Sunday, March 13, 2011

The past and the present

What distinguishes classic film noir from neo noir is that film noir were filmed in black and white, the noir films had low budgets that's why they couldn't  provide good lighting when they were filming in dark Allys, Film noir were based from the past their films were more from 1940s and the films were associated to world war 11.
Neo-Noir films are in color, they were developed in the 20th century neo-noir films have more budget which they are able to film in more places and of course provide better lighting to the audience.  Neo-noir " is tooted in a set of cultural factors of particular moments, not of the 1940, neo noir is not only part of new America, its very much a part of New Hollywood that takes advantage of a culturally and cinematic ally savvy audience. 
( fireman) the both types have films have a connection between them they bring women back, the women is involve all the time, and the women makes the mans lives miserable, but the women are used as a sexual object. "when the powerful women takes on the "masculine" rote- owner of the subjective view point initiator of the action she nearly always loses her traditionally feminine characteristics ( Kaplan 29.so what gets distinguished between both films is that the new version neo-noir is that the males dont get manipulated by the famme fatale that easily witch in film noir was the opposite the famme fatale would seduce the men till they accomplished what they wanted.
"Neo-noir takes the formula of classic noir and integrates new ideas and influences from contemporary film styles to provide new spin on the loneliness and uncertainly that is felt by many of the young and disenfranchised of today" ( Robson)

Sunday, March 6, 2011

The Reviews of film " Double Indemnity"


I read a couple of reviews on film noir “Double Indemnity” I chose to write from two reviews for this blog.  Tim Drinks and Variety Staff had a verity of information of “Double Indemnity”.  Tom Drinks wrote that Double Indemnity was a “ cynical, witty, and sleazy thrilled about adultery, corruption and murder; Double Indemnity was derived from hard-boiled, Novella”.  The Variety Staff gave good explanation review of film “Double Indemnity” they talked about how the film developed mainly around the characterization of MacMurry. “Miss Stanwyck and Robinson, the first two as lovers and Robinson as an insurance claims agent who balk the pair a perfect crime, from becoming just what they had intended it to appear”.  They also mentioned on their review how “MacMurry was given a better performance it was different from his usual light roles he has had before,  Veriety staff describe how “ Stanwyck is not as attractive as normally with what it seemingly blond wig, its probably part of a make up to emphasize the brassiness of the character,  the infallible insurance executive quick to determine phony claims,  gives strong performance,  it is a typically brash Robinson role”.  The fraudulent, almost perfect crime leads to a guilt, suspicion, duplicity, and thrilling intrigue in a film with numerous switches of sharp and nasty dialogue. “ Paramount shocking suspense- filled masterpiece of love.. and murder” from its opening sequence, the film identifies with the self- destructive murder and his murder plot, using the metaphor of a train ride with the evil heroine that goes” all the way.. to the end of the line. “ its tangling from a poster declared: “You can kiss away a murder”. ( Drinks ).  This last review mentioned by Tom Drinks was one of my favorites because the way he describes the film in in own perspective of how thee planning of the murder and how things don’t always happen how they are planned.  

Wednesday, February 23, 2011

The unbelievable ending

Wow,  Double Indemnity was very interesting, but i was not so satisfied with the novels ending. Come on how can a good story end this way but not every story has a great ending.
Well, the third  part of the story starts off when Lola goes to Walter Huffs office to talk about what she thinks, she starts talking to him and explains how she truly feels about Phyllis. "You think Phyllis wouldn't be capable of putting my mother out in the night, in that cold, and keeping her locked out until she was half frozen to death- you think Phyllis wouldn't do that? You think she's just the dear, sweet, gentle thing that she looks like? That's what my father thought"( Cain 74 ). Not only did she kill her father but she killed her mother. Huff thinks to himself , " I had killed a man, for money and a women.  The women was a killer, out-and-out, and she had made a fool of me.  She had used me for a cat's paw so she could have another man, and she had enough on me to hang me higher than a kite   ( Cain80 ).Walter Huff starts getting very close to Lola Mr. Nirdlinger's daughter, Huff starts to realize that he is falling in love with Lola. Huff expresses " Lola, how sweet she was, and  the awful thing i had done to her"  ( Cain 80). " All of a sudden I sat up and turned on the lights.  I knew what that meant.  I was in love with her. ( Cain 80). At this point Walter Huff starts to feel guilty for what he has done to Lola's father he wants to set things straight but does not want to hurt Lola. Huff starts to think about the ugly witch Phyllis he was to do something about her because she knows about him and he knows about her and the only way he can settle the problem is to kill her with out her suspecting a thing. well everything end up not going the way he planed Walter Huff is the one that ends up getting Shot. At this point Walter Huff Thinks of Lola right away and he want to protect her he dosent want her to get Hurt so he confesses that he was the killer of Mr. Nirdlinger. Walter Huff and Phyllis should of received a different treatment because come- on they committed a murder not only did Phyllis kill one person but she has killed other people, and for her to get out that easy its not fair. Walter admits he didn't do the right thing and it seems that he learned his lesson and now he gets to be with Phyllis he should get some jail time for what he did . But for Phyllis she has committed a couple  of murders and she seems to not care at all she is a Psycho maniac Famme Fatale, that needs to live the rest of her life behind bars with no parole.

Sunday, February 20, 2011

The Murder

        The relationship between Walter and Phyllis change after they murder Mr. Nirdlinger.  “When she got my car she stopped and I got out. We didn’t even say good-bye.  I got out her car, got in mine, started and drove home” (Cain 53). In this quote shows the tension between them.  It seems to me that Huff got used by Phyllis to plan the perfect murder of Mr. Nirdlinger. “I started to think I tried not to but would creep up on me. I knew then what I had done, I had killed a man. I killed a man to get a woman. I had put myself in her power, so there was one person in the world that could point a finger at me, and I would have to die. I done all that for her, and I never wanted to see her again as long as I lived” (Cain 54). To this point Huff realized what he did, he did it, because he fell in love with Phyllis. Huff was part of Phyllis plan. By this point it gives it the film noir feel because Phyllis is being the femme fatale. Huff feels disappointed and mad at Phyllis; he does not want to speak to her ever again. His love towards Phyllis turns in to hate.
        Keyes is the detective figure, in “double indemnity”. The quote that leads to the believe of the hard –boiled detective, “I said nothing. Whoever did this did a perfect job.  There’s nothing to go on. Just the same, its murder” (Cain 60).  Keys is suspicious of Mr. Nirdlinger wife.  Will Huff cover for Phyllis and protect her? Or will Phyllis turn Huff in and blame him for the murder?

Wednesday, February 16, 2011

accociations to film noir


The novel Double Indemnity  has different aspects that associates with film noir. The best quote that fits the first section of Double Indemnity is, “film noir is [crime] from within; from the point of view of the criminal.” The novel  if from Walter Huff ‘s point of view. Walter Huff suggest to Phyllis the murder of her husband.  She pretends to act innocent but, it’s like he can see right through her eyes. Phyllis shows up, at Huffs front door, She explains to Huff that she is willing to go with the plan he had said, earlier that day, She starts explaining to huff that she has never done it before since she’s been married. Phyllis explains to Huff “No, I did mean it.  If I hadn’t meant it I wouldn’t have had to come down.  But I do want to say that I won’t ever mean it again” ( Cain 15).
This other quote also gives the novel an association to film noir. “The police knows who they are, of course.  They round them up, give them the water cure- and then they’re habeas corpuses into court and turned loose. Those guys don’t get convicted.  They get put on the spot by others gangsters . oh yeah, they know their stuff, all right”(Cain 21). It gives it an association to film noir because it’s giving it a feel how police are being corrupt.
  Walter is setting things and telling Phyllis how the things are going to work out so she won’t be the one getting accused of the murder, so if she gets questioned she will be free till the trial starts. Walter Huff explains to her “ if we want to get away with it, we’ve got to do it the way they do it, and not the way some punk up near San Francisco does it” (Cain 21)  “It is the presence of crime which gives film noir its most constant characteristic.  “The dynamism of violent death” is how Nino Frank evoked it, and the point is well taken.  Blackmail, accusation, theft, or drug trafficking set the stage for a narrative where life and death are at stake.  Few cycles in the entire history of film have put together in seven or eight years such a mix of foul play and murder.  Sordidly or bizarrely, death always comes at the end of a tortured journey.  In every sense of the word, a noir film is a film of deathWalter Huff is the main criminal of the novel and guiding  Phyllis getting away with the perfect murder of her lovely husband Nirdlinger.  

Sunday, February 13, 2011

Then and Now

 Neo- Noir films were established after World War 11.  Noir is a french word that means black.  They use Noir to describe the darkness, mystery, and the clothing they would wear. The Neo-Noir films portray the image of "flaunting retro, poison as martinis and cigarettes, this invites the auidence to a glamorously, rebels against an age of abstinence and political correctness," said, by Ansen,David,Weingarten,Tara,and Newsweek.
 In most of the Neo-Noir films there's a sexy, Seductive women. Most of the time she pretends to be the good, innocent person who tries to trick the good guys and she becomes friends, so she will know what the next move will be, so the bad guys will be a step ahead of them or, she will end up being the killer aka the bad guy, these women are called "Famme Fatale"  
Neo-Noir films have evolved throughout the years, the actors wardrobe has become more modern, but neo noir films have become limited, due to all the new technology , for example the more modern film that has been created is the 3-D motion picture films. I don't like noir films because they are to dark at times and it makes it hard to see whats happening i experienced this problem in Batman Begins.