In 1987, a few decades ago, a film called “Angel Heart” was released. Obviously, the film is far from “not for everyone”, since this is not another easy-to-read comedy or a story about a happy family life. This is a heavy horror film with thriller elements, and not every film buff will like it. Let’s try to consider what the authors of the film wanted to convey to us.
What is Angel Heart about?
The whole plot is centered around Harry Angel. He is a lawyer from the US state of New York. Harry is going through hard times and is in need of money, and he just wants to diversify his life with something interesting. But usually the detective does not come across any exciting cases, and he has to take on minor routine incidents.
But one day, Herman Weinsap turns to him, who arranges for him to meet with Louis Cypher in a small church. The man turns to Harry for help: he asks him to find a missing person after the war named Johnny Favorite. Favorit and Herman made a deal, but the former ended up in a psychiatric hospital. However, Louis is tormented by doubts about the reliability of this fact, and therefore asks the man to check it.
After much persuasion, Angel nevertheless goes to the hospital, where he learns that the desired patient was transferred back in 43. False signatures on the subpoenas that he was in this particular hospital were sent by Dr. Fowler. Harry enters the house, and an interesting picture arises before his eyes: the whole house is full of stocks of drugs, and the doctor himself admits that he was paid a round sum to sign such papers, and also reports that the patient was taken away. However, when Harry returned to the house, the doctor was already dead.
The detective meets with a journalist who has information about Fayvorit’s amorous affairs. But all the people who further meet on his way die. Harry begins to suspect that he is being followed.
When meeting with the father of one of the heroines, he learns that Johnny was fond of black magic. He made a deal with Satan, but did not want to pay, and in the end he had to eat the heart of a kidnapped soldier, because this is the only way to adopt another soul. The hero comes to the conclusion that he is the very Favorite, and all the murders were committed by him.
The meaning of the movie “Angel Heart”
The meaning of the film is intertwined between two ideas. The first of them is quite obvious – deals with impure forces have never yet led to a good result. The dark forces are so named that they will never follow the bright path, they are not able to lead the human soul to the light. This idea is somewhat similar to the “Faust” of the German writer Goethe, someone notes that it also goes back to the Bible, but in fact the meanings in all three works are similar to each other.
If you do not dig into every detail of the film, do not try to penetrate into its depths, then you can hardly go beyond the first thought, if you do not take into account the small moralizing presented by the director and screenwriter of this picture – Alan Parker. But he is not so stupid as to give obvious morals that have been known since the beginning of the existence of religions.
The author wanted to show us how much a person often does not see his true face and does not understand what he is doing. Moreover, his true face is unpleasant to him, and he is trying to get rid of his deeds. But wherever one of us runs away, whatever he does to remain innocent, he will still return to normal.
Harry realized who he really was, they literally presented him with a mirror and set it in front of his face. He considered himself innocent of anything (which his speaking surname can also testify to. Angel in English is an angel, a model of purity and purity), but in the end he turned out to be the one he was hunting for.
Alan Parker doesn’t give us precise guidance in his film. Everyone drew a conclusion for himself, but he probably caught a hint: “Maybe it’s worth it sometimes to face the truth?”.
Meaning of the movie’s ending
The final minutes of the film are also not to be taken for granted. In general, about the entire film can not be said as something unambiguous.
The police hint to Harry that he will “burn” for what he has done, implying the death penalty in the electric chair. But the hero replied to this that he would burn in hell.
And he really went to hell, and it was shown to the viewer of the film. This is exactly what was done while Harry was in the elevator. Those convicted, especially for such serious crimes, could not ride in the elevator alone, but only under police escort, since there was a risk of escaping. But the hero was not traveling alone for no reason: the elevator is a cage in which a sinful soul is placed, sinking lower and lower into hell.
