[Killer] Viewing notes

Elliot 2022-04-20 08:01:05

1. Taken in 1956, Kubrick's third feature film, when he was 28 years old.

2. Team crime + multi-line narrative + black humor, affecting Quentin, Gary and Ning Hao. The last shot of RMB flying all over the sky in "No Man's Land" can be traced back to this film.

3. Team crime routines: team up—make a plan—execute the plan—the plan encounters obstacles or accidents—the plan ultimately succeeds or fails—divide the spoils and escape. Begin to use a scene to show the background and character of the team members, explain the motive of committing the crime, the role shaping efficiency is extremely high, and the scene is done. Only two non-staff personnel were accounted for during the team formation, and the rest were already in the plan from the beginning. There is not much to say about making a plan, and the results are presented directly. The operative part uses narration to connect the lines in series, without using parallel editing, but to go back to each paragraph from the omniscience perspective and narrate separately.

4. Transverse and long-axis photography is mainly used. The camera scans the entire environment, and there will be many occlusions in the foreground. There are more horizontal scheduling, less vertical scheduling, and a strong sense of stage drama.

5. Disadvantages : As a film noir, femme fatale is the main character, but femme fatale has too little interference in the execution phase, which mainly affects the stolen phase, resulting in insufficient resistance in the execution phase. Jonny's super strong character design ended up in nothing, showing an ironic ending, but the ending is based on the contingency of life, not the logic of the story. The participation of the cashier and the bartender is too little, and the role of the cashier is basically to pit teammates.

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Extended Reading
  • Doug 2022-04-22 07:01:32

    Twenty-seven-year-old Kubrick is already ahead of the times. This multi-line narrative black crime film has an influence on both Guy Ritchie and Quentin. There are a few more voice-overs, but the dialogue is really sparkling, especially between the wimpy husband and the vicious wife, so exciting. The police, bartender, buddy, sharpshooter, hooligan and other three religions and nine streams jointly staged the big racehorse robbery, constantly retracing the preparation process of all parties, and then a series of climaxes, and the last scene was empty, in one go

  • Clay 2022-04-22 07:01:32

    There are some shortcomings in Kubrick's early works. For example, the narration is very redundant. Of course, this is mainly to take care of the viewing habits of the audience in the 1950s. Some scenes and lines are not refined enough, and the ending is slightly sloppy, but the multi-line narrative disrupts the time. The method of the line is very powerful, the dramatic tension is very good, and it was completely ahead of the times at that time.

The Killing quotes

  • Sherry Peatty: Darling, what are the two things in life you're most interested in?

    Val Cannon: What?

    Sherry Peatty: Money and women?

    Val Cannon: That's a nice way to put me down.

    Sherry Peatty: That sums it up, doesn't it?

  • Sherry Peatty: We're gonna have money, Val. More money than we ever dreamed of. Maybe millions!

    Val Cannon: Oh yeah, how?

    Sherry Peatty: George, that's how! He stumbled on to somethin' big.

    Val Cannon: That meatball?

    Sherry Peatty: That meatball with gravy, Val.