I was very pleased to discover that I really enjoyed this film. To be honest, I wasn't really expecting to get much from this type of movie because they always seemed so cliche and boring to me. But Double Indemnity kept my attention the entire length of the film and even had me at the edge of my seat at times. I felt like the director and writer of the script did a fantastic job at making this film suspenseful but not scary, which was what really kept me engaged in the movie. But I found the most interesting aspect about this film was how many rules the director broke in terms of following the Motion Picture Code. Originally, it seemed like the code restricted director's from any kind of creativity on-screen. They couldn't even show a married couple laying in bed together; most of the time they had two twin sized beds in their shared bedroom, which is now seen as absurd. The code restricted sex, violence, drugs, and pretty much anything with a negative connotation attached with it. But this movie definitely went against the code. It involved a couple having an affair, suggestive language, and even a planned-out murder. Now, I can understand why the Motion Picture Company created and tried to enforce the code. But sex and violence were things that audiences wanted to see! They viewed going to the movies as a way to escape from reality and see things they wouldn't normally see in everyday life. In that sense, I can also understand why many directors of film noir genre movies made the choice to break the rules of the code and include these things in their films as tools of entertainment. But there are still some things I do not really understand about film noir movies.
After discussing the typical traits of movies that fall into the category of film noir, I was still confused about a few things about this particular movie. Just after the main characters in this film commit the murder and dump the dead body on the railroad tracks, they have problems starting their car. While hearing the engine having trouble starting, I could feel my heart drop into my stomach. Then I realized that I was on the criminal's side because I wanted them to get away with it! Now, I'm pretty sure being sympathetic to a criminal isn't a good thing (and I'm pretty sure it also goes against the code), but I really wanted that car to start! I couldn't really figure out why I was so passionately on their side, but I was wondering if anyone else felt this way? Or better yet, why did the director want the audience to be sympathetic with the criminals of the story?
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Did you notice how they handled the affair, Megan? A scene with the two on the couch, cut to Walter's narration, and a scene back on the couch with the two in very different positions.
ReplyDeleteThat's part of the mystique of noir: it puts you on the side of people who are criminals (or puts you on their side temporarily). That's why the car scene is so brilliant: there's nothing that overtly violates the code, yet we do start to root for the car to start and the criminals to get away.
I agree with you about how you were on the criminal's side in one point of the film. When we look at the criminals being the main characters, we often tend to look at them as heroes but sometimes forget their character as a bad person.
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