Outside whirlpool
Out of the Past
Rating: 9/10
Publisher: USA 1947
Director: Jacques Turner Jacques Tourneur
Screenplay: James Kane James M. Cain
Frank von Fenton asked Frank
Daniel Mainwaring
Actor: Robert Meacher Robert Mitchum (Jeff)
Jane Greer (Kathy)
Virginia Huston (Anna)
Kirk Douglas Kirk Douglas (White)
Rhonda Fleming (Kayson)
Steve Bro Di Steve Brodie (Fisher)
Paul Valentine (Joy)
Duration: 97 minutes
Genre: Black, Crime, Love
Premiere: November 13, 1947
Survival is a kind of energy, greed is a kind of energy, and lust is one This kind of energy, fear is also a kind of energy. Sometimes these forces will form a huge vortex, swallowing everything ruthlessly in the world, but abandoning the purest and selfless love.
【story】
Jeff used to be a private detective. A few years ago, he decided to retire because of a woman and a case. Now he uses the alias Bailey and runs a gas station in a peaceful mountain village. He is in love with the local girl Anna. . However, the uncontested life was destined to be broken. One day, a man calling himself Joey came to the gas station to find Jeff. He told Jeff that White was now in the villa on the hill outside the town and wanted to see him. Jeff asked Anna to drive him up the mountain. On the road, he told her for the first time his past experience:
A few years ago, Jeff was hired by the gang boss White. At that time, White had a lover named Cathy. At night, she shot and wounded White and took away forty thousand yuan. White asked Jeff to bring the woman back. Jeff followed this woman all the way to Mexico. He waited for Cathy for ten days in a port city. He knew that if this woman wanted to escape to South America, this was the place he must pass. In a boring afternoon, Jeff finally met the legendary Cathy in a bar. She was really beautiful and has an extraordinary temperament. Jeff fell in love with her at first sight, and Cathy was also quite affectionate to the charming man in front of her. Heartbeat. When they met for the third time, they decided to elope. A couple of men and women in love spent a few days happy and happy in this small seaside town in a foreign country. Just as they were preparing to take a long flight, White suddenly came to Mexico. The experienced Jeff was calm and strained, and finally sent White away. There was a false alarm.
Jeff and Cathy sneaked back to the United States and began their secret love life in the north far away from White. Unfortunately, at the racetrack, they met Fisher, another private detective under White. Fisher followed them to a wooden cabin in the woods and unceremoniously extorted ten thousand dollars. Cathy insisted that she shot White but didn't get the money at all. Jeff was convinced of this. . The two men fought, and Cathy shot Fisher in the chaos because she knew Jeff would not kill for her. She left Jeff, and there was no news ever since. However, Jeff found a cheque worth 40,000 dollars in her left bag. Jeff felt deceived and left the rivers and lakes since then.
After hearing Jeff's story, Anna asked him: Did you see Cathy again later? Do you still miss her? Jeff shook his head.
Jeff saw the unpredictable White at the Hilltop Villa. He knew that this gangster would not really give up, but what was surprising was that he actually met another old acquaintance here, Cathy. It turned out that after the breakup that year, Cathy felt that she had nowhere to go and fell into White's arms again. She even planted on White, saying that Jeff killed Fisher, which made White even more hateful towards Jeff. He sought Jeff this time because he wanted to kill two birds with one stone and take the opportunity to get rid of Jeff and some of the trouble in front of him. The accounts of White’s tax evasion were in the hands of an agent named Leonard. He kept blackmailing White until the amount rose to 200,000 U.S. dollars. White became angry and determined to get rid of him. He asked Jeff to go to San Francisco to find a woman named Kayson and said she would arrange everything. Jeff knew very well that he was being held in the palm of his hand by White, and all he could do was to react accordingly.
In the evening, while Jeff was writing a message to Anna in the room, Cathy came to see him alone. This fickle woman immediately put on another posture, saying that she was totally involuntarily doing this, and she still loved him deeply. Jeff, I hope I can fly away with him again. Facing this woman who had long been accustomed to betrayal, Jeff was very determined, he blasted her out, and then continued to write to Anna.
In San Francisco, Jeff found the woman named Kayson, who turned out to be Leonard's female secretary. Kayson told Jeff the whole plan: she will go to Leonard in the evening, and then Jeff will claim to be her cousin and pick her up at Leonard’s apartment, and then she will have a tryst with Leonard outside. Jeff can then sneak into his apartment and steal those documents. Jeff immediately understood that this was a trap, but he went to Leonard’s apartment as planned. He carefully hinted that Leonard was about to murder him, but when he sneaked into the apartment for the second time, Leonard was still dead. . Jeff hid the body in the closet and sneaked into the hotel where Cathy was staying. Cathy called and learned that Leonard was not dead in the apartment. In a hurry, he had to tell the truth to Jeff and his wife. White's plan was to let Jay The husband is the scapegoat for the murder. Facing the two-sided but extremely sexy old lover, Jeff somehow embraced her again. According to the information she provided, Jeff stole the document from another place and immediately mailed it out. Then the gangsters came naturally and made him disappear into the night with a swagger.
Jeff quietly returned to the small mountain village. At this time, he was wanted by the police as a murder suspect. Anna's parents took the opportunity to obstruct their love. The young man Paul, who had been in love with Anna for many years and had a crush on her for many years, also hoped Anna could see clearly. Jeff's true face, abandon the criminal and choose himself. But Anna is obliged to look back. She trusts Jeff and loves him unconditionally.
In order to kill her mouth, Cathy told Joey to assassinate Jeff without telling White, but the reckless Joey was dragged off the cliff with a hook by Jeff's friend and fell to death. Jeff finds White and asks to make a deal with him. He tells White the truth about killing Fisher, and uses those documents to exchange his innocence. Cathy was exposed to her true face, and she was frightened on the sidelines, and White slapped her in a slap in anger. Jeff gave White time to make final considerations, and he quietly met Anna in the woods. He told Anna his heart, telling her that he did not kill anyone, and promised to take her away from this place of right and wrong. This made Paul, who was hiding by the side, deeply moved.
However, when Jeff went to find White again, he only saw White's body, and Cathy shot him to death in a hurry. Cathy asked Jeff to go far and high with her. To this day, she still thinks that Jeff will be confused by her lies and beauty. Jeff was extremely disappointed in this woman and quietly called the police. The car was surrounded by the police on the mountain road. An angry Cathy shot and killed Jeff. She was also hit by a police stray bullet and died. Anna, who was waiting for Jeff, did not know what Jeff chose in the end. Own, or Cathy.
【Appreciation】
The film’s director Jacques Turner was born in Paris, France in 1904. His work was concentrated in the 1940s and 1950s. In 1964, after filming an absurd horror film "Seaside City", he gradually withdrew from the film industry until He died in 1977 and there are no new works. "Leopard Man" (1942), "Walking with Zombies" (1943), "Devil's Curse" (1957) are his masterpieces, but the most successful work of his life is this one by James Cain Acting as a screenwriter of "Outside the Whirlpool". James Kane is a well-known American writer and screenwriter. His well-known works include "The Postman Always Rings the Bell twice", "Double Compensation", "The Devil in the Sea" and "The Cape Wandering Soul". The other screenwriter of the film, Frank Fontaine, has written scripts such as "Enthusiasm", "Going East" and "Blood Splashing the Sky", and the third screenwriter, Daniel Mainwaring, was in the 1940s and 1950s. There are also successful commercial works such as "International Theft" and "Devil Flower Outside". This famous noir film produced in the most delicate period of Raidenhua’s situation has such a wonderful composition, and it is really lucky that it did not fall apart in the end. In addition, the film also features two big-name male stars, Robert Mitchum and Kirk Douglas, who were both tough guys on the early Hollywood screens. Robert Mitchum later collaborated with Gregory Parker. Version of "Cape Terror", and Kirk Douglas became famous for "Road to Glory" and "Spartacus".
Among all the noir films in the 1940s, the most interesting thing about "Outside the Whirlpool" is that this story actually connects two completely independent central events. The first story is that Jeff and the gang boss Wise’s woman Cathy eloped. This is a typical love story that can be treated as a common road movie; and the second story is a murder in San Francisco. This is also a common theme in a noir film. Gangs, detectives, women and murder can be processed into an intricate suspense film. However, "Outside the Whirlpool" cleverly weaves these two parts together, so that the characters face more choices, and deliberately creates a repetition of the plot, so that the protagonist faces the same problem to make another choice. In this repetition, the character His character and spirit have been greatly enriched, and finally formed a patchwork and irreplaceable character structure.
The storytelling process is also full of skills. First of all, the protagonist is set off through the secondary characters. Joey comes to the town to find Bailey. What is his purpose? This first created a suspense. Then through other people's discussions, Joey and the audience learned of Jeff's current situation, he was in love with Anna, and then he cut directly into the romantic scene of Jeff and Anna fishing by the river. Then through Jeff's narration to Anna, the audience learned in detail the first central event, that is, the story of the elopement. This seems so natural, but in fact there are clever narrative skills buried in the flashback technique to make things that happened in the past relatively independent, and to maintain a sense of distance from the protagonist’s current life, allowing us and the protagonist to take a look at the past. . Another advantage of this is that it allows a bloated story background (also a relatively independent story) to be digested within the story that is happening, which is both elegant and compact.
At this time, the audience already knew something about Cathy, had beautiful illusions about Jeff and her former love, and were full of sympathy for Anna's situation in front of her. Because at this time, the audience and Anna are in the same perspective, that is, the perspective of the listener, and Anna's response largely represents our response. Like Anna, we will convince ourselves that Jeff has gotten rid of the past. Although the relationship between him and Cathy is regrettable, after all, it is irretrievable and just a memory. But soon things reversed drastically, and Cathy reappeared next to White. This obvious betrayal made the audience's sympathy disappear. Just like Jeff did, we instinctively expel this psychologically. Woman, and feel at a loss for her to take refuge in Jeff again. Next, the story smoothly enters another narrative. The emotions of the audience, along with Jeff, are involved in the murder in San Francisco. From then on, the audience’s perspective was completed by Jeff. We paid attention to his every move and, like him, were always on guard for every character on the stage, not knowing what the conspiracy was behind it. When Jeff went along to figure out the whole story, we as the audience also figured out the layout of the frame, and admired Jeff's decisiveness and sophistication. However, at this time, a very confusing scene appeared: When Cathy found out When the matter was revealed, she immediately fell to Jeff. She deceived Jeff with sweet words again. Jeff did not hesitate to hug and kiss her. Is this Yong Jue or succumbing? We are like Anna, very confused.
The mystery was quickly solved. Jeff's success was just trying to get a clue to the whereabouts of that important document through Cathy. His and Cathy's "reconciliation" was just a play at the scene. But is it really just acting on the spot? Who can be so sure? Does Jeff still have old feelings for Cathy? Will he choose to betray Anna in the end? Can he be clarified one by one for the crimes he was framed? By this time, the audience really cares about more and more things.
Jeff’s fate has turned around. If things can follow his design, he will eventually gain the trust of Innocence and Anna, but Cathy is destined to ruin his life. She killed Wise, which means that Jeff’s guilt cannot be clarified. It doesn’t count as she cuts Jeff’s efforts to climb the rope of a peaceful life. She also wants Jeff to follow her to escape again. This time Jeff has another choice. , In fact, it was he himself who chose to die-with his knowledge of Cathy, it was impossible for him not to know that Cathy would kill him. Therefore, the ending of the film is really heartbreaking. A happy ending is instantly broken, and the perpetrator is not only the cruel and cruel Cathy, but also Jeff himself, who has always been dim. The most heartbreaking thing is Anna. Not only did she lose Jeff, she also lost the most precious trust in her lover. This ending was heartbreaking. I even hated these screenwriters a little bit, but then I thought that this ending might be the brightest one. It is the closest to reality and close to the unruly core of film noir.
"Outside the Vortex" integrates the three powers of romance, conspiracy and reality. The first half of the lover elopes as romantically as possible, intoxicating and impulsive; the second half of the murder is simple in structure, but exciting and intricately laid out; and in the end, In the finale, these dramatic plots are once again pulled back to the most fundamental characters' destiny and character themes. The design of a movie can have such a combination of inheritance and transformation, which cannot but be admired. Perhaps this is the best result of the game between the three screenwriters with different styles.
According to the law of film noir as we know it, the protagonist must make a choice, he succeeds, and then he must pay the price for this choice. Just like the old boxer in "The Man Who Sells the Skin and Flesh", he won the game, gained dignity, but lost his right hand; another example is Walt Nefer in "Double Compensation", who murdered his lover’s husband and got double Compensation, but ultimately lost his life. So what was Jeff's choice and what was the price? Jeff’s choice, like most of the leading male protagonists in noir films, was to choose the wrong woman, and the price seems to be exactly the same, that is, to be killed by this woman-Jeff’s role is really quite satisfactory. In the lift! Therefore, the most worthy of discussion in this movie may not be him, but Cathy.
Cathy is one of the female protagonists who is very plump, three-dimensional and glamorous in film noir. Similar to a noir film, the heroine in the story may be sexy and charming at first, but she will soon reveal a fox’s tail, showing a snake-hearted heart. Few of them are still sympathetic towards the end, let alone dreaming. Yes, Cathy is different. Cathy was different when she appeared on the stage. She actually shot and murdered the gang boss, and shot four times in a row. This gave the audience a wonderful first impression. She had her own sturdy side. Then, the first appearance at the bar was indeed very convincing. It was truly extraordinary for a woman who could make Jeff, such an unsmiling man, fall in love at first sight. More importantly, during this period until she shot and killed, the relationship between her and Jeff was very convincing. Their love was sincere, passionate, and yearning, which made the audience and Jie The root cause of the husband's confusion and infatuation. Except for that fatal lie-she actually took the money, which greatly reduced the audience's trust in her, and this mistrust was especially intensified when she betrayed Jeff to join Wise. After that, Cathy exhausted all her tactics and capriciousness, which disappointed her step by step until she was completely desperate for this woman. However, what is interesting is that this woman never feared her lies, until the end when she shot Jeff to death, she even said brazenly: a two-faced guy! It seems that the one who is better at betrayal is not himself, but Jeff. This woman will never turn her face easily with others until she is finally about to commit a murderous attack. What a "smart" way of survival is this! So I must emphasize that this woman is the most not to be ignored among all the heroines of film noir. Successfully portrayed this character, this movie has been more than half successful!
Betrayal is indeed the theme of this movie. All the betrayals started with Cathy. She betrayed White and Jeff (she even betrayed Wise twice). In the process, Jeff also betrayed White. In the end, Anna suspected that Jeff had betrayed herself. This is really true. An invisible chain fastens the final destiny of each character. The betrayer dies, and the betrayed lives alone. The powerful fate and pessimism of the film noir are fully revealed in this movie.
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