First Words on Film Noir

For this week's Daily Dose, the theme is "First Words" and an analysis of characterization. In each clip below, we see a stark contrast between the primary characters. Although in Ministry of Fear the contrast is internalized by a single character. My observations follow each clip below.

Otto Preminger's Laura

Right away the film establishes a character contrast between Waldo Lydecker and Detective McPherson.

Lydecker: the extravagant, well-traveled, well-educated man (as observed by his Mid-Atlantic accent) with attention to detail. He clearly is a man who likes to control others. He is a man who values objects and like his collection, Laura, too is a possession and an object that he values. He may claim to love her, but he's more in love with woman he created in his own image. His image is of utmost importance. Now as a linguist, I can't help but take note of his name Lydecker to imply liar.

McPherson: ordinary Joe, blunt yet flippant. He's a man who's seen it all hence his ease upon standing over a man in his tub. I just love how he tosses the towel at him. He is clearly unimpressed by Lydecker's wealth. He may seem a bit uncouth particularly the way he seats himself in Lydecker's bathroom.

As more characters are introduced, each seems to be some sort of archetypical character.

Edward Dmytryk's Murder, My Sweet

This film is new to me; however, I've read the novel (Farewell, My Lovely) and 5 other Chandler novels featuring Marlowe (The Long Goodbye is my favorite). How he is portrayed on film is similar to how he's portrayed in print.

He's a no nonsense type of detective who possesses a moral compass. He investigates a case and follows through simply because he wants to know the truth. He's not too interested in shaking dames down for their money for a high priced retainer (as we saw in Born to Kill). He is also strictly professional. His female clients are just that: clients. They are not potential love interests as is common in most detective films. He doesn't flirt with them, and he definitely doesn't fall for the femme fatale tricks. This is clearly demonstrated in this scene in which he man-handles his potential client to get to the truth. He doesn't fall for her charm. 

Another key attribute is that Marlowe is observant of others as well as introspective which works well in the film noir style. I feel noir is more character driven than plot driven and largely psychological, contributing to the notion that film noir is largely a commentary on the darker side of U.S. society.

Fritz Lang's Ministry of Fear

The first striking moment for me was the set direction in which we see our protagonist from behind looking out toward the open door. Instead of casting shadows to create mood, Lang casts a light from the open door. Milliand's character is currently seated in darkness representing his current mental state and his yearning to move forward toward a brighter future as represented by the open door.

I want to say there are two sides to this character. Right away, I noticed that once we finally see his face, only half is shown in full light; the other half in dark shadow. We also see him mostly in profile, so we really haven't gotten a full look at his face in a bright light. Considering he's leaving an asylum, I would liken the pendulum to represent his sanity. He may either swing one way or the other. Perhaps he may later need to decide between good and evil.

In M, the scene begins with children standing in a circle while the young girl points and chants the morbid chime as she rotates. This fits the pattern of a clock. As she completes the rotation, she chimes for one child to be out of the rotation. As the film continues, there are many shots of ticking clocks chiming the hour.

Considering this powerful symbol, perhaps at a certain hour (6:00) we can expect a major event to occur later in this film Ministry of Fear. 

Michael Curtiz's Mildred Pierce

There has been quite a bit of discussion on whether or not Mildred Pierce is a film noir. This is one of my favorite films. I've always called it femme noir because it is strikingly different from traditional noir styles. Generally the voice-overs and protagonists in both hardboiled fiction and films noir are men. In this film, the main character is a woman whose adversary is not a man but a femme fatale; her own daughter.

In this particular scene we see the stark moral contrast between mother and daughter in both posture and wardrobe attire. Veda is the cold and calculating femme fatale who will do anything to achieve money. She lacks a moral compass and all compassion for the people she hurts. Her non-chalant posture highlights this as she is cool, calm and flippant about her lies. Mildred is more the matron who is ethical and wants to restore order as she appears more rigid yet refined. She stands straight as opposed to Veda's more flowing (and hand wringing) posture. The choice for each character's wardrobe is deliberate in showing the contrast. Notice the sharp lines in Mildred's dress that gives her more of a square, straight-edge appearance while Veda's dress defines her curves more (dangerous curves ahead).

Once Veda is ready to reveal why she wanted the money, the camera zooms in closer much as person would when they are eager to hear the truth (or an interesting story). We tend to lean forward for a better listen. Ann Blyth gives a great performance and her facial expressions make her believable as an evil woman. Both women are at an equal sparring position face to face. Veda challenges her mother's morals, ethics and hard work.

As mother and daughter run up the stairs, Veda puts herself at a higher step to give the appearance of power leading up to the slap. Once Mildred regains her footing, she takes a step up and threatens her daughter and it is only then that we now see Veda as truly powerless and we see her for the fraud that she is. It is the only time we see her looking up at her mother with true fear.

I love this film!