Double Indemnity (1944), directed by Billy Wilder, is a very interesting film about an insurance salesman who gets tangled up with a woman who wishes to kill her husband in order to reap the benefits of his accidental insurance plan. Neff, the salesman, decides to help Phyllis murder her husband because he is in love with her and believes she will be with him after; however, in the end, Phyllis turns out to be nothing more than a "femme fatale," a woman who uses men for what she wants and will go as far as killing them after they are of no use to her.
Along with being a suspenseful movie, it most importantly can be classified as film noir for many reasons. First and most importantly, it is narrated by Neff and most scenes are flashbacks of the story leading up to the current scene with which the film opens. This voice-over style is an important theme of films noir, and its use helps add suspense to the movie. A more obvious quality of this movie that can be classified as film noir is the plot. It is all about people doing whatever they can to get more money. For instance, Phyllis and Neff are not happy simply getting $50,000 from her husband's insurance plan; instead, they create an entire scheme to get $100,000. The plot consists of the "get rich fast" theme of films noir, and ends with tragedy for almost all the main characters. Along with the plot, the characters are constantly talking at a quick pace with very witty dialogue. This is a well known classification of film noir, along with the innuendos that occur between the first conversation with Neff and Phyllis about supposed "speed limits." The scenes in the film are also mostly set in very close and confined spaces, such as Neff's car and his office. This, along with the immense amount of darkness and shadows created by lots of low-key lighting, are qualities of film noir that are prominent throughout the film.
Double Indemnity is a film that exhibits all the qualities of film noir. I really enjoyed the film mainly because it was suspenseful and kept me very interested until the very end. After reading about film noir I was anxious to see a great example of the style in order to more fully understand its qualities and how it left audiences feeling after viewing. It did leave me feeling a bit off; however, I would recommend it to anyone who enjoys an exciting, suspenseful film.
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I was super excited to see an example of Film Noir, and though I haven't seen much else I completely agree that this was a very good movie that left the audience with an odd feeling at the end. I think that was the purposeful and hopeful reaction the writers, director and actors were going for, why else would you need murder plot lines, dark shadows and so many cigarettes?
ReplyDeleteI'm glad you enjoyed the film, Megan, and these are good examples of noir characteristics. That unsettled feeling it left you with is what film noir is supposed to do.
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