skip to main |
skip to sidebar
A number of makers of film noirs had a special fascination with the journalism industry it seems. However, though in The Big Clock, the protagonist works for a media corporation owned by the film’s scheming and megalomaniac antagonist, unlike Ace in the Hole or Sweet Smell of Success, its focus was not to provide a searing critique of the industry; rather, what the movie remains in essence is a superb and ingenious thriller. The film boasts of a labyrinthine plot that would require pages to fully describe, so suffice it to say, it’s about a guy who ends up leading a murder investigation with the irony being that the guy who’s been narrowed down as the prime suspect is he himself. He therefore doesn’t just need to conduct a parallel investigation of his own to find the real criminal, but also must stay one step ahead of those part of the investigation team. The brilliant script filled the deliriously convoluted cat-and-mouse storyline with great suspense buildup coupled with exemplary pacing, thus providing us with a nail-biting, thrill-a-minute ride. Ray Milland was excellent as a good man caught in a hellish situation, but the show-stealer performance was given by Charles Laughton – his turn as the tyrannical and power-wielding media mogul with a bizarre fascination for watches, was tour de force stuff to say the least.
Director: John Farrow
Genre: Thriller/Film Noir
Language: English
Country: US
The Norwegian film Insomnia, which was later remade in the US by Christopher Nolan, is a dark and moody psychological thriller that is as gripping as it is quietly unsettling. Jonas Engstrom, a taciturn Swedish homicide cop arrives in a godforsaken Norwegian town to investigate the murder of a young girl; assisting him are his partner Erik, and Hilda, a local cop with a sharp mind of her own. The case takes a turn for the worse when Engstrom accidentally shoots his partner, forcing him to cover it up. We soon enough realize that Engstrom, otherwise revered by his colleagues, is in essence a deeply flawed character. And, to add to that he starts suffering from insomnia on account of the 24-hour sunshine which leaves his cold sense of judgement severely compromised. Thus what ensues is a cat-and-mouse game where the increasingly edgy detective must not just stay a step ahead of his smart antagonist, but also Hilda who starts growing suspicious about him, and not to forget his barely controlled temptations too. The location plays a vital role by adding subtle layers to the storyline as well as Engstrom’s character. The excellently paced film is expertly acted by the cast, led from the front by the veteran Swedish actor Stellan Skarsgard. His superb turn of a man being gradually led to the edge of his sanity by his inability to sleep (and consequently, think rationally), coupled with taut and competent direction, have led this brooding Scandinavian thriller, with quintessentially European sensibilities, to a fine denouement.
Director: Eric Skjoldbjaerg
Genre: Thriller/Psychological Thriller/Detective Film/Police Procedural/Post-Noir
Languages: Norwegian/Swedish
Country: Norway
Film noirs are famous for blurring the lines between good and evil – there are no classical “heroes” in the dark world of noirs. Force of Evil, though not as well-known as some of its peers, remains a stunning film noir nonetheless for its bleak, gripping, bitter and seedy depiction of life in post War-Big Apple. John Garfield, in the best role of his career, provided a tour-de-force performance as Joe Morse, a cynical, corrupt, self-serving and gold-digging lawyer who works for the numbers racket. He has come up with a brilliant plan that, by playing on people’s superstition, will help in making the operation of mobster Ben Tucker (Morse’s employer) legal, while also earning him his first million-dollars in the process. However, the only catch of his ploy turns out to be his good-natured elder brother. And, as is common in this world of grime and greed, when things start going wrong, they do so in spectacularly devastating fashion, bringing about his nerve-racking fall from grace. His only salvation turns out to be a naïve young girl who he finds himself falling for. Ironically, the careers of director Abraham Polonsky and Garfield too suffered misfortune soon after the movie’s release for their suspected Leftist leanings.
Director: Abraham Polonsky
Genre: Crime Drama/Film Noir
Language: English
Country: US
Directed by Hollywood’s enfant terrible Samuel Fuller, The Naked Kiss was a heady concoction of noirish sensibilities, tabloid storytelling, psychological drama, social commentary and melodramatic kitsch – the movie is hence sure to create ambivalent reactions among most viewers. It starts off in spectacular fashion. The electrifying opening sequence shows a hooker, Kelly (played with delicacy and charm by Constance Towers) clobbering her pimp with a stiletto; most of the scene is shown through the pimp’s eyes, so it feels as if her fury and aggression are directed at the viewers! She escapes from her sordid life to a small, ‘clean’ town in order to start her life afresh. She has a lurid encounter there with the local sheriff. Eventually she does manage to make a decent living, and even falls in love with the town’s most eligible bachelor. However, she’s unaware of the grotesque blemish that he harbours, and consequently it’s not long before the details of her scandalous past travel all the way there to derail her best-laid plans to leave all her baggage behind. By the time the movie ends, you wouldn’t know whether you’ve been served something special or the director has blatantly manipulated you, but you’ll like the movie nonetheless – I guess that’s Sam Fuller for you.
Director: Samuel Fuller
Genre: Drama/Psychological Drama/Crime Drama/Neo-Noir
Language: English
Country: US
Doesn’t matter which way you look at The Big Heat – a frantic tale of obsession, a revenge story, a story of justice and redemption, or a dark chronicle of deceit and human corruption, the movie would emerge as a success – since this incredible noir worked in all these levels. Made nearly a decade after his masterly Scarlet Street, Fritz Lang’s The Big Heat remains a landmark work in this distinctive school of filmmaking. This gripping, hyper-violent (for its time) and nihilistic crime thriller is about a cop trying to get to the bottom of the suicide of another cop, against every kinds of odds possible – not just in the form of gangsters and thugs, but also his own department. However, when the antagonists kill his loving wife and his anger results in his suspension, he takes it upon himself to bring the psychotic mob-boss down – not just for justice, but also for vengeance. And in this hot pursuit he finds an unlikely help in the form of the mobster’s naïve but disgruntled moll. Great photography and crackling, staccato dialogues were just two of the many components of this fast-paced, hardboiled film. Foremost among those components were the excellent performances of Glenn Ford as the hell-bent-on-revenge-and-justice cop, Lee Marvin as the sinister villain, and Gloria Grahame as the woman-scorned.
Director: Fritz Lang
Genre: Crime Thriller/Film Noir/Police Procedural/Gangster Movie
Language: English
Country: US
