal London Hospital in Whitechapel. However, it only gained its "Royal" status in 1990 - for the duration of its previous 250 years history, it was called just The London Hospital.


Miscellaneous: During the scenes where McQueen comes after the various different women, his left ear is clearly pierced. He isn't wearing an earring, but the hole is clearly visible.


Audio/visual unsynchronized: When Gull and Abberline are first discussing the murders, there is a shot from behind Gull when he is talking. His mouth does not match up with what he says.


Revealing mistakes: When Abberline gets smacked at the beginning of the movie to try to get him somewhat conscious, seconds before you can see the 'blood' on his lip where he is supposed to be hit.


Movie Mistakes, http://www.moviemistakes.com/film1583
From Hell IMDB, http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0120681/

On the subject of Katrin Cartlidge, her last movie in 2002 was "Eddie loves Mary" it's a conspiracy I tell you!!

[kensei]

Another thing I'm totally with you on is the age discrepancy with the actors. Depp was way too young to play Abberline and should have switched with Coltrane except this wouldn't have fit in the star system.

What stikes me is that if Robbie Coltrane had grown a moustache for his role he would have born quite a resemblance to the real George Godley (going by the photo in "Jack the Ripper A to Z"). In comparison to the 1988 Michael Caine miniseries, Godley was then played by Lewis Collins who had the moustache but was not husky enough. (Just nit-picking.)

[Chris George]

The biggest goof-up for me in "From Hell" was that the package with the half a kidney arrives before Catherine Eddowes is killed.

Chris

[Jon Guy]

Jack`s cameo in From Hell

In the opening sequence where the camera pans from the Victorian skyline eastwards towards the uneven shabby rooftops and sounds of the East End, and down towards the activity on the street, has anyone noticed the short guy in a shabby jacket, cloth cap and red neckerchief peeing against a wall before moving on across the street with a bottle in his hand ?

Did the Hughes Bros put him in their intentionally d`ya` reckon ? or just luck ?

[Chris George]

In the opening sequence where the camera pans from the Victorian skyline eastwards towards the uneven shabby rooftops and sounds of the East End, and down towards the activity on the street, has anyone noticed the short guy in a shabby jacket, cloth cap and red neckerchief peeing against a wall before moving on across the street with a bottle in his hand ?

Did the Hughes Bros put him in their intentionally d`ya` reckon ? or just luck ?

Hello John

Since "From Hell" was filmed on a set in the Czech Republic, not on location in the East End, I think we can guarantee that the guy was part of the script. More than likely he was not actually urinating but just simulating the act.

Chris

[Jon Guy]

Hiya Chris

You misunderstood me, I was referring to that guy,as he seems a dead ringer for Lawende`s Church Passage Man, and this fleeting cameo, in my mind, was as close as the tale got to Jack the Ripper.

[Chris George]

Hiya Chris

You misunderstood me, I was referring to that guy,as he seems a dead ringer for Lawende`s Church Passage Man, and this fleeting cameo, in my mind, was as close as the tale got to Jack the Ripper.

Ah, okay, sorry, Jon. Then let's say the guy peeing against the wall was meant to represent what might the directors thought might have been a typical East End working man of the day. In directing the extra to act that role I doubt if they made any connection with Lawende's suspect. Sheer coincidence, in my opinion.

All the best

Chris

[sdreid]

I thought that Katrin would have made a better Stride than Chapman. The year before, she was in another "true crime" film, The Weight of Water, about the Smutty Nose murders.

[Dan Norder]

As a work of fantasy fiction (Abberline having psychic powers, the Ripper seemingly being possessed by that alien tar gunk from the X-Files, etc.) From Hell is an entertaining and atmospheric film.

If it were advertised as a documentary then, yes, it would be a pretty bad attempt to portray history.

[Mike Covell]

As a work of fantasy fiction (Abberline having psychic powers, the Ripper seemingly being possessed by that alien tar gunk from the X-Files, etc.) From Hell is an entertaining and atmospheric film.

If it were advertised as a documentary then, yes, it would be a pretty bad attempt to portray history.

yes, thanks Dan, the "Black Tar" which featured in the X Files Mythology from series 3 seemed to make Gull's eyes go black, before he went a little crazy!

This Tar affected numerous X-Files Charectors over the years from Mulder to Krychek! There is another X-Files movie on the way, rumour has it they take on an alien Gull!!

[BillyE]

One of my biggest objections to the movie is the blending of two characters from the book, Abberline and Robert James Lees, known as the queen's medium, and the fact that Abberline obtains his psychic visions by a drug induced hallucination.

One person suffering from hallucination, even from the book, was Gull, but this was never properly explained in the movie. You just see Gull flash into a medical theatre hallucination during the Kelly/not Kelly murder.

And one side-note, the book does list Gull as physician-in-extraordinary shortly after his treatment of the Prince of Wales for typhoid, but later when Gull meets with Dr. Treves of "Elephant Man" fame, he addresses Treves as physician-in-extraordinary, and himself, Gull, as physician-in-ordinary. I'm not sure how true this is in real life, if he ever acheived the position of physician-in-ordinary, but if not the book got it wrong, just as the film did.