Rough Trade Friday: The Crow

It almost seems fitting that a movie based on a comic grounded in tragedy would be fraught itself with tragedy. James O'Barr's classic Crow comic differs greatly in detail from the movie of the same name, but at its heart tells the same story. The movie's plot centers on the murders of enfinaced couple Eric Draven and Shelly Webster and Eric's posthumous revenge. Shelly is murdered and raped over a real estate dispute as developers (read: crime syndicate) want to tear down their loft for new development, Eric is murdered as he walks in on the crime in progress. The two were to be married the following day.

The rest of the movie is Eric rising from the grave exactly one year later to exact a very painful and a propos revenge on each of the gang members and crime loards responsible. Some are beyond redemption, others he gives opportunity to change. A crow, which in pagan and native american circles has associations with death and the afterlife, is his guide and companion, as well as the locus of his supernatural power. He is able to see through the crow's eyes and the crow keeps Eric to task.

Extremely violent, it is nevertheless a gripping poignant movie. It clearly has its faults, some of which stem from Brandon Lee's untimely death during production due to a misloaded blank. Having rewatched this recently I was surprised how well the movie has held up over time. Not exactly snuggle material, it is a great example of taking a difficult source material and sucessfully adapting the spirit of the comic into a sucessful film. Rottentomatoes gives it 88% (and an impressive 100% by the cream of the crop).