Tom Lulic - Double Indemnity
The movie of the week, Double Indemnity, is a film of lies and deceit that accelerate and spiral into betrayal and death. The metaphoric black and darkness are an example of how this movie is a film noir. This is evident throughout the film and corresponds with the malicious intent each time a character transcends into selfish behavior. This is most obvious in the character Phyllis. She undoubtedly exhibits the qualities of a femme fatale. This is seen throughout the movie however if I had not been aware of her intentions prior to my viewing I certainly would have been fooled as to what she tried to do to Walter. She appears as a very feminine and fragile woman as she enters down the staircase, with a delicate ankle bracelet and white dress and the viewer is not aware of the woman she is underneath. Her idea of survival and how to live life is unknown at first and her disguise makes her to be even more deviant but then we see that she must suck and latch on to oncoming men and their money. What is interesting to see is how she seduces Walter into her transgressive actions. She has no awareness of the consequences to her actions even though they may be detrimental even to her. This is explained well in the reading from Bronfen, "Insofar it was fate they should have met, to play their criminal game to the end ultimately means acknowledging that each is responsible for the fatal consequences of their transgression will have." She appears even to want to live a life of ultimate pain as she chooses to be immoral and deceitful at will. "She chooses destruction at every turn, and in doing so draws attention to the question of inevitability in a tragic sequence." - Bronfen. This quote from the reading shows how she knows what she is doing yet still continues down this path of destruction and as fate would have it she ends in despair all the while she brings everyone around her into sadness and death.