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Murders were common in Whitechapel in the 19th century. Pubs and prostitutes were side by side with shops. The poverty and despair can be easily noticed in the film.
Most streets in Whitechapel were narrow. People often in with little light and ventilation. The area was filled with where the Ripper’s victims found their "customers." Some of the popular hangouts of 1888, like "," are still open and are still .
On August 31, 1888 the Ripper’s terror first struck Whitechapel. ("Polly") Nichols, a 42-year-old mother of five who on Flower and Dean Street, was brutally murdered. Her father, at the inquest, said was “too good” to have enemies. No one in the area heard any screams. By the time a found her, Mary Ann Nichols had been dead about 30 minutes.
People weren’t shocked that a murder occurred in Whitechapel. They were upset about the way was done. (Follow the link to the BBC’s Radio Merseyside to hear the story. You will need Real Audio. Move the “play” button ahead to 10:15 and stop it at about 13:50.
B. The victims (prostitutes) of the ripper was quite accurate. They were middle aged women.
C. The detail of the lodging house. Lodging house in Whitechapel were often over crowded- the poor could not afford the price of the bed, so they would pay a less amount of money for the privilege of sleeping over a rope.
At the end of the 19th century, many poor people rented for the night at establishments called "." Rent payments for the bed (the "") were usually owed in advance. Whitechapel had more than its share of such .
The fiction part of the movie:
A: Inspector Abberline was an Opium addict and a psychic!?
There is no evidence showing Abberline was an Opium addict. The film make use the Opium addiction to explain his psychic power.
B: The victims were friends and were targeted by The Ripper. There is no any evidence showing that the victims were friends and were targeted by the Ripper.
C: The method of killing in “From Hell” was very different from the known facts of the case.
There is no evidence that there was ever more than one person involved in the murders (with the possible exception of the Stride murder), and certainly no evidence that any of the bodies were killed anywhere other than where they were found. This latter myth arises from a newspaper report that mentioned only a slight amount of blood was found near the body of Polly Nichols. Some initially took this to mean that her body had been killed elsewhere and placed at Bucks Row, but further investigation revealed that her ample clothing had soaked up most of the "missing" blood. There is also little chance that the killer had used a carriage, as they would have been quite loud on the cobble-stoned streets and witnesses would have noticed it.
In real-life, the murderer almost certainly did not know the identity of his victim. He was seen on several occasions conversing with his victim, so it would appear as though he spent at least some time in each case pretending as if he were a normal client. This would lead the woman to lead him to a dark and secluded place for the purposes of sex, where he likely first strangled then cut the throat of his victim. In most cases there was no scream heard on the part of the victim (as opposed to how it was portrayed in the movie).
Why the movie is made from historical facts and made-up stories?
- Movies demand straightforward thrills romances.
The center of the story is a fictional romance between Mary Kelly (Heather Graham) and Inspector Abberline (a spaced-out Johnny Depp), the lead investigator assigned to the case of murdered prostitutes in London's East End in the fall of 1888. The Ripper, the center character in the novel, does not have as large a role in this treatment; the story is mostly told from Abberline's point of view.
- Hollywood’s tradition to have a happy ending story.
Conclusion:
In the end, From Hell straddles that fine line between fact and fiction so often found in Hollywood's "historical epics." While the Hughes brothers are to be commended in capturing much of the authenticity of the times, location and the case, the film should certainly not be viewed as an authentic representation of the Ripper crimes as a whole. Those interested in the real facts of the case are urged to pick up Sugden's Complete History of Jack the Ripper or Rumbelow's The Complete Jack the Ripper. Either book serves as a good introduction to the case.