(18 years old text)
"Double Indemnity" 8.5
①
"Double Indemnity" is a film noir classic, telling the story of an insurance salesman who conspires with his policyholder's wife to murder the policyholder for huge insurance premiums.
This film has a high status in film history and is a required course for film noir fans and Billy Wilder fans.
②
Billy Wilder was extremely successful in keeping the suspense until the end in "Witness for the Prosecution", but in "Double Indemnity", he opened up the mystery at the beginning. The former sees the skill and the latter sees the heart, both of them are great and generous.
He had a hobbled man walk to the table, sat in the pre-dawn darkness, and said slowly into the tape recorder, "I killed him for money, and for a woman. I didn't get the money. I didn't get the woman. ." Concerning murder and lust, a cold and confused tone was settled in one sentence.
Although such a beginning explained the biggest mystery early, it actually played the effect of what Hitchcock called "the bomb under the table". The result of the killing was already known, but the killing process was even more arresting.
Billy Wilder no doubt got a taste of the genius at the beginning of the flashback, in which he simply uses a corpse as the narrator in "Sunset Boulevard."
③
When I wrote the review of The Falcon of Malta, I mentioned the hamburger and roast duck metaphor, thinking that film noir is not a type of film that can be copied at will, it is more about atmosphere.
The chain on the woman's ankle, the smell of honeysuckle grass, "I can't hear my own footsteps, it seems that it is a dead man walking", the atmosphere created by "Double Indemnity" is fascinating, the more you chew and ponder, the more The more I feel that the articulation is so intoxicating. "Charming" is the highest evaluation I can give to a film and a woman so far.
④
Film noir is often equipped with a femme fatale. They are scheming, independent and assertive. They play men in their palms with a coquettish charm. Men indulge in the gentle village of poppies. They are driven to destruction by the moral stick of a patriarchal society.
This actually reflects the fear of postwar American men of women working independently and refusing to return to their families. And this fear is sometimes more like a tribute to the liberation of women.
Before long, these cowardly men will throw up their hands in surrender and become accustomed to the growing number of so-called "femmesies" and "strong women."
⑤
There is no justice in the murder of insurance salesman Walter and rich wife Phyllis. They are immoral villains from beginning to end, but after they commit the crime, they almost can't escape the scene because the car can't catch fire, and then Walter faces the scene. The several encounters and demolitions of his colleague Keith's investigation, but subtly put the viewers on the position of the criminals.
In fact, Walter and Phyllis were Hollywood's most famous murder couple until Bonnie and Clyde were born.
The boundaries of morality are blurred, and justice has been perverted. In the era when the Hays Code was rampant, this amoral viewing experience was also a great pleasure.
⑥
At first, they were caught up in lust, thinking of cheating a double compensation so they could be a pair of wealthy and desperate mandarin ducks, but as the seemingly perfect plan gradually collapsed, their lust and lust subsided together, so that a murder of each other was born. Heart.
Are they greedy for money? The movie never shows that. The murder was even more of a sudden urge to have some fun in a dull life.
Are they fascinated by each other? Apparently not. Although femme fatale is often paired with a weak man in film noir, Walter is cold and tough from beginning to end, and his attitude and eyes are always full of reservation and vigilance when dealing with Phyllis. As for Phyllis, she hid a revolver under the sofa cushion, wearing silk pajamas, waiting for her lover's appointment.
She fired the first shot, hitting Walter in the shoulder, and she froze for a moment, then said, "I've never loved you or anyone else, I'm rotten to the core. You're right. , I took advantage of you, and that's all you mean to me. But just now, when I couldn't fire a second shot, that all changed."
Walter came over, hugged her, grabbed the gun, and he said, "I'm sorry, baby, I'm not doing this." Then he shot her.
In one thought, the femme fatale moved her heart, and the man who had been used to play tricks showed her fangs. This is the ambiguous and blurred atmosphere of film noir, which is worth "chewing" and is charming.
⑦
Halfway through the filming of the movie, Wilder realized that the heroine's too-heavy blonde wig was too bad, but he had no choice but to bite the bullet and continue filming. After the movie was released, the audience complained that the golden wig was too fake, and the old god Wilder was saying: "You finally noticed it, didn't you? I deliberately designed it to make that woman look hypocritical."
How could anyone not love Billy Wilder?
⑧
The ending of the original novel is more complicated. The male and female protagonists have to go through a long escape, so the movie naturally needs to be cut. Wilder originally filmed until the male protagonist was arrested, tried and sent to the gas chamber. The performance of the actors in it was extremely satisfactory, but he quickly reacted and overturned this long and morally preaching ending, and this was the "last cigarette" famous in film history.
After Walter explained everything, he saw Case standing at the door of the office quietly watching him. They were close colleagues and friends. Walter would naturally strike a match for Case to light a cigarette anytime, anywhere. It was a tacit understanding for many years.
Walter pushed Case away, walked out of the company, and finally collapsed at the door because of excessive blood loss. The siren approached in the distance. Walter leaned against the door frame and pulled out a cigarette but was unable to strike a match. Case silently took it and lit it for him. cigarette.
"Do you know why you can't find this case, Case? Let me tell you. That's because the person you're looking for is too close to you—a table away from you."
Case said, "Nearer than a table, Walter."
"I love you too," said Walter, smoking a cigarette.
Smart directors can always find a way to cut complexity and simplify them. They have the talent to write 10,000 beautiful love sentences, and they have the discerning eye to pick out the most touching and unique sentence.
Billy Wilder is the pinnacle of screenwriting director.
20180114
View more about Double Indemnity reviews
