A Place in the Sun (1951)

Okay I’m going to start off with my honest opinion of the movie, which takes form in a mini rant, because honestly I really did not like this movie at all. It was extremely difficult to watch without laughing; it was seriously hard to take the film seriously. For me it was mainly the overly dramatic music placed with severe close ups, there was no question what was going to happen. And I don’t know if it was the chemistry with the actors or just the fact that it seemed fast pace, I really found both relationships with George somewhat questionable. I hate when movies make people fall in love at literally first sight, for me it’s laughable because he saw Elizabeth Taylor’s character he immediately falls in love with her and is willing to kill for her when it looks like they’ve been on what five dates. And what the hell was George thinking with the pregnant woman?? COME ON, he is such an idiot for that relationship to begin with. They specifically tell him NOT to get involve with ANY employees and what does he do - he makes googly eyes at the girl in his production line.. doesn’t even take her on a date, but purposely crashes what looks like a date with another guy.. literally invites himself into her house.. gets her pregnant… and when he continues the relationship with her, he starts another relationship (another idiot move) with “his true love” uggghh really come on.. he could have prevented the entire situation but instead for selfish reasons destroys all of their lives. Because he was a complete idiot I felt no sympathy for him being convicted, and was kind of glad he was.

The dramatic close-ups and music I think they were trying to build up the suspense, and the fact that he is going to kill her, so when he doesn’t purposely push her in the lake there is more controversy whether he to blame when he changes his mind at the end. I suppose the relationship with the factory girl, there isn’t really supposed to be any “chemistry” because I think they were trying to get you to root for the other relationship or at least be sympathetic towards George on the fact Elizabeth Taylor symbolizes the American dream life that is in reaching distance but any hope is violently crushed by the pathetic, pushy, pregnant woman that is trapping him and holding him back. At least that is what I feel like they were trying to make you feel and I guess if you felt sympathetic towards George it would make the end of the trial even more of a big deal and the verdict even more surprising.

The verdict in itself is probably the most provocative part of this movie, because it makes you question whether or not the thought of murder and not saving someone is the same as murder. I could sit here and argue both sides and I could probably be persuaded to each side give certain supporting facts. But in my opinion, in this case of George Eastman, I personally think He made his bed, now he must lie in it!

Double Idemnity 1944

There are several elements that caught my attention when watching the movie that really made the film really enjoyable and satisfying to watch. An element that was all the way throughout the movie was the lighting of the match; I enjoyed that not only because of the bad ass way in which he lit the match with his own fingers but because it was kind of symbolic in a way. He has to light Keyes cigarette through out the movie because Keyes never has a match, which I think he says in one scene, is because he doesn’t trust it going off in his pocket. Which I found interesting because I think that shows Walter being a bit more “daring” and more willing to “play with fire” in comparison to Keyes; Walter is the one willing to take a chance on breaking the law while Keyes is not willing to take the chance of the consequences at all. Then at the end of the movie Keyes has to light Walter’s cigarette because he is too weak and can longer control the flame. This is extremely significant because that’s the moment when you know Neff is going to die; he’s defeated, and there is no saving him and makes a really great ending.
And I personally love watching movies where its plot is centered on a certain crime that’s been committed. Although this was one of the first movies to do the insurance fraud killing the husband, it has become a huge cliche and a bit predicable but because they “Tarantino-ed” it (by showing the ending first and then going back to explain how they got there) I think it works really well. I loved how it was all set up like that, with the car speeding in the first shot and him going to the office for the confessional, where it goes into the meat of the movie as a flashback with the confession as a voice over explaining what’s going on in his point of view, and how it ends with Keyes coming in the end of the confessional. I think because of that layout of the movie I was still interested and was constantly wondering what had happened to him and what was going to happen to him.
I think this is a great example of film noir, and really worked for the plot and keeping you intrigued throughout the entire movie. You have the women fatale that manipulates the men around her paired with the easily gullible love sick man, who both commit a crime and are being tracked by an investigator ( in this case the insurance company, instead of a detective but with definite detective qualities). It also had the noir dark low-key lighting and shadowing all the way through out the movie, which I thought was perfect for this movie, because it set the mood of the scenes which were mostly mysterious, dark in nature, suspenseful, and created tension in some cases; which pushes your interest in what is going to happen to these characters. And it ends on a bleak note, where the “bad guys” die but you feel a bit of sympathy, remorse and satisfaction at the same time. It’s a great example of film noir but I think just a great film altogether, I love the dynamic with the characters, the fast paced dialogue, the film style, the plot, down to the shot sequence and lighting; everything compliments each other very well. I love the fact that it’s a classic film, where a lot of elements in it have become cliches but I feel like I could watch this over and over and still enjoy the suspense and tension that builds every time the story is told.