Jasmine Omorogbe- Double Indemnity Review
First of all, was I the only one who thought the way Walter Neff said "baby" was a little awkward?
Watching this movie was my first exposure to film noir. I had never heard of it and quite frankly, afterwards, I was all shook up. I liked it, but it definitely made me do a lot of thinking. I especially like the shadows and lighting, much darker than movies I would normally watch, but that really adds to the intensity at points in the film. I think film noir should be considered its own genre, because as we went over in class, it has many very distinct elements that are different from other genres (lighting, femme fatale, weak male characters, portray the darker side of life, etc)
It shook me up a little because I am the type of person who is very trusting and also really gets into the plot of movies. I could not believe Phyllis could be so evil. Throughout the movie, I had a little sympathy for her, after all, I saw her as a woman stuck in an unfortunate situation, married to someone who did not treat her right. But all that flew out the window in the last big scene when Walter revealed her plot. She used anyone and everyone to get what she wanted. Phyliss, as the femme fatale in this movie, was definitely not an angelic damsel in distress. The only person she needed saving from was herself. However, she was beautiful and convincing, the actress, Barbara Stanwyck did an awesome job portraying the character.
I found the film to be quite intriguing. It shows what happens when things go wrong, or not exactly as planned. It shows the side people don't want exposed. Furthermore, it was able to creatively tell the story and get around all the restricting guidelines of the Hays Production Codes. I think the quick-witted dialogue and making the viewers think about the references (even if cheesy) is more interesting than coming right out and saying it. I am definitely going to do more research into this genre of film. I can see how it was somewhat revolutionary in its day, but I believe this type of story would still be interesting to today's viewers as well. These films are full of crazy drama and unexpected twists and turns, exactly what many people go to the movies for today.