Movie Review--Sleepy Hollow

"It is truth, but not all truth is appearance."
--Ichabod Crane, Sleepy Hollow

"It is a hard lesson for a hard world, and you had better learn it young Hasbath.  Villainy wears many masks.  None so dangerous as the mask of virtue."
--Ichabod Crane, Sleepy Hollow


Washington Irving's short story The Legend of Sleepy Hollow, with some changes, is translated into a cinematic format with Tim Burton's style in Sleepy Hollow.  Johnny Depp takes the lead role as Constable Ichabod Crane, a character that has been altered for the sake of the film.  Ichabod's epistemological crisis and subsequent ideological shift are great assets to the movie, but the same is true of many of the performances.  Sleepy Hollow is driven by its characters and by its atmosphere from beginning to end.


Production Values

Although some scenes might blatantly look like they were made in another decade due to the lack of emphasis on computer-based effects, the general reliance on practical effects over CGI is one that avoids the pitfalls of several modern films like those of The Hobbit series.  Sleepy Hollow has a very consistent visual tone because of this.  The performances are likewise consistent, and, thankfully, they are consistently strong.  Johnny Depp leads the film as Ichabod Crane, whose occupation is changed from a schoolteacher to a constable.  He is completely at home in Tim Burton's imagining of the story as a figure intent on discovering the true circumstances of the murders.

The secondary and supporting cast members likewise offer quality performances, including several by actors from major franchises.  Ian McDiarmid, best known for his portrayal of Emperor Palpatine in Star Wars, has a role, and even Christopher Lee, a Lord of the Rings cast member, appears in an early scene.  The lesser known actors and actresses, however, are not overshadowed by these supporting roles.  Christina Ricci, Marc Pickering, and Miranda Richardson all give competent performances in their time onscreen.


Story

Some spoilers are below.

Constable Ichabod Crane is sent to the town of Sleepy Hollow after a series of reported murders, all of which involve decapitation.  His science-based approach to investigation leads to minor clashes with the locals, who claim that the killer is a headless horseman who was once a Hessian mercenary renowned for beheading soldiers in battle.  Crane slowly unveils a human conspiracy associated with the murders of the horseman.


Intellectual Content

Prominent townspeople assume the devil must be behind the killings, while Ichabod assumes that the killer must be a human.  Neither party is justified in having such beliefs.  Ichabod himself is selectively rational, calling someone out for claiming to know what he saw when he was alone in one case and declaring there to be no supernatural presence associated with the horseman at other times.  He never clearly distinguishes reason and science, but he at least implies that he might know the two are distinct.  Ichabod at least does not insist on scientifically understanding that which transcends science when he is eventually confronted with the horseman's true nature.


Conclusion

Sleepy Hollow is a fine example of atmospheric horror from the years right before CGI became a consistent, primary part of mainstream moviemaking.  Standing on its setup and acting, it merges a tale of supernaturalism with the plot of a conspiracy thriller, blending both in a way that allows all of the main themes and genres present to stand out while not canceling out the others.  Not all of Tim Burton's movies can be validly defended on many grounds beyond subjective preference, but Sleepy Hollow is not one of those films.


Content:
 1.  Violence:  Multiple people are beheaded or otherwise killed onscreen, and their corpes are sometimes shown afterward.
 2.  Sexuality:  A man is briefly shown laying on top of a woman as he kisses her body.