Film Noir

The quote I chose was by Kathlyn Bigelow. She said that film noir could be characterized by "a character who is on a downward spiral from which he can not immerse. The more he tries to eradicate the situation, the worse it gets." I feel that this quote describes "Double Indemnity" perfectly. Walter Neff got himself into a mess that he was going to have to ride out to the end. No matter what he thought of doing to either cover up his tracks or get himself out of the situation, it wasn't good enough. The murder he carried out with Phyllis was almost perfect, but as Barton Keyes put it, no murder is perfect. The loose ends and betrayal by Phyllis would eventually lead to Walters downfall.

I think that Joe Lewis' description of a "female fatale" describes Phyllis very well. He says that a "female fatale" is a "woman who is vicious and yet, she can charm you." Phyllis fits this description to the tee. She doesn't come off as the cold blooded murderer she is because of her charm. Even at the end of the movie when we know everything about her and what she has done, you still feel a bit of sadness over her death because of the charm she has given off.

Bellow is a photo of Phyllis looking as innocent and charming as possible:

The movie "Double Indemnity" had great use of scenery music and lighting in its creation of "film noir." There was constantly a feeling despair and anxiety given off by the film. The scenes appeared as being sort of dark and dangerous. Walters narration expressed his feeling of entrapment and remorse at the dark deeds he had committed. I especially liked the scene after Walter and Phyllis dumped the body of her late husband on the train tracks. The car that they were in would not start and it gave the viewers a feeling of urgency. I felt as though they were going to be caught and there was noting they could do about it, but just then Walter leans over and cranks the engine right over.



The film "Memento" is a perfect example of a "neo-noir" movie. The main character in "Memento" has been caught in this "noir" universe with no way out and without deserving it. He struggles to find the killer of his wife even though he must go through so much trouble to do so. Eventually he does end up finding out that he has already taken care of the murder of his wife. He decides that without constantly having something to search for or do everyday that his life would have no more meaning, so he erases the information and sets himself up to find a new target. This never ending circle he puts himself in is definitely a good example of "neo-noir."

Here is a photo of Leonard of Memento holding a photo of himself after killing his Wife's murderer: