Set in mid-1950s America, Angel Heart stars Mickey Rourke as tough New York private detective Harry Angel, who is hired by the mysterious Louis Cyphyre (Robert DeNiro) to discover the whereabouts of Johnny Favourite, a famous blues musician who has apparently reneged on a business deal.
This is one of those films that seems to have garnered almost unanimous praise, so I feel a bit stupid in admitting that I found the narrative kinda hard to follow; a lot of the symbolism also seems to have gone right over my head, making the film a bit of a chore to fully comprehend. Angel Heart is, however, an undeniably stylish movie, with excellent visuals that make particularly good use of light and shadow (imbuing proceedings with that all-important pulp/film-noir atmosphere). So if, like me, you struggle with the complexity of the plot, at least there's lots of lovely cinematography to enjoy.
5/10, bumped up to 6 for no other reason than to make me appear slightly less of a Philistine/idiot.
This is one of those films that seems to have garnered almost unanimous praise, so I feel a bit stupid in admitting that I found the narrative kinda hard to follow; a lot of the symbolism also seems to have gone right over my head, making the film a bit of a chore to fully comprehend. Angel Heart is, however, an undeniably stylish movie, with excellent visuals that make particularly good use of light and shadow (imbuing proceedings with that all-important pulp/film-noir atmosphere). So if, like me, you struggle with the complexity of the plot, at least there's lots of lovely cinematography to enjoy.
5/10, bumped up to 6 for no other reason than to make me appear slightly less of a Philistine/idiot.