Lauren Kolsum's take on Film Noir
With the ongoing debate on whether or not Film Noirs are a genre, I would have to disagree that they are. Saying so would be placing them in a category when really it is more of a style. According to Thefreedictionary.com, a style is the combination of distinctive features of literary or artistic expression, execution, or performance characterizing a particular person, group, or era. There are so many features that make up all that is Film Noir, including the dramatic music, the femme fatale, the murder, the deceit, the passion, scenes narrated by the character, the shadows, and the rain. All of the features are easy to point out in Double Identity. At the time of its release the film must have had viewers on the edge of their seats, biting their fingernails in apprehention because it is a drama, thrill filled movie. What is seen as a thriller has obviously changed over the years but I would say FIlm Noirs are a mix between the drama and action genres. They can go either way, however, and that is why they are moreso classified as a style of film making, not so much a genre.
Phyllis does a great job protraying the femme fatale in Double Indemnity as well. She is a woman who knows what she wants and how to get it. She uses her sex apeal to brainwash men, completely ruining their lives in the process. Throughout the film she manipulates three men, first it was her husband. When that didn't work out for her she used Walter and Neno to rid her path of obstacles standing between her and her money. The fact that she is responsible for a murder here and there does not phase her in the slightest. The only time the stony/seductive look on Phyllis's face would change was when she was putting on an act for Walter, in which case she would emit self pity and fake love. She did go a bit out of character torwards the end when she didn't finish Walter off with one last bullet. Phyllis seemed a little vulnerable at that moment right before Walter killed her with her own gun. I think Phyllis was a character the people of the time needed. Seeing such a powerful, seductive women was out of the norm and most likely a bit controversial. She could have been an influence to young women in the early fourties to take charge and not let men have all the power. Phyllis is, however, a deceitful liar and that doesn't say anything of significance about women in general.