Character Eric Draven:A Hero with Faults in the Film, The Crow :: Movies

Character Eric Draven:A Hero with Faults in the Film, The Crow The story of "The Crow" (a graphic novel turned movie) is the story of Eric Draven, a handsome young musician living in the dark gloom of a gothic-industrialized city plagued by continual rain. He is set to wed a beautiful girl when she is raped and left to die by a gang of criminals. Upon arriving to witness it in progress (taking place at his own home), Draven is killed as well; pushed out of a window as high as a skyscraper. The story then chronicles his resurrection from the dead in order to avenge their murders. His only lifeline (or shall we say deathline) is through a black crow. The crow is the connection between the dead and the living, providing Draven with the means to be immortal for one night only. If the crow is harmed then Draven will lose his immortality and assume mortality, putting an end to his plans for revenge. The conflict of the story comes as Draven attempts to execute the criminals one by one, but is cut short by the harming of the crow. He fights to overcome this and prove successful in his journey. There is a strange duality between the character of Eric Draven as a cultural legend and the actor who played him, Brandon Lee. While Draven became a legend of the story, Lee became a legend in reality. Lee was accidentally shot and killed while filming "The Crow"; the product of a gun and a scene gone awry. Lee's death came at the verge of a rising career and coincidentally, occurred at the exact age of his father's death. Lee, as many people do, became legendary not for his deeds so much as his death. Eric Draven became a legend, or legendary figure, more from the qualities he possesses as a character. Draven is portrayed as strong, powerful, and in control, fueled by his angry death. Lurched out of the living world, the love he felt while alive has propelled him back into a heightened mortality--a supernatural state of being. He is not the average man anymore, he has risen above that level of mundaneness to fulfill his purpose. But the twist comes in the fact that he still has human characteristics, and suffers because of them. He is burdened with memories of the past, and memories of his previous life.