Citizen Kane (1941)

Well, we watched Citizen Kane in film class last night. I had seen the movie a couple years ago, but forgot most of the movie. Obviously, I had some pretty big expectations for the movie coming in, as it is considered to be the greatest American film ever made. I really enjoyed this movie on pretty much every level; the plot, the actors, the cinematography were all fantastic. I was completely wrapped up in the story, but sometimes there were unique filming techniques that jumped out at me. It wasn't distracting, but just made me appreciate the quality of this legendary film even more.

One aspect of the movie that I just absolutely loved was Orson Welles' creative ways of transitions between scenes. There was a ton of graphic matches, such as a closeup of Susan's eye fading into a stain-glass eye in one of Kane's mansion windows. Another example is the opening shots of different angles of Xanadu, with the window's light remaining in the exact same spot on screen during several dissolves. Some of the graphic matches are easily overlooked, but I just thought it was a subtle use of creativity to add a unique quality to the film.

Citizen Kane seemed to just get everything right. All the actors were perfectly natural portraying their characters. The plot was simple, a rich man's life, but contained complex emotional themes to make it interesting. There was a perfect distribution of subtle humor. Plus, there were ambiguous elements in the story that make you think and add your own interpretation. I can easily see how this film became known as one of the greatest, but it is not too pretentious to become alienated from casual audiences.

Side Note: During the film, I kept thinking that certain lines and songs in the movie (the big band singer: "It can't be love, for there is no true love", the dancers: " There is a man, a certain man, and for the poor you may be sure, that he'll do all he can") that sounded extraordinarily familiar. Walking back to my dorm I realized. They're all in a White Stripes song! Look up The Union Forever by The White Stripes. It's an homage to Citizen Kane, and every line of the song is taken directly from the film. Check it out!

Film Noir: The Elusive Definition

Film noir is an ambiguous genre that has a loose set of elements that, combined, give a film a unique style that is usually recognizable to general audiences. Many people argue over whether certain elements, such as the presence of water (i.e. rain, streams, etc.), are necessary to make a movie fit into the "film noir" genre. However, from the film noir movies I've seen, which are generally acknowledged as such, I can gather a few core elements that form at least a broad base. Here are some elements, divided into categories based on how necessary the elements are, that I think define film noir:

Vital to Film Noir
-Crime/Pursuit as the plot basis
-Emotionally dark
-Morally ambiguous
-Physically/Visually Dark
-Femme Fatale
-Dark Hero/Heroine

Important, Not Vital
-Smoke (i.e. cigarettes) or Smokey mis-en-scene
-Murder
-Detective or cop as lead character
-Intricate Plot
-Plot twists
-Heavy Shadows

Common, Not Important
-Dry humor
-40s-style banter
-Alcohol and cigarettes
-In modern film noir: anachronistic characters/elements

Blade Runner (1982)

Blade Runner is a more modern twist on the film noir genre, with the base elements (crime-based, detective as a main character, the femme fatale, smoky darkness) painted over in a color format. It was a fun film and I really enjoyed its timeless qualities (even in the midst of a futuristic setting), use of shadows and smoke, and the open-endedness of the plot.

The film was very entertaining, and Harrison Ford is a always an easy actor to watch. He may not have the greatest ability, and is often type-casted, but he's definitely fun to watch. Ford is definitely perfect as the stereotypical film noir detective-type.

Touch of Evil (1958)

I did not enjoy Touch of Evil as much as I had anticipated. I am a huge fan of Orson Welles, who both directed and acted in this film, but there were aspects of the movie which completely detracted from the cinematographic qualities which were so interesting. I admire the filming style and acting ability of Welles, but the actual plot was not intriguing to me at all, and most of the main characters irritated me to the point where I never felt emotionally involved in the outcome of the story.

The film was extremely interesting aesthetically, with unique camera angles that accentuate the tension and terror of certain scenes (i.e. the hotel room murder by Quinlan) and intricately long shots that cover movement down whole city blocks. Despite my appreciation for the camera work, I was completely distracted from enjoying the movie as a whole by my dislike for every character. Some are intentionally unlikable (such as Quinlan), but the completely unrealistic makeup on Charlton Heston trying to play a Mexican official, the overbearingly obnoxious Uncle Joe Grandi, and the helpless Janet Leigh left me no one to like or cheer for. I can't exactly pinpoint whether it was the character or actor that I disliked, but I know by the end I did not really care what happened to any of them.

Overall, there are redeeming qualities of the film, like the filming, and the film had potential to be intriguing and entertaining, but it fell short of exploring that potential fully.

Double Indemnity (1944)

Double Indemnity, directed by Billy Wilder in 1944, is a well-known example of the film noir genre. I appreciated the movie for its twisting crime-based plot and entertaining dialogue.

The film begins with a seeming give-away, since the main character is dying from a gunshot wound, so a viewer enters the story feeling like we know everything that will happen. However, the plot contains many twists, with good guys turning bad, and turning back again. This was a great aspect of the film, in my opinion. It is unclear who exactly is the "bad guy", and the lack of black-and-white morality is pretty unique for an apparently tradition crime-drama. We are sympathetic with the main character, Walter Neff, but he is a detective being led into a dark world by a femme fatale, where he becomes determined to murder her husband and cover up the deed.

Another aspect of Double Indemnity that I enjoyed, although not necessarily unique to the film, was the witty and fast-paced dialogue, especially between the two main characters. I always find it somewhat humorous to watch films from this era that contain the stereotypical over-acted dialogue that seem unnatural to two regular people. It makes the movie more dramatic, but in a stylized manner that disconnects the audience from really identifying with the characters. Maybe the audiences back in the '40s were used to the dialogue style, and with time it just seems strange or even laughable.

Double Indemnity is definitely worth watching, as long as you're not expecting a crime thriller. It doesn't necessarily keep you on the edge of your seat, trying to figure out what happens, but it is an entertaining example of the film noir genre.