"Once, people believed that when someone died, a crow would carry their soul to the land of the dead; sometimes, however, things happened so horribly, sadly, and painfully that the soul could not rest. Thus, sometimes, but only sometimes, the crow would bring the soul back to set things right. "

Beyond the metaphor of life, beyond life itself in the realm of our deepest illusions. The universe in which this dark fable catapults us is made of parallel worlds where the path is not the usual and banal noir love trail, but a melancholic labyrinth across the darkest depths of human brutality and revenge illuminated by the eternal conflict between Eros and Thanatos.

Inspired by the eponymous comics by James O'Barr, who in the early eighties, in an attempt to exorcise a personal tragedy (his girlfriend was killed by a drunk driver), created this vulnerable anti-superhero (even though the film adaptation led to some significant changes), the movie directed by Alex Proynas tells the story of two young people about to get married who are murdered on "devil's night" following the rampage of a gang of local hooligans. A year after the tragedy, He returns to life, ferried through human decay by the otherworldly wings of the Crow (the imagery of The Crow draws vital strength from one of the powers attributed to birds in classical mythology, that of being "psychopomps" figures, that is, responsible for accompanying the souls of the dead to the afterlife or returning them to life when anger over the injustices suffered robs them of the peace of eternal slumber).

And so, in the ambivalence of his "new reality," he will find his little friend Sarah and, through a conscientious police officer Albrecht, he will relive the final moments of Shelly's agonizing demise. Gradually, all those responsible for that crime committed a year earlier will fall under the "mortal" wings of revenge, and the "journey" of life resumed only for a fragment, will ultimately eternally flow back into the arms of his "bride." It cannot be said that the film's success was derived only from some particular structural aspect of the direction (which, to be clear, deserves the utmost respect) or the plot in itself (in fact, the lack of substantial plot twists somewhat flattens the scenic register), but rather, if this has become a cult movie, it is due to a sort of "invisible" energy that permeates the entire "world" of the Crow. From the nocturnal lightning that slashes through Brandon's phantasmagorical face to the funeral, agonizing flashbacks, to the languid and melancholic shots of the persistent landscape of darkness (in my opinion only surpassed by those of Tim Burton's Batman), everything, every single detail contributes to drawing a real myth with supernatural traits. The set is life itself, the script is written but the actor does not know it. . Is there an invisible director moving the strings separating life from death? "just pull the trigger...one shot and it's all over with?"

Because, the otherworldly tone of this film, we all know it, is conferred by Brandon's death on set eight days before the end of filming; he was killed by a bullet fired by actor Michael Massee in the first scene where Eric was supposed to be shot. As per script "Funboy" (this the character's name) wielded a .44 magnum aiming at the "Crow's" abdomen, pulling the trigger from a distance of about 5 meters, (the shot seen in the film is probably the one that truly killed Brandon), under the impression he was firing a "blank" bullet. But Brandon collapsed to the ground with a strangled groan, while the copious blood pouring out added a surreal tone of perfection to that scene (legend has it there was even applause. .) . While everyone moved on the set to prepare for a retake of the scene, only "Eric" remained stricken on the ground. "I thought he was joking, even though it was quite strange because Brandon was extremely professional and serious at work", Proyas says in an interview. "Seeing that he wasn't moving, I approached him. I noticed the bloodstain continued to spread. Too much red liquid to be just the amount contained in the small plastic container Brandon was supposed to break to simulate the injury and fall. I bent down, touched that liquid with my finger. It was warm and thick, like blood? Real blood? A deathly silence fell on the set. The first person to sense the tragedy was Eliza Hutton, Brandon's girlfriend (they were to marry as soon as the film was completed) who was part of the cast as a production assistant. She screamed and rushed toward Brandon as I realized he was breathing weakly and his condition had to be severe". . Brandon was rushed to the nearest hospital, and a metal object was found in his stomach that caused significant damage and internal bleeding. He died on March 31, 1993, at New Hanover Regional Medical Center. He was buried next to his father Bruce Lee's grave at Lakeview Cemetery (Washington). As everyone knows, the film was completed thanks to body doubles and partial reuse of the "footage" combined with computer graphics techniques. Not an "ordinary" film, therefore, but a true (tragic) film within the film, in a reality that taken alone, fascinates more than any other alternative fantasy.

Furthermore; the entire philosophy of the film stands in a logic exactly opposite to the concept of a miracle: in fact, I would call it a "de-miracle". If a miracle is an unforeseeable and inexplicable beneficial event, then what happened in this film represents its exact antithesis. Brandon tells us why, in the last interview given on set where he explains the philosophy of the Crow "In the film, I see a concept of balance between good and evil. Since we don’t know when we’re going to die, we are led to think of life as an inexhaustible well, yet every singular event happens only a certain number of times, and often it is a limited number: how many times do we recall a certain afternoon of our childhood, an afternoon that is such an integral part of our being that without it we could not even conceive of our existence, perhaps four, five times, maybe even less. How often do we see the full moon rise, maybe twenty, yet everything seems endless to us. "The little things meant so much to Shelly, I thought them insignificant but, believe me, nothing is insignificant": this is the perspective adopted by the character for the entire duration of the movie because he realizes perfectly how important each moment of his new life is". I don’t think there are words capable of explaining the concept of "empathy" better than these.

Thus ends this dark tale, with the real death of its protagonist, who was to marry in the film and was to marry in reality, who was cursed in the film and was even more so in reality, and with a final anger that grips all its viewers. And barely eased in the hearts of the observants, the desire that one day the protagonist reembarks on that prematurely abandoned journey becomes more and more insistent and more and more real? Once it was said that the death of a young person is a shipwreck, while that of an old person is a landing at a port; unfortunately, the world has partly erased even this rule, the spectacle has its price and, even the tragic death of a twenty-eight-year-old boy can have a scenic and evocative effect greater than the tragedy of the fact itself. The consumerism that checkmates death? it is not (nor could it ever be) a checkmate, but many are fine with it. .

After all, all life is a show made of alternating scenes where death represents nothing more than an unannounced curtain. The proscenium fades, existence vanishes, but in the auditorium remains memory? This, I believe, is the true strength of "events" like the crow: "If the people we love are taken from us so that they continue to live, we must never stop loving them.. ". Speculations aside, this truth admits no rebuttals, even beyond a film?

Again from the last interview: "I don't know if it was destiny that I played this role, but I feel very fortunate to have done so?" Actor to the end, Brandon?

So it is not forgotten?

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Other reviews

By ashanti

 The film, thematically and stylistically, fits perfectly into the gothic tradition, which challenges reason and tells us... that death, as a finite entity, can be defeated by love, an infinite entity.

 I like to think that Brandon is watching us from above and that, one day, perhaps, he will return for revenge.


By Trofeo

 "People die, houses burn, but true love is forever."

 "As if the events were the responsibility of something supernatural, to such an extent that some coincidences seemed not to be coincidences at all."