The Crow

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Movie
German title The Crow
Original title The Crow
Country of production United States
original language English
Publishing year 1994
length 102 minutes
Age rating FSK 18
Rod
Director Alex Proyas
script David J. Schow
John Shirley
production Jeff Most
Edward R. Pressman
music Graeme Revell
lust murder
camera Dariusz Wolski
cut Dov Hoenig
Scott Smith
occupation
chronology

Successor  →
The Crow

The Crow is a 1994 fantasy comic film adaptation by Alex Proyas . The screenplay was written by the horror - and science fiction - Authors David J. Schow and John Shirley written. The basis was the comic book The Crow by the cartoonist James O'Barr . The film opened in German cinemas on July 28, 1994.

action

According to an old legend, the souls of the dead were brought to the realm of the dead by a crow . However, if something very tragic had happened to the deceased and the souls found no rest, the crow could bring the dead back to this world. Such a tragedy experienced guitarist Eric Draven and his fiancée Shelly Webster. They are attacked by a gang in their apartment on the so-called "Devil's Night", the night before Halloween , in which the entire city is looted and pillaged (this "custom" probably alludes to the Devil's Night Detroit ). The gang breaks into the apartment and attacks Shelly. When Eric tries to help her, he is injured in the neck by a gang member with a knife and shot by two others with pistols. Then the gang members throw him out of the window of the attic into the street. Shelly is raped and seriously injured. She is taken to a hospital where she dies after a long agony.

Sarah, a young girl, regularly visits the cemetery and lays flowers on the graves of Eric and Shelly. Shelly took care of Sarah as Sarah's mother is a drug addict and has been hanging out with the wrong people at night. A year later, Eric is resurrected by a crow and climbs out of his grave. He goes to his old apartment, where visions of last year's attack appear to him. Eric deliberately injured his hands with broken glass from a broken window and notices that the crow heals his wounds in seconds. In front of a mirror he discovers a harlequin mask, which he uses to make up his face.

By protecting the crow now almost invulnerable, Eric hunts his and Shelly's murderers. First he kills Tin Tin with his own knives. He then goes to Gideon's pawn shop to get Shelly's engagement ring back and to get information about the other gang members from Mr. Gideon. When Eric is done, he burns down the pawn shop. His next victim is the drug addict Fun Boy, who was using heroin with Sarah's mother when Eric arrives at the apartment. Fun Boy shoots three times at Eric, but his wounds heal in seconds. Eric shoots Fun Boy in the knee with his gun and tells Sarah's mother to take care of her daughter. Eric kills the fun boy lying on the floor with a heroin overdose.

He begins looking for the last two killers. Meanwhile, Gideon tells the leader of the gang, Top Dollar, about the incident. He kills Gideon and arranges a meeting with all the mafia bosses in the city. Eric is looking for Officer Albrecht, who tells him what happened exactly a year ago. Albrecht was with Shelly in the hospital the whole time until she died. Eric says goodbye to Albrecht and goes his way. Outside a grocery store, T-Bird and Skank talk about Tin Tin's killer. Skank goes into the store to get beer and cigarettes while T-Bird goes to his car. In the car, T-Bird is surprised by Eric and is told to drive off on his orders.

The vehicle is being followed by the police and Skank is also in pursuit. During the chase, Skank collides with the cops and is injured. Eric tied T-Bird up in his car at a pier and bombed it. Although Eric doesn't say a single word, T-Bird is shocked to discover that Eric is the man who was killed by him and his people back then with his fiancée. Eric blows up T-Bird and his car and makes his way to Skank. This sits with fear on the neck at Top Dollar and the mafia bosses.

When he talks about the Devil's Night, Eric appears and challenges Skanks' head. Top Dollar refuses, and so it comes to a shooting, in the course of which all bosses are killed and Skank is thrown out of the window into a police car by Eric. With the help of Albrecht, Eric manages to escape from the police. Top Dollar and his last two people can also escape and hide in a church with the kidnapped Sarah. There is the final showdown between Top Dollar and Eric, in which the crow is injured and Eric loses his invulnerability as a result.

When Eric is about to be killed, Albrecht rescues him by shooting one of the three gangsters. Albrecht is shot by Top Dollar's sister. Before she can shoot Eric, the crow picks out her eyes and she falls to her death. A battle breaks out on the roof of the church. Eric holds his own and kills Top Dollar. He says goodbye to Sarah and Albrecht with the request that they take good care of Sarah. When Eric leans against his gravestone in the cemetery, seriously injured, his fiancée Shelly appears and kisses him. Then she brings him back to the realm of the dead.

background

While the death scene of Eric Draven was being filmed, his actor Brandon Lee (son of the kung fu legend Bruce Lee ) was shot dead in an accident by the funboy actor Michael Massee . This scene was rewritten and changed with a body double.

For a long time it was unclear whether the film would even get into theaters. The fatal accident occurred in 1993 and the theatrical release was only over a year later, in 1994. In addition to investigations into the accident and a legal dispute by the insurance companies, for a few scenes that had not yet been shot, either a double or a digital trick with committee- Brandon Lee material was used, which was revolutionary - and expensive - at the time and the relatively low budget of the production. The director Alex Proyas seemed creatively paralyzed for years after the traumatic experiences of this accident, until he experienced a similarly gloomy comeback with Dark City and the same production designer ( Alex McDowell ).

Awards

The film was nominated for four Saturn Awards (best costume, best director, best horror film and best effects), but could not win any of the awards. In the music field, the film had better chances and won a BMI Film Music Award for the music by Graeme Revell . The Stone Temple Pilots also received an award for the best movie song ( Big Empty ). For this they received an MTV Movie Award . There the film was also nominated for Best Actor (Brandon Lee) and Best Picture.

Reviews

Roger Ebert wrote in the Chicago Sun-Times on May 13, 1994 that the film was the best cinematic version of a comic book universe that he had seen until then. He compares the Design of this film with the films such as Blade Runner and Batman . He also highlights the acting performance of Brandon Lee ; he could have become a star if he had survived the shooting. He gave the film 3.5 stars out of 4.

Peter Travers also praised Brandon Lee's acting performance in Rolling Stone ; but Michael Wincott , who plays the villain Top Dollar was specifically mentioned. As with Roger Ebert, the scene was described as "admirable". 4.5 out of 5 stars.

The lexicon of international films wrote: “A mixture of crime, action and“ Gothic ”horror film based on a comic book, flat in story and characters, atmospherically but at times dense. The strongly visually oriented direction makes use of numerous role models, but does not find a style of its own. The main actor (in his last role: he died during the shooting) remains unremarkable and interchangeable. "

Trivia

The film is dedicated to Brandon Lee and his fiancée, Eliza Hutton, whom he wanted to marry a few days after the official shooting deadline.

The music video for the song Beyond The Veil by the gothic metal band Tristania was cut from scenes from The Crow .

In the scene in which Eric Draven smashes the glass front door of Mr. Gideon's pawn shop and enters the shop, the undead Eric Draven quotes a few lines from the poem The Raven by the writer Edgar Allan Poe from 1845: Suddenly I heard a tapping , as of some one gently rapping, rapping at my chamber door (In the German synchronization: And suddenly I heard a knock, as if someone was knocking gently on the door of my room )

Soundtracks

Two soundtracks were released for the film in 1994: one with the songs from the film, the other with the instrumentals by Graeme Revell .

Music from the Original Motion Picture:

  1. Burn - The Cure - 6:39
  2. Golgotha ​​Tenement Blues - Machines of Loving Grace - 4:01
  3. Big Empty - Stone Temple Pilots - 4:56
  4. Dead Souls - Nine Inch Nails ( Joy Division ) - 4:54
  5. Darkness - Rage Against the Machine - 3:41
  6. Color Me Once - Violent Femmes - 4:09
  7. Ghostrider - Rollins Band - 5:45
  8. Milktoast (also called "Milquetoast") - Helmet - 3:59
  9. The Badge - Pantera ( Poison Idea ) - 3:54
  10. Slip Slide Melting - For Love Not Lisa - 5:47
  11. After the Flesh - My Life with the Thrill Kill Kult - 2:59
  12. Snakedriver - The Jesus and Mary Chain - 3:41
  13. Time Baby III - Medicine - 3:52
  14. It Can't Rain All the Time - Jane Siberry - 5:34

Original Motion Picture Score - Graeme Revell:

  1. Birth Of The Legend - 6:16
  2. Resurrection - 2:10
  3. The Crow Descends - 2:30
  4. Remembrance - 2:54
  5. Rain Forever - 2:32
  6. "Her Eyes ... So Innocent" - 2:45
  7. Tracking The Prey - 3:35
  8. Pain and Retribution - 2:34
  9. Believe In Angels - 3:31
  10. Captive Child - 2:32
  11. Devil's Night - 2:30
  12. On Hollowed Ground - 2:42
  13. Inferno - 5:02
  14. Return To The Grave - 3:45
  15. Last Rites - 3:55

Sequels

In addition to a television series produced in 1998 entitled The Crow: Stairway to Heaven , three sequels have been made so far.

Parts three and four were published directly on video or DVD and have no overlap with the first parts, but part 2 was released in the cinema and has two characters from the first part with the now adult little girl Sarah and the now blind seer.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Release certificate for The Crow . Voluntary self-regulation of the film industry , October 2010 (PDF; test number: 71 699-b V).
  2. ^ Film review by Roger Ebert
  3. ^ Film review by Peter Travers
  4. ↑ The Crow. In: Lexicon of International Films . Film service , accessed March 2, 2017 .Template: LdiF / Maintenance / Access used 

literature

  • Kenneth Roycroft: The Crow. the crow. Goldmann, ISBN 3-442-42967-6 (film novel, German)
  • Bridget Baiss: The Crow - The Story behind the Film. Titan Books, ISBN 1-84023-779-1 , (non-fiction, English)

Web links