It is no wonder that in the genre film class in colleges, the analysis of film noir will take "Double Indemnity" as the focus of the case. explain.
When Wilder decided to bring "Double Indemnity" to the screen, Kane had no time to write the screenplay, and Wilder hired his favorite writer, Raymond Chandler, to write the screenplay.
Before that, Chandler was best known as the author of tough-guy detective novels, whose detective Marlowe captured the hearts of a large number of readers. Although he has no experience in writing screenplays, the tough guy detective novels he wrote and the large-scale character dialogues and actions all create a strong sense of picture.
There are few psychological descriptions in Chandler's novels, and the protagonists are taciturn, unsmiling and walking on the edge of the law, which is in line with the style of film noir, which is concise, ruthless, and pays attention to the vagueness of human nature.
Different from the Hitchcock-style suspense waiting to be peeled off, "Double Indemnity" begins with Walter, an insurance broker who is a criminal suspect, exposing his crimes on the phone. The object of exposure is not the police, but the same as him. claims manager of an insurance company.
The story takes place in Los Angeles, USA in 1937-1938, when the aftermath of the Great Depression did not completely dissipate, and during the Great Depression, mass unemployment, social security chaos, and the intensification of the gap between the rich and the poor made the insurance industry, which seems to be the safest, also Become a high-risk occupation -
who knows if there will be an "accidental" car accident a few days before the insurance expires in order to get a car insurance compensation for the rich and powerful? Even "accidental" deaths are commonplace. The long-term struggle in dire straits has enabled insurance practitioners to develop the skills that only detectives have.
Insurer Walter first met Phyllis, whom he fell in love with at first sight at her house. At the time, Phyllis was Mrs. Dickinson, and Mr. Dickinson was Walter's client. Walter came to talk to Mr. Dickinson about auto insurance renewals.
Phyllis, wrapped in a bath towel and half-naked, greeted the stranger in a dignified tone. This way of her appearance is the "women from a male perspective" that old film scholars are most fond of talking about. Such female images have almost become stereotypes in genre films. They are mysterious and powerful, seducing the hearts of male protagonists. If such a stunner were to appear in this way in a crime or noir film, it would be a red flag.
Walter is obviously not a good person either. Facing this slightly restrained hostess, he blatantly used words to tease her. However, when they met for the second time, when Phyllis told him that she wanted to buy a personal accident insurance in her husband's name, Walter immediately became alert to her intention to murder her husband and kept a clear distance from her. .
Walter's snap decision shows that despite Phyllis's charm, Walter has no love for her, only desire. However, when Phyllis found Walter's house by phone Yellow Pages and cried to him about her pitiful experience of being brutalized by her husband and stepdaughter, Walter agreed to join her in the murder plan. At this time, Phyllis is like a stupid thief with no criminal experience. She needs the help of a policeman to avoid the police's search. For an insurance fraud case, wouldn't the ideal partner be a professional insurance practitioner?
Film noir evolved from German Expressionist films, but unlike German Expressionism, it did not use distorted images to exaggerate the dark side of human nature. After all, film noir does not mean to alienate and vilify the shortcomings of human nature. Even if the characters in the film are flies and dogs and each has a ghost, it still presents the characters in a way that is closest to normal people. The part that emphasizes the dark side of human nature is handed over to the lighting and composition.
Sunny outdoor scenes are rarely seen in "Double Indemnity", and even for indoor scenes in broad daylight, the shutters should be pulled down to let the sun stingy into the room through the shutters. And the scene where the whole house is illuminated by the flame of the protagonist lighting a cigarette is not uncommon in the film. This hints not only of the character's repressed mentality, but also of hidden sins and shady deals.
From the current point of view, this kind of symbol that can be judged directly from the naked eye is too deliberate, but this kind of visual design is the inheritance of German Expressionism. But fortunately it is a black-and-white film. The black-and-white color scheme clearly outlines the lines of all characters, scenery, buildings, and vehicles. It not only inherits the part of German expressionism that emphasizes geometric composition, but also looks more natural.
Walter, who is familiar with the insurance terms, has a plan for Phyllis: If her husband dies in an accident that falls from a train, then she can get double the compensation, and the insurance amount has been increased from the original $50,000 to ten. Ten thousand U.S. dollars. In order to get double compensation, the couple began to implement a series of plans: Phyllis booked her husband's train tickets for the evening, and while she was driving her husband to the train station, Walter, who was hiding in the back seat of the car, would meet him. Strangling him at the "appropriate time", then taking his place on the train, then jumping off the train to escape, and throwing his body on the tracks, creating the illusion that Mr. Dickinson died accidentally from a fall from the train.
Seeing this, you may feel that thanks to the lack of advanced autopsy technology in that era, strangulation and falling to death, which are completely unsuitable methods of death, can be fooled, and thanks to backward transportation technology, the safety of train jumping has been strengthened. coefficient. However, the speed of the train aroused the suspicion of the insurance company. They felt that the speed of the train would not kill people. Although the light was dim that day, according to the testimony of eyewitnesses, the person who fell from the train seemed to be much younger than the deceased. .
Also suspicious was Phyllis's stepdaughter, Lola, the daughter of Mr. Dickinson and his first wife. Lola told Walter that on the night of his father's accident, she saw Phyllis dressed in black and a black hat in front of the mirror, knowing that this is the attire for a funeral. Phyllis appears to be rehearsing ahead of time for her husband's funeral.
Walter realized that the poor Phyllis who took the initiative to send to the door that day was not her true face. Sure enough, Lola told Walter again that Phyllis robbed her boyfriend, he was Phyllis's true love, and Walter was just a pawn from beginning to end.
Thanks to the fact that Chandler who wrote the script is an experienced novelist, he knows that some novels can show textures that movies cannot help. Movies may restore the scene to the greatest extent, but they cannot convey the olfactory information. Therefore, in Walter's confession in the film, there are many parts about smell, such as honeysuckle in winter, cigar in the secret room.
When Walter confessed his crime to the phone, he still acted like a dutiful insurance practitioner, confirming the terms of the policy one by one: "You said it wasn't an accident, yes; you said it was a murder, yes "It seemed that there was someone on the other end of the phone holding the huge double-indemnity policy and ticking the items, but it was not the amount of compensation that was confirmed, but Walter's guilt.
for "The Paper"
View more about Double Indemnity reviews
