Film noir is a very interesting type of film, the characters are rarely black and white, and the story is often unexpected. As a classic of film noir, this movie really has a lot to ponder.
The film begins with a typical establishing shot, and the story unfolds in the city where I live. A mysterious beauty visits a private detective, and everything is very logical. This is where the mysterious romance unfolds. This opening is all too familiar, Hitchcock's Vertigo, Roman Polanski's Chinatown all open like this, and even Billy Wilder's Double Indemnity has some similarities.
It is easy to see that the screenwriter of the whole story has intentions. After the truth of the ending emerged, many of the previous doubts made sense, such as why Archer, a professional detective, was so easily killed that he couldn't pull a gun. However, there are some things that still confuse me, such as knowing that Spade has no falcon and put him down, why did he leave him in the room and rummaged around, which led to the falcon falling into his hands inexplicably. Wait, a second brush may be needed to capture details.
There may be some holes in the storyline, but the characters are very real and moving. Spade is sophisticated, sophisticated, funny, and truly worthy of the "you are a character" comment. At first, I got the impression that he was a playboy who even bothered his partner's wife and clients. Then he changed the company name immediately after his partner's death without any sadness, which made people feel that this person is very cold. He is indeed a very good detective. He can detect lies and pretend to believe them, especially in the first meeting of Gutman. He was so unexpected that he thought he wanted to replace falcon with blackmail, and then put the blame on Brigid. He really helped the police to find the real murderer. Thinking he was going to let Brigid go for "love", he was very resolute when he handed her over to the police. Probably because go to what he said "bad for business". Maybe there is love for her, but only maybe. Bogart is really a perfect casting. The actor's mature and cunning, as well as the temperament of good and evil, make the whole performance very natural.
The role of Brigid is also interesting. When lying, he is extremely innocent and convincing, and when he is exposed, he makes up the next lie every minute. Very greedy, trying his best to swallow falcon. And very smart, constantly using his beauty to profit, first Floyd, then Archer, then Spade. But she was overconfident, and I'm sure she didn't think Spade could betray her until she told the police the truth. The actress is very good, the eyes are full of despair and sadness when the elevator closes, and there is no need to say a word.
In addition, I personally like Cairo's actors very much, treacherous, weak and a little neurotic. Adding a comedy element to Film noir is a risky thing to accidentally ruin the film's hard-earned atmosphere. But Cairo's performance actually brought a little laugh without any sense of disobedience, which is really superb.
All in all, it's a classic.
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