Death, revenge, “accidents”… What causes silent insanity? “The Cask of Amontillado” by Edgar Allan Poe is a story about Montresor and Fortunado. Montresor and Fortunado are acquaintances, but one night Montresor asks Fortunado to sample his new cask of Amontillado. This leads them both down into Montresor’s catacombs, which leads to Fortunado’s demise by Montresor. The modern story, Nightcrawler by Dan Gilroy, spotlights a struggling Lou Bloom who decides to start filming accidents for different news companies. He picks up a partner, Rick, who goes through the insane incidents with him. Lou, ruthless and cunning, does whatever he needs to get the best, or most gruesome shot. This ultimately leads to Rick’s death …show more content…
In “The Cask of Amontillado,” Montresor leads Fortunado to his imminent death after almost befriending him. Before Montresor takes Fortunado down to the catacombs, he promises him a taste of Amontillado and different sips of wine along the way. They engage in small talk, and Montresor seems genuinely worried about Fortunado’s cold. At one point, Fortunado even “possessed himself of my arm” said Montresor (Poe 210). This proves Fortunado’s trust for Montresor before Fortunado kills him. Montresor’s ability to befriend someone without showing any of his future intentions proves his silent insanity. Montresor did everything he could to act and seem normal. The situation is similar in …show more content…
“The Cask of Amontillado” is very dark, and is set mostly in catacombs. Since it’s set in the dark and musty catacombs, Montresor doesn’t have to hide who he really is and what he intends to do. Montresor describes the catacombs: “We had passed through walls of piled bones, with casks and puncheons intermingling, into the inmost recesses of the catacombs” (Poe 211). This describes the gloomy atmosphere of the catacombs shows that Montresor doesn’t have to conceal his insanity any longer. Montresor can now unleash his built up animosity. In contrast, Lou from Nightcrawler has to conceal his insanity to meet his goal. Although most of the film occurs at night, Los Angeles never sleeps so Lou has to be more creative because all eyes are on him. When confronted by the police after he killed Rick, Lou had planned out what he was going to say and when he was going to say it. The detective states that Lou had filmed Rick dying and Lou said, “That’s my job. That’s what I do. I like to say if you’re seeing me you’re having the worst day of your life” (Nightcrawler). This hints that Lou is constantly thinking of ways to hide his mistakes; he isn’t witty enough to come up with that phrase on the spot. Since Lou is in the spotlight, he has to be meticulous unlike Montresor from “The Cask of Amontillado” because the in this movie is dark, and no one enters the catacombs, therefore Montresor