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A14 PEOPLE / ARTS
Wednesday 4 January 2023
Review: Whodunit ‘The Pale Blue Eye’ chills and satisfies
By MARK KENNEDY falls for a classmate’s sis-
AP Entertainment Writer ter he gives his heart, get
Grab a jacket or a blanket it? and may be letting love
before you watch Netflix’s blind him. But perhaps the
engrossing “The Pale Blue detective is not telling us all
Eye.” I don’t care if you’re we should know, either.
already in a warm place. Aside from all the cold dra-
You could be on the sur- ma by pale people, there’s
face of the sun and still feel also a little meta twist. We
chilly watching it. learn that the leaders of
Set during an unrelenting the military academy want
winter in upstate New York the detective to solve this
in 1830, this frosty movie quickly because they’re
with snowy vistas, flickering catching heat from Con-
candles and howling winds gress. Look closely and see
will get your teeth chatter- if you catch Pennsylvania
ing. Even lovers romping in Sen.-elect John Fetterman
bed are fully clothed. The and his wife in cameos in a
only thing to get the blood tavern. Much of the filming
moving here is a spot of was done in their state.
murder. Actually, it’s no There are also some tal-
mere killing that brings Au- ented folks in the cast that
gustus Landor, a retired you might miss Robert Du-
New York City police con- This image released by Netflix shows Christian Bale as Augustus Landor, left, and Harry Melling as vall plays an expert in the
stable with superior sleuth- Edgar Allan Poe in a scene from “The Pale Blue Eye.” occult, Gillian Anderson is
ing skills, to the U.S. Military Associated Press a haughty matriarch, and
Academy at West Point on Charlotte Gainsbourg plays
this winter in question. Yes, Edgar Allan Poe, who re- Poe’s “The Tell-Tale Heart” boards and owls hooting a love interest for Landor. q
a cadet has died on cam- ally did spend time at West and the source of this mov- and darkness cloaks every- The ability to deploy this
pus, found hanging from a Point, though not as an un- ie is a novel of the same thing. You feel the 1830s level of talent so quietly is
tree. But someone has also dercover detective. name by Louis Bayard. Di- and the greasy, unkempt almost cheeky.
harvested his heart. “The man you’re looking for rector and screenwriter hair and heavy woolen uni- The film has a few odd
To crack the case, Landor, is a poet,” Poe says, acted Scott Cooper builds tension forms. At one point, appar- jumps and seemingly
played with trademark tac- by an equally intense Harry with a series of seemingly ently not cold enough, we comes to a fiery conclu-
iturn intensity by Christian Melling, who once played unconnected clues a note visit an ice house. sion — finally some warmth,
Bale sporting impressive the bad guy Dudley Dursley fragment, a military jacket The R-rated whodunit takes good God — but it’s a false
facial hair, enlists the help in the “Harry Potter” fran- missing a decoration, some an unfortunate turn into the ending. A much better one
of one of the cadets, who chise. Poe recognizes that animals disemboweled. occult as our two heroes a awaits, one that’s unex-
is an odd sort of military a heart is just a muscle, but This is a film wonderfully gruff, tragic-stricken detec- pected and very, very sat-
man. This is when things get its symbolic value is crucial grounded in its time and tive and a romantic, hyper- isfying. Stay to the end —
weirder: The cadet is fu- to cracking the case. space, where you hear intellectual poet uncover as long as you’re bundled
ture famous macabre poet The title comes from a line in creaking wooden floor- each other’s secrets. Poe up.q
India’s Partition in deeply human debut novel
By DONNA EDWARDS arch teaches calligraphy yond Samir and Firdaus. To ory, the alluring hook of a
Associated Press at the Wazir Khan Mosque truly understand the his- nose or a letter. It’s an ode
Star-crossed lovers. In- across town. On a fate- tory and the characters, to passion, from handi-
toxicating scents. Old war ful visit to the Vij shop in Malhotra brings us back craft to the first and deep-
journals containing ghosts 1938, it’s the young Firdaus to Samir’s uncle the first est love. Tender moments
and secrets. What more Khan’s scent that bewitch- in his family to enlist in the slice through enchanting
could you want in a work es perfuming apprentice army witnessing firsthand descriptions. Scenes of vi-
of historical fiction? Samir Vij. the horrors of World War I olence and accompany-
Aanchal Malhotra’s debut Over the next 10 years, their trenches for the sake of In- ing smell-scapes of rot and
novel “The Book of Ever- relationship grows from the dia’s colonizer, Great Brit- decay breathe life into his-
lasting Things” paints a riv- curiosity of children to the ain. The story also stretches tory. Loving relationships
eting picture of the 1947 fierce and longing love of decades into the future, are laid bare in their many This cover image released
Partition of India using all young adults. But Partition allowing the ramifications forms: mentorship, friend- by Flatiron shows “The
senses especially and un- takes “star-crossed lovers” of war and heartbreak ship, romantic love, marital Book of Everlasting Things”
usually leaning into smell. to a new level as violence to echo through genera- partnership, parental af- by Aanchal Malhotra.
Associated Press
The Vij family, Hindus living takes hold of Lahore, tions. And although the fection and each of these
in Lahore who become mi- threatening to leave no facts are predictable, the through various stages.
nor celebrities as perfum- person untouched by the people are decidedly not. Having already proved her fiction and succeeded
ers, are well known and impending split that would “The Book of Everlasting deep knowledge of Par- with elegance. At all turns,
highly regarded for their result in Hindu-majority In- Things” is a book to stroll tition in her previous two “The Book of Everlasting
unsurpassed ittar, extract- dia and Muslim-majority through and indulge in; a nonfiction works, along Things” is deeply human,
ed from flowers. This suc- Pakistan. sensory paradise basking with over a dozen articles with careful attention paid
cess attracts the Khans, a But the story stretches far in the sound of words, the and other works, Malhotra to both factual and emo-
Muslim family whose patri- beyond Partition, even be- smell of a childhood mem- tried her hand at longform tional accuracy.q