The documentary “Film Noir” depicts
the basic elements in which film noirs are composed of. Film noirs mainly
consists of an idea of drama which usually leads to the protagonist’s tragedy,
a powerful and seductive woman, known as a femme fatale, and the use of shadow to
make scenes appear dark and the use of light to help the audience focus on the
lighted section. One of the film noir I thoroughly enjoyed that appeared in the
documentary is Billy Wilder’s 1944 film noir, “Double Indemnity.” In the
documentary, Abraham Polonsky states that film noirs promote “the general sense
of jeopardy in life.” This main idea of the jeopardy in life is found in the main
characters of “Double Indemnity.” The character Walter Neff is an insurance
salesman who gets himself into trouble when he plans to kill Phyllis’s husband
in order to be with Phyllis. “Double Indemnity” promotes the jeopardy in life
when Walter and Phyllis’s plan begins to crumble. It would mean the end of their
lives if the insurance company solves their crime. In the end, Walter knows the
insurance company is getting closer and decides that best way is to kill Phyllis,
while Phyllis has the intention of killing Walter. After the initial killing of
Phyllis’s husband, the anxiety of the Walter and Phyllis begins to develop
because at any moment they could be caught. Polonsky’s statement about the
sense of jeopardy in life is a staple in the film style known as film noir.
In the documentary, scholar Janey
Place description of the femme fatale that best describes Phyllis is that “they’re
extremely driven, selfish, ambitious characters.” Phyllis is a character who
always wants the best for her intentions, whether it is for money, happiness,
or love. Her drive and ambition towards her goals of money and love has made
her selfish. Phyllis killed her husband’s first wife to be with the money of
her husband. She used Walter to kill her husband to get the double indemnity,
which is the provision that the insurance company will pay double in case of an
accidental death. Phyllis even used her step daughter’s boyfriend to shut her
step daughter up. It is inferred by Walter that eventually Phyllis would have
another male to take care of her step daughter’s boyfriend. Phyllis was a nurse
before she killed her husband’s first wife, which she threw away for a chance
at money. However, in the end, love was her fatal flaw when she could not kill
Walter. Phyllis is a very driven and ambitious woman whose main goal is to
benefit herself the most throughout “Double Indemnity.” Phyllis is in all
regards a typical femme fatale because of her charm and sexuality towards men.
A great example of her charm is in the beginning of “Double Indemnity” when
Walter and Phyllis first meet. She is only wearing a towel, which has Walter a
little flustered because he had to catch his breath once. After getting
dressed, Phyllis is dressed in a slightly tight outfit which most femme fatales
wear to be seductive. Another reason why Phyllis is a typical femme fatale is
the power she has over men. In the first conversation between Phyllis and
Walter, Phyllis sits as if she holds all the power. During the conversation, Phyllis
is called an officer which implies that Phyllis is the one in charge at this
instance. Although this scene is the one of the few scenes where her power and
seductiveness emerge, she is a typical femme fatale because of her command over
men.
Film noirs are notorious for their
augmented reality, but they are also known for their use of shadow and light,
use of deep focus, and the effects the locations have on the mood of the film
noir. The technique deep focus is when a character is looking into the general
direction of the camera while another character is looking at them. The scene
where Lola, Phyllis’s step daughter, is making the assumption to Walter that
Phyllis has something to do with her father’s death because she saw Phyllis
putting on a black veil before any news of her father’s death is deep focus. In
the scene, Lola is looking at Walter and confessing while Walter is looking off
towards the camera thinking about a way to fix the problem that he has gotten
himself into. The use of shadow and light can be seen in the scene where Walter
and Phyllis try to kill each other. The room is extremely dark except the moon
light entering through the venetian blinds. The shadows from the blinds show
where Walter enters, but eventually Walter makes his way over to the dark. This
technique can make the audience foreshadow that something bad is going to
happen. The types of locations used in “Double Indemnity” make the film look
like a film noir. For instance, the office where Walter works is a location
very similar to most film noirs. There is usually a desk with one lamp on it
and the rest of the room is plain. In the opening scene when Walter opens his
office door, it is pitch black until he turns on the lamp which illuminates him
to indicate the center of attention. I think the color photography in “neo-noir”
movies is a slight improvement because color shows what the audience sees
through their own eyes. I believe John Bailey says it best that color shows a
better picture of reality than black and white films. In conclusion, whether
black and white or color, the film noir’s prestige is in its sense of jeopardy in
life, femme fatale, and use of lighting and location.
