In the early 1950s, Hollywood produced a number of films reflecting the development of film from silent to sound, including classics "Sunset Boulevard" and "Song in the Rain". The two films have different perspectives: "Song in the Rain" is a song and dance comedy that describes the joy of newly grown actors who have replaced the old generation; "Sunset Boulevard" is a tragedy, as the name implies, it is a description of the declining generation—— The sorrow of an old star who was eliminated 25 years after the sound film replaced the silent film. Here, the famous streets of Hollywood are given new meanings.
In the late 1920s, the trend of sound films was overwhelming. In the 1930s, despite the opposition of many well-known filmmakers, sound films had completely replaced silent films. The emergence of this new technology has brought new problems to all types of practitioners in the film industry. Screenwriters who are accustomed to writing movie stories now have to write wonderful dialogues; actors who lack stage experience and have no vocalization training have to learn to vocalize from scratch; and those who cannot change foreign accents, or have unclear pronunciation, or have poor timbre The screen disappeared. For film companies, this change is also a test. The predecessor of Paramount Pictures was in a crisis due to the inability to adapt to this new technology. It declared bankruptcy in 1933 and was reorganized in 1935 to establish Paramount Pictures.
"Sunset Boulevard" is talked about by the film for the heroine Gloria Swanson and the actor Eric von Strauhen with a strong autobiographical color. In fact, it's true for Paramount and director Billy Wilder. In many places, the film is a mixture of fact and fiction, and the true and the false are inseparable.
Gloria Swanson, the actor of Norma, was the number one red star in Paramount's silent film era, and disappeared from the screen shortly after the rise of sound films. There is a scene in this film. Max uses a small projector to screen the film "Queen Gloria" starring Norma in the living room. When Norma's close-up appeared in the film, she suddenly stood up and said: "What are we doing in dialogue? We have facial expressions. They can't take pictures of such faces." Then she walked to the small screen and announced loudly, "I Return to the screen!” This fully reflects the resentment, dissatisfaction and self-appreciation of a person who has been abandoned by the times. Choosing "Queen Gloria" instead of Swanson's other more famous films has multiple meanings. First of all, this is the only film in which Max’s actor and the famous silent film director Eric von Strauchen and Swanson collaborated, and it was also the last unfinished work of Strauhen’s director’s career. . Secondly, it is a film in which Swanson planned to control the shooting by himself but did not succeed. It coincides with Norma's plan to plan and shoot "Salome" in the film. The ending of "Sunset Boulevard" is the most exciting part of the film. The half-crazy Normasha walked down the stairs like a happy one. On the screen is a close-up of her: the look of self-appreciation, glowing eyes, white teeth, a conditioned smile when facing the camera-as if telling Audience, Norma/Swanson’s most successful performance is her actual life. Because Swanson's outstanding performance in "Sunset Boulevard" after many years of resting from the shadows just shows that she has successfully "returned to the screen".
Erik von Strauhen, a famous director in the silent film era of Hollywood, plays Max, and he will screen his last unfinished directorial work; he said that in the early years, there were three most talented directors in Hollywood. ——Griffith, Xixi Demir and himself (using a pseudonym); and asking him to stand next to the camera and shout "start shooting" again after being forced to leave the directorship for 20 years. It is really ironic. Strouhen was born in Vienna, and went to Hollywood in 1914 to try his luck. After a few years as an actor, he began to direct and made many good works, including the classic film "Greed." But then he had a disagreement with the owner of the film company: he likes to use naturalistic methods to express the bitterness of life, and spend a lot of money to meticulously portray the lives of the poor, which is incompatible with the commercial nature of Hollywood movies. As a result, Hollywood excluded him from the ranks of directors. He never stopped pursuing the chance to re-direct his talents all his life, so he had to change his career to make a living by acting. His directing talent was buried.
"Sunset Boulevard" is a sad review of Hollywood history, in addition to actors and directors, it also includes screenwriters. The protagonist Joe is the screenwriter of Paramount Pictures. At that time, in Hollywood, regardless of the actors, directors, and screenwriters, they were all the property of the production company. The screenwriters are rotated in a row of small rooms like a barracks, like a machine, regularly producing movie stories. Betty's office is such a room. If your talents are exhausted and you can't write a good story, you will be driven out by the production company boss. Once the boss is appreciated, he can't help but work hard to cater to the boss's needs with fear. The tragedy of little Hollywood characters, the film director Billy Wilder and screenwriter Charles Breckett have both tasted it personally before becoming famous, so the experience is very deep. In fact, Joe's tragedy is no less than Norma and Max. He finally met a Betty who admired and even admired his talent, but had to admit in front of her that he was a man who was supported by a woman and thus lost her. The script that Joe helped Norma modify is based on the story of Salome in the "Bible", which is also a metaphor. In the "Bible" Salome takes the head of John the Baptist, and in the film Norma kills Joe. This is indeed a teasing worthy of fun.
The true and false in "Sunset Boulevard" is also reflected in the fact that some early famous Hollywood figures appeared in the film as their true identity, such as the great director Xixi Demir, one of the owners of Warner Corporation Henry Byron Warner, a veteran. Actress Anna Nelson, actor and director Faith Keaton. This arrangement is not only unconventional, but also highlights the biographical nature of the film. Xixi Dimir is the director who made Swanson. He starred her in six films in a row from 1919 to 1921 in three years, and he immediately took her to the throne of a red star. But he ruthlessly shattered Norma's dream of returning to the screen in the film.
The film also has a strong film noir color. It inherits the pessimistic fatalism of film noir in the 1940s-loneliness, indifference, and cynicalism. The heroine in the film is initially seduced by the male protagonist, and finally poses a fatal threat. In addition, there is no lack of film noir elements in the production style of the film. For example, although the story is unfolded in a luxurious mansion, the lifeless life of the owner and the environment filled with ancient monuments make people feel suffocating. An uneasy atmosphere of claustrophobia enveloped the film from beginning to end. Especially on the first night when Joe stayed at Norma’s house, in the middle of the night he saw a few mice running around in the dry swimming pool in the garden; the tennis court was empty and desolate; Norma lifted amidst the whimper of the wind pipe organ. Holding the candlestick, Max held the coffin of the little orangutan and buried it in the garden. There is an ominous omen in all this.
The film is also very expressionistic. Excessive embellishment, exaggerated plot, flashy style, and ostentatious skills make it different from the noir films of the 1940s. The film begins with a long narration: "... Now you see the body of a young man floating in a swimming pool of a building. He was shot twice in the back and one shot in the abdomen. This is not an important person, it's just that It's just a screenwriter who has written two or three B-level stories. This poor creature has always longed for a swimming pool. As a result, he got it, but the price was a bit higher..." At this time, the picture was a corpse lying on the surface of the swimming pool. Because the lens is shot up from the bottom of the pool. As a result, the audience saw the rippling water and Joe whose whole body was in a "big" shape and his face facing the camera. At the beginning of the film, the swimming pool was highlighted, because in that era, the swimming pool was a symbol of wealth and something that people were diligently seeking. Someone said: "You bring a violin case to Hollywood. If you are lucky, you will have a violin swimming pool in a few years." The swimming pool also expresses Joe's Hollywood dream. Then, there is another strange expression technique that people talk about in the film—the dead Joe flashbacks the whole story. This treatment completely violated a major scruples of the movie script-unreasonable. But it does not make people feel unnatural, on the contrary, it fits the film’s black humor very well. Although "Sunset Boulevard" is a tragedy, there is no lack of humor in it, especially since it often makes jokes with real people. In addition to the examples mentioned above, Norma said when he danced tango with Joe at the New Year’s Eve party: "The ground used to be a wooden plank, I renovated it. Van Lentino said that the best way to dance tango is Brick floor." Van Lentino, a red star in the silent film era, died at the age of 31 in 1926. He died at a time when sound films had not replaced silent films and he was most famous. If Van Lentino lived to the 1950s, would he be abandoned like Norma?
Although "Sunset Boulevard" uses an unreasonable dead man flashback, despite its shortcomings such as over-modification, and despite its acrimonious attitude to the retrospect of Hollywood history, it was unanimously recognized as an important work after it was released, and it still remains today. Highly praised.
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