Well first let me start by saying film noir is freaking sweet! I've hear a lot of hub bub over film noir films and always figured they'd be kinda boring and lame, but I didn't realize how awesome ruthless and intense they were! It reminded me a lot of Sin City which is a film noir picture in itself and also one of my top favorite movies, in fact now that I think about it more a lot of the graphic novels that I have read and collected over the years commonly have a "film noir" quality to them even though they're not video. Right from the get go I knew this movie was going to be awesome seeing as the beginning was not in a linear fashion but rather started at the end and backtracked, which help in getting me through the motions of setting up the characters at the beginning (usually a painful procedure for myself, I'd rather get right to the action an conflict and have the characters be developed there as opposed to seeing their normal lives prior to the events) and really grab hold of me as the main character started to put the plan into motion. This was the first film we have seen in class where I wasn't hoping it would end after awhile, rather I was intensely watching and experiencing all the motions with the characters, which really makes a movie in my opinion.
Probably my favorite aspect of this movie the main character Walter played by Fred, and the way he was just so outrageously relaxed for the most part of the movie. Sure he sweat bullets and kinda panicked at some points for the most part he was just calm and cool, for instance when the man on the train started messing up his plan he pl
ayed along and came up with a quick solution by making the guy go back in for cigars, or when that man showed up later and kept almost recognizing him he played it chill and kept his composure. Most of the times when he's with Phyllis he puts on a front in way that basically is like were in deep crap but I got it all handled don't worry about, we got this. Even when she shoots him he doesn't go nuts or plea, he walks towards her and is like go ahead shoot me again... yeah didn't think so bam bam peace devil woman... come on thats sweet. Some of my favorite scenes in the movie are when Walter and Lola, the daughter of the man Walter intends on and eventually murders, are together. First she gets into his car unexpectedly, which I instantly thought meant that she had a crush on Walter and would then be a huge interference in the plan... which turned out to be not so true, but still Walter is cool and nice, yet he knows he is going to kill her dad. Then later on she comes to his office and tells him that she knows who killed her father, which then makes Walter wonder if she knows about him and if so why she has told him and no one else, so I'm like ok well maybe she does have a crush on him, or just wants to mess with him and maybe even kill him hers
elf... turns out I was wrong again. Then when they go out together to the music concert she tells him how she thinks its her boyfriend and her stepmom who killed her stepdad, but she still loves her boyfriend either way... which makes me wonder about if she did have a crush on Walter whether or not she'd turn him in or kinda let the affair go... either way the thing that I liked was how Walter should have been avoiding Lola or at least feeling real guilty when being with her, but instead he talks about how she comforts him and made him feel at ease not paranoid, what?! I'd be so nervous, but Walter is cool with it and in a way I both admire him and at the same time am kinda nervous about his character. I agree with what we discussed in class that Walter is basically a guy who is straight up bored with his crappy life and was obviously searching for the first reason to get his hands dirty whether he consciously knew it or not, thus why the situation should scare the hell out of him but instead he holds on for as long as he can due to the thrill factor... sure he killed someone, sure he cheated the insurance agency, sure he was all over a married woman... and he knows that he most likely can't get out of it, but every time he by passes a barrier I feel like its an adrenaline rush for him which keeps him going and gets him "high" in a sense.
My final point I want to touch on is the overabundance of smoking that was done in this movie. . . which made it look like a giant cigarette / cigar commercial. Basically in every scene someone was smoking, whether it was a business time cigar (Keyes) or a thin cig to look cool and seductive to the opposite sex, or even to relax from a tragic event they all made it seem very natural and a way of life. I mean I do realize back then there were a lot of Americans that did smoke and often at that but jeez there was a ton of smoking up, and man did the camera make it look so elegant, romantic, and professional. Each time Keyes goes to light his cigar Walter always gives him a light almost like a respectful motion to his superior, which at the end is exchanged likewise as Walter lies in a mess at the office door. The sudden burst of flame and white hot burning of the cigarettes and cigars where stunning against the dark backgrounds and made the simple motion of lighting up into a dazzling spectacle that I really enjoyed even though I hate tobacco with a passion. Even the way they Walter light the matches with one hand in a snapping manner that was just I don't know how else to put it but totally bad ass. I gotta learn that trick... note to self buy a box of matches.
Also how many times did Walter say the words Keyes and Baby... id say somewhere around 100...
I was a little concerned about the Lola/ Walter thing too...I was wondering if he would make a play for her, or if she was in on the whole thing with Phyllis and was going to kill him or something. It was even creepier that she just like hung out with him and told him all her personal problems, since he just killed her dad...
ReplyDeleteAgain, I'm fascinated by the energy in your writing. It's like your words and perceptions are all made out of some explosive material, like plastique, that's holding its shape together until something comes along to ignite it. But your language is so precise at the same time.
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