Double Indemnity

What do you get when you throw Billy Wilder and Raymond Chandler on the same film? You get lines like “How could I have known that murder can sometimes smell like honeysuckle?” and one of the most compelling film noirs ever to grace the screen.

Set in Los Angeles, Walter Neff is a niaeve insurance sales man who calls on the wrong house. When he makes his call to the Dietrichson residence to try to talk Mr. Dietrichson into renewing his auto policy he encounters Mrs. Dietrichson and becomes enamored, soon the two create a lovers plot to murder Mr. Dietrichson and scam Walter’s company, by taking out accident insurance and utilizing the double indemnity clause on it, getting paid twice the normal policy amount after Dietrichson’s death. However, murder is no easy game and before long the coconspirators find themselves embroiled in a plot they can’t see an escape from and begin to do anything to keep from ending up in a gas chamber for their crime.

Double Indemnity is one of the finest films Billy Wilder, or anyone in the cast ever made. This film is pitch perfect from the ghostly opening credits to the very end and delivers every twist, turn and foul move with the deft and confidence only a premiere director like Wilder could deliver.

This film speaks to Wilder’s skill because no single major character in this film is remotely sympathetic, and yet you end up caring about their fate. Walter Neff is a good guy gone bad for a dame, a sin he can’t be forgiven for, and from the moment you see Phyllis Dietrichson walk into frame you know that she is Eve’s sin wrapped up with a bow. No one is innocent in this film.

I believe I’ve said it before, but part of where the magic of a Billy Wilder film lies is the timelessness of his stories. Even though this film is set in post-war Los Angles, the script could be taken, set in any major city in a contemporary setting and could work nearly verbatim as a modern picture. Wilder made stories whose plots didn’t revolve on technology, politics or personalities specific to his era; he made stories that were based in universal human emotions – love, greed, lust, wealth and relationships – the rest was incidental.

It’s said by Wilder himself that Chandler had problems adapting to screenplay writing. However, I cannot emphasize enough that the dialogue in this screenplay drips of the tongues of the actors in a way only the writing of Raymond Chandler could. It is lush, fast and complicated forcing the viewer to pay as much attention to the nuances of what the characters are saying as they are to the actions the characters are performing.

Double Indemnity stands high on the list of films I want to aspire to. If I could capture the artistic verve that Wilder & Chandler put into this film, I could put a story on screen that audiences wouldn’t be able to rip their eyes away from. That my friends is a lofty directorial goal.

Director: Billy Wilder
Writers: Billy Wilder & Raymond Chandler
Walter Neff: Fred MacMurray
Phyllis Dietrichson: Barbara Stanwyck
Barton Keyes: Edward G. Robinson
Lola Dietrichson: Jean Heather
Mr. Dietrichson: Tom Powers

Walter Neff: That was all there was to it.Nothing had slipped, nothing had been overlooked.There was nothing to give us away. And yet, Keyes, as I was walking down the street to the drugstore, suddenly, it came over me that everything would go wrong. It sounds crazy Keyes, but it's true, so help me, I couldn't hear my own footsteps. It was the walk of a dead man.

The Usual Suspects

Bryan Singer
Originally uploaded by Jack Bloom

I have a short list of perfect films, and The Usual Suspects is one of the films on that list with movies like Annie Hall and Double Indemnity. There is not one thing about the Usual Suspects that I would change.

I truly think that The Usual Suspects may be Bryan Singers hallmark film; the man is quite talented and has a bright future ahead of him so I may be wrong, but I don’t see how The Usual Suspects could be topped.

If you haven’t seen this film you need to see it, and you need to see it as soon as you can.

Dave Kujan: Do you believe in him, Verbal?
Verbal: Keaton always said, "I don't believe in God, but I'm afraid of him." Well I believe in God, and the only thing that scares me is Keyser Soze.

Sabrina

Sabrina (1954)
Originally uploaded by ARARAR

It is no secret that Billy Wilder is my favorite director, but I can say that of all his films Sabrina is not one of my favorites.

In the film, Sabrina Fairchild is the daughter of the chauffer to the powerful Larabee family; growing up adjacent to the Larabee house has made young Sabrina become infatuated with the youngest Larabee son, David. The problem is that David doesn’t even know Sabrina exists, he is far too caught up in chasing after the daughters of the socialites in his circle. Sabrina’s father decides the best course of action to get Sabrina over David is to send her to cooking school in Paris; while in Paris Sabrina is absolutely miserable, until she meets a friend that helps her begin to mature into the sophisticated Parisian woman she can be. Upon graduation Sabrina returns to the Larabee estate and decides to use her newfound feminine charms to win the newly engaged David. In order to keep David from ruining his engagement (and therefore the plastics deal the Larabee’s are working towards) older brother Linus does his best to occupy Sabrina’s time.

I can’t name anything large or specific that makes Sabrina mark low on my list of Billy Wilder films. One of the key elements for me is that it tonally just feels very different from all of his previous films; Sabrina was made after some of his best - Double Indemnity, The Lost Weekend, Sunset Blvd. and Ace in the Hole - and Sabrina is just borderline bland next to those.

I also have to say that I don’t know if I enjoy Humphrey Bogart in the role of Linus. Call me ageist but to me he is just too old to be playing Hepburn’s love interest. The tow also don’t seem to be performing towards each other; Hepburn is interacting with Bogart, but Bogart doesn’t seem to be responding to her.

I still enjoy this movie and think Wilder is a film god, I just think he made such astronomically great movies that this one just being “good” seems sub-par.

Director: Billy Wilder
Writer: Billy Wilder, Samuel Taylor & Ernest Lehman
Linus Larabee: Humphrey Bogart
Sabrina Fairchild: Audrey Hepburn
David Larabee: William Holden

Kiss Kiss Bang Bang

extra ntf 11.8
Originally uploaded by sean's jawns

I have an irrational love of film noir. Tell me a film is noir influenced and I will probably see the film no questions asked. In light of this it is no surprise that one of my favorite films of the last few years is Kiss Kiss Bang Bang.

This neo-noir is written and directed by Lethal Weapon scribe Shane Black, and is the directorial debut of Black; it stars the supremely talented Robert Downey Jr., Val Kilmer and Michelle Monaghan. From its use of narration, flash backs, criminal themes, and dark humor it is instantly obvious that this film loves and respects the noirs that came before it (even using Raymond Chandler book titles as headings for parts of the film), but wants to create its own off-beat take on the genre.

The first way Kiss Kiss Bang Bang breaks ground in neo-noir is by its use of the narrator in Robert Downey Jr. (Harry). Instead of idly narrating the story to himself or another character in the film (think Walter Neff’s character in Double Indemnity) Harry speaks directly to the audience breaking the fourth wall*, commenting on not only what you should be paying attention to as it’s probably important to the story, but degrading his own talent at narration. Kiss Kiss Bang Bang is a reflexive film; its techniques draw attention to the fact that it is a film that you are watching, and is indirectly about the process of making a film.

Harry comes to Hollywood where all his troubles begin because while fleeing the scene of a crime he hides in an audition for a crime drama and gets the part. He is then flown out to Hollywood to screen test, and while taking detective lesions from “Gay” Perry (Val Kilmer) he becomes embroiled in a murder mystery involving his producer’s daughter and his high school sweetheart turned actress’s kid sister.

This film is a funny, thrilling, yet tongue-in-cheek love affair of all that makes film noir memorable and fabulous and should be seen by anyone that wants a good laugh, great acting or just a great crime film.

Writer & Director: Shane Black
Harry: Robert Downey Jr.
”Gay” Perry: Val Kilmer
Harmony: Michelle Monaghan
Harlan Dexter: Corbin Bernsen
Dabney: Larry Miller

Harry: I peed on the corpse. Can they do, like, an ID from that?
Perry: I'm sorry, you peed on...?
Harry: On the corpse. My question is...
Perry: No, my question. I get to go first. Why in pluperfect hell would you pee on corpse?

Harry: Wow, I feel sore. I mean physically, not like a guy who's angry in a movie in the 1950's.


*The 4th Wall is a term used in theatre, film and tv referring to the imaginary barrier between the audience and the world of the characters.

Married Life

Originally uploaded by Legendary Classic

Married Life is a film that deserves a wide audience, yet is one of those remarkable films that no matter how hard you try it feels as though you cannot fully describe the tale it tells. At once a dark comedy, film noir, and cautionary tale Married Life defies definition and gracefully transcends the genres from which it borrows due to the talents of writer & director Ira Sachs, writer Oren Moverman & the talented cast.

At its heart Married Life addresses two primary themes: the changes imposed upon us by our environment, and how well do we know the people we love. These themes are woven into the film with the for once artfully executed device of a first person narrator, one of the major players in the story, Richard played by Pierce Brosnan. Richard looks back on the event after it has happened and uses his current detachment from the situation to keep a certain levity about it, and calmly relate it to the audience.

The world Married Life takes place in is one that has recently experienced World War II and is still feeling the results of the war, though is trying its best to ignore those circumstances; this is where our first theme of changes our environment force upon us comes into play in a very key way through Rachel McAdams award worthy performance as young war widow Kay. Kay is the heart of the films disjointed love triangles; she is caught between Harry (Chris Cooper) and Richard who are both intent on making Kay enjoy life like the young beautiful woman she is; Kay however, pretends to enjoy the attention but the mere reference of her deceased husband sends Kay into a more emotional state than either suitor can conjure on his own flirtations. The attention of these men is relished by Kay because they offer the companionship she no longer has.

Our second victim or his environment is Harry; though he is the opposite of his mistress Kay. While Kay would have loved to remain happily married to her husband, Harry longs for escape from a marriage he finds confining because he feels that his wife’s desire for physical intimacy is not the “real” love he so craves. He longs for what he perceives to be true intimacy, the fruits of his relationship with Kay.

Richard, our jovial narrator is a victim of his environment as well though he is the quickest to admit it. The instant his best friend Harry reveals his desire to leave his wife Pat (Patricia Clarkson) he introduces Richard to Kay and instantly Richard is insanely jealous of Harry’s having Kay. Richard becomes the victim of his circumstances because he is trapped because of his feelings for Kay and his loyalty to two of his best friends in Harry and Pat.

Not to be overlooked is Harry’s wife Pat. Pat knows Harry no longer loves her and that she is in love with their friend John, but she traps herself in the marriage by refusing to believe that Harry cannot survive without her and she is unwilling to have him live a life of shame if she were to leave him.

At the end of the film Richard as narrator tells the audience the films key point: ‘how well do you really know they person that lies next to you?” This theme is driven home as each character is put through the wringer emotionally as they commit what they consider to be unavoidable but horrific sins against the people they love to drive this point home. Durring the course of the film Richard betrays Harry by pursing Kay & lies to Pat to get her to hide her affair from Harry; Kay allows Harry to cheat on his wife as she cheats on Harry; Pat has an affair with a family friend while trying to convince Harry that she is a devoted wife; Harry cheats on his wife with Kay, and hatches a plot to murder his wife so that she can be free of the shame and turmoil that would ensue if he left her for Kay.

This films is best described as a cross between Double Indemnity & American Beauty; it is a film that twists, provides laughs and entangles us in its suspense; Married Life is a film that is intended to portray the tangled web within which we all live our lives, and the lengths in which we will go to achieve a little thing called “happy”.

Director: Ira Sachs
Writer: Ira Sachs & Oren Moverman
Richard: Pierce Brosnan
Harry: Chris Cooper
Kay: Rachel McAdams
Pat: Patricia Clarkson
John: David Wenham