prototype
The film is based on James M. Cain's novel "Double Indemnity" of the same name, but the screenplay is by Raymond Chandler, the author of the novel "The Long Goodbye". The novel was inspired by a real case in 1927, which included an extramarital affair, a murder and a planned insurance fraud. The case's principal, Ruth Snyder, along with the insurance broker's agent with whom he had an affair, was charged with killing her husband and sentenced to death. It sounds quirky, a bit like a movie noir plot.
On March 20, 1927, Ruth Snyder claimed that two large Italians broke into her house on Queen's Road, knocked her unconscious, tied her up, and threw her in the hallway. Her nine-year-old daughter was still sleeping when the criminals killed her husband and stole her jewelry. Police immediately cast doubt on her account as Ruth did not look like she had been knocked unconscious and they found "stolen" jewellery under her mattress. Within hours, Rugh named Henry Judd Gray, identifying him as her husband's murderer.
When police caught Gray, he confessed. But he accused Snyder of seducing him and planning the murder of her husband, the art editor of Jet Ski magazine. Police also found that just before her husband was murdered, Snyder had faked a double indemnity insurance policy that would have paid him close to $100,000 if he died unexpectedly.
Aside from the failed insurance fraud case, one of the most notable aspects of the crime was the mistakes Snyder and Gray made. They hit Snyder's husband with a weight from a window sash, stuffed his nose with chloroform-soaked cotton, and strangled him with picture frame wire. They try to cover it up with a botched "break-in," and when the story falls through, the former lovers turn their backs on each other. At the time, journalist Damon Runyon called the case a "dumbbell murder" because it was so stupid.
Although the criminals and victims were ordinary people, the case was a sensation, thanks to the manipulation of several New York tabloids. In an effort to outsell each other, the Daily Picture, Daily News and Daily Mirror started a news war by fabricating details to grab readers with sensational details. The tabloid media described Snyder as a "synthetic blonde female killer," a "vampire wife," and most unusually, "the ruthless Ruth, the Viking ice girl of Queens Village. Gray also spoke to the tabloids frequently, portraying himself as This is how he described his love affair with Snyder to the Daily News before the trial began: "She would put her face an inch from me and look deeply into my eyes. , until I was fully a part of her. When she hypnotizes me with her eyes, she controls my body by patting my cheeks with her palms. "
Such reports have aroused great public interest in the case. During the trial, 1,500 people packed the courtroom each day, while as many as 2,000 people besieged the streets outside. Vendors sell fake tickets for $50 and pins with murder weapons (belt weights) for 10 cents as souvenirs.
In the novel, an insurance salesman flees by boat to Latin America, only to find that his female accomplice is also on board. Fearing that they would be caught, they all committed suicide by jumping off the building at night. In the movie, neither of them went abroad. The insurance salesman killed his girlfriend and went back to his office to wait for the police to take him away. The true ending of the story was even more morbid: Snyder and Gray were convicted; both died in the electric chair on January 12, 1928. No cameras were allowed in the room at Sing Sing Correctional Institution, where Snyder was executed, but a cameraman still sneaked a camera on his ankle. At the moment she was electrocuted, the photographer lifted her trousers and pressed the shutter on her jacket, taking a blurry photo of her shaking from the shock.
The next day, the Daily News ran a front-page photo of Snyder's actual execution at Sing Sing Prison, a picture of her tied, masked, and dying, with the headline "Dead!" The newspaper sold out in 15 minutes ran out.
film noir
"Double Indemnity" is almost regarded as a masterpiece in the history of film noir. What is film noir? It is superficially believed that the tone of the film is dark, most of the scenes are arranged in luminous, the story shows the fear of the present and the future, the protagonist is set as a "bad guy" in the traditional sense, the audience's attention is not to find the truth, but to follow the protagonist one step. Step by step into the "abyss". (Purely personal definition, no value to others)
This film is from the perspective of the murderer. The audience has been following the murderer, and the subconscious will "protect" the murderer, hoping to delay his capture. The first half includes the killing scene. Because there are many black scenes, the picture is too clean, and there is no striking bright red, so I can't feel the tension. The real attraction is after the murder.
How Keyes got closer to the truth
Barton Keyes is an investigator of the same insurance company as Neff. Usually, the two have a very close relationship, which means that they are dating each other. He is also the investigator in charge of this insurance. The first time he felt that something was wrong was when he found out that the deceased did not file a claim when he broke his leg. This was unreasonable, unless he didn't know the existence of the accident insurance, which was bought by someone hiding from him. Inferred from this, the direct beneficiary of accident insurance is a big suspect. This scene is very thrilling. The heroine Phyllis is hiding outside the door at the moment, and Case is about to go downstairs. The two almost meet each other. The film creates these thrilling scenes very successfully and restrained.
Keyes later subpoenaed the man who met the "victim" at the back of the train on the day of the case. The "victim" on crutches in his confession was very young. The shrewd Keyes immediately suspected that the murderer was pretending and that the "victim" himself did not get on the train.
Keyes is getting closer and closer to finding out who the killer is.
Neff's transformation
Neff's transformation began when the victim's daughter Lola revealed about the heroine's past. Lola believes that the heroine is the murderer of her father and the murderer of her mother. Once she was a nurse who took care of her mother, she opened the window and froze her mother to death, and soon married her father. This made him break into a cold sweat. It turned out that his accomplice was such a femme fatale. It seemed that in an instant, his love for the heroine disappeared (this love was not stable). He was remorseful and afraid.
The meeting between him and the heroine in the supermarket was also very good. In such a dangerous environment, the two murderers had an infighting. Neff confronted Phyllis about the death of Laura's biological mother, Phyllis certainly refused to admit it. They became suspicious of each other and became each other's most dangerous enemies. The heroine warns: No one can quit! The conflict escalated in the dark.
When Neff learned that Nino had a close relationship with the heroine and had become the object of suspicion, he immediately took it into consideration. He made a plan to kill the heroine and then put the blame on Nino. The heroine is also a ruthless character, and she has already prepared a gun. The heroine's marksmanship is relatively poor, only injuring Neff's left shoulder, giving Neff a chance to reverse. After Neff was injured, he probably felt that he had no hope of escape, so he changed the chance of blaming Nino, and instead persuaded Nino to resign and urged him to reconcile with Laura.
Neff's emotional changes in the film are extremely complicated. From falling in love with the heroine at first sight, to being a decisive and cruel murderer, and finally to the conscience, he calmly confessed his guilt and died to help others. There is also the dark line of his relationship with Keyes, who is also a teacher and a friend. This character seems to stand in the world.
my doubt
After watching the movie for quite a while, I was confused about the love at first sight between Neff and the heroine. The first time a strange insurance salesman came to the door, he started flirting in the heroine's lobby. A consensus on murder and crime could be reached in one day. It's unusual to go up, is it really so easy for a mature middle-aged man to go into the water? Is this a commonality?
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