Review on Double Indemnity

Double Indemnity is an American noir film that was published in 1944. The main character is Walter Neff, who works for an insurance company. One day he meets a gorgeous woman and they decide to murder her husband. They plan everything from detail to detail, however they still get into trouble.

In the first mintues of the movie, I thought that I will hate it – so did my classmates. It was black and white, the sound was really “oldish” and it seemed like a typical film that I skip when I am trying to find a normal tv-programme to watch (which is kind of hard nowadays). However I did not give up that easy and I started to pay more attention to the movie until I realized that actually it is a great story. I found it beyond exciting, I couldn’t wait one week to watch the second part of it. I was very curious about the end and it did not disappoint me at all. I was hoping that both of them will recieve their punishment, but I felt a little bit sorry for them, especially for Neff. I do not know why but I hated and I loved them at the same time.

It is hard to find things that I did not like about this movie. Maybe the only thing is that it strenghtened the common belief that all women are evil. Well, it may be true but in that case men are stupid as we can see it from Neff’s example. He let Phyllis seduce him and turn him into a murderer. He was blinded by the love and the money and he just could not think realistically.

To sum up, Double Indemnity was a pleasant disappointment for me, I did not think that I will love a film noir that much. 

Review on Citizen Kane

          Citizen Kane is a classic American filmdrama that was released in 1941. It is about the life of a man – Charles Foster Kane – who was born to be successful. He was a simple, average person but with a little bit of luck he was able to realize the possibilities around him. He had newspapers, radio stations and a lot of influential acquaintances. However he was too greedy and as he wanted more, he started to lose everything he had. He died in a lonely way – despite of the fact that everybody thought that he was immortal.

            Personally, I found this film quite entertaining, although I do not really like film noires. My favourite part was at the beginning, when a short video was displayed about the life of Charles Foster Kane. It was amazing how wealthy he was and how fast he could lose his possessions. Also I liked that I could get insight to the life of these upper class, millionare people. Their layer is very capitalistic and they are hypocritical, greedy and selfish. They like to show off their possessions and they think that money can buy everything. Well, the destiny of Charles Foster Kane presents that it is not true at all.

            In my opinion, the moral of the story is quite simple: you can have a lot of money, you can be successful and popular, but there are certain things that you cannot buy. You cannot buy true love, happiness or true friendships. Probably there was a time in Foster’s life when he thought that he had everything under control and he was happy, but it lasted only for a short time. I liked that there was a part in the film about Foster’s childhood and it was the only scene when I felt sorry for him. However I believe that his parents are partly responsible for his bad decisions in his life. I also enjoyed the scene in which Foster went crazy and smashed everything that was around him because it was full of tension and passion. It also proved the fact that the life of wealthy people is not that easy at all as it seems.

             All in all, it was a great visual experience for me and it also made me think a little bit. It strenghtened my view point that in the end it does not matter how wealthy you are and how much money you have. These things do not last forever and you can lose everything in a second. However you cannot lose your memories because they will stay with you forever. 

Review on Chinatown

Chinatown is an American neo-noir film, directed by the world-famous Roman Polanski. The film takes place in Los Angeles, 1937. J. J. Gittes is a private detective who is hired by a woman who thinks her husband is cheating on her. The secret affair gets published in the media and as a result, a scandal explodes.

Personally, I really enjoyed this movie, mostly because the storyline was thoroughly build up and the whole atmosphere was loveable. Despite of the fact that sometimes I found it boring, the film cought my attention and I was very curious about the ending. The end was quite shocking, especially when it turned out that Faye Dunaway was raped by his own father and also when she was shot. According to my interpretation the moral of the story is that our world is rotten, it is full of crime, corruption, cheating and bad people, and it is almost impossible to change it. This film made me think about these things and it made me feel a little bit depressed and sad. But I think it just proves the fact that it is a great movie, because it evoked some kind of emotions in me.

There were only two or maybe three things that I did not like about this film. Firstly, I found Faye’s character a little bit irritating. Secondly, I was disturbed when she was hit so hard. I am really against abuse and violence, that is why I did not enjoy that scene. The third thing is the music, because I think sometimes it did not fit the movie.

All in all, I am happy that I had a chance to watch Chinatown, it was a great experience for me.

Review on Rear Window

            Rear Window is an American suspense thriller film, directed by Alfred Hitchcock. It is considered to be one of Hitchcock’s best films and it was also my favourite one during the semester.

            First of all, I really adored the setting, maybe because of the fact that I could relate to it. I am living in a block of flats and their is another opposite our house. Sometimes when I am bored (definitely not during the last two weeks of the semester) I open the window and stare at other people’s windows, just like Jeff in the movie. I think most people are curious, they like to know what is going on around them and they like to know how others live – even if they do not know them. A few years ago me and my brother literally spendt the whole summer in his window. It was a really fun activity, especially at night when a lot of things happened in the other house and also on the streets. We were just like Jeff, although we did not notice a crime (unfortunately).

            Besides the setting, I also liked the main characters especially their appearance. I find James Stewart really handsome and Grace Kelly is a gorgeous woman. However I did not enjoy Jeff’s personality too much, mostly because of the fact that he constantly refused Lisa’s approach. It seemed that he only found her interesting when she climbed to the criminal’s apartment. He was a little bit selfish and ego-centric for me, but it is OK.
            I also liked the other characters and the personality types they represented. The beautiful ballerina dancer attracted a lot of men but she was unhappy because she could not find true love. Neither did Miss Lonelyhearts who seemingly had a miserable life. In the end she even wants to commit suicide, but the melody of the music composer saves her life (how good is that?! Congrats Mr. Hitchcock). There were also two couples, the one who just got married and another one who lived together for ages and who had a really boring life.

            The main plot of the story – solving a crime – was also entertaing. I liked the way Jeff, Lisa and the other elder woman tried to put every little detail together in order to find the truth. The end was also exciting and amusing, especially when Thorwald appeared in Jeff’s apartment and when he tried to extrude him out of the window.         
           All in all, I enjoyed every moment of this movie and I will definitely watch it again.

Review on Blade Runner

         Blade Runner is a neo-noir sci-fi that was released in 1982. The story takes place in 2019 and the main character is the handsome Harrison Ford (Deckard). Deckard has a very important mission, he has to find and kill the replicants who travelled back to the Earth.

            The first thing that came to my mind when we started to watch this film is that the writers and producers failed a little bit when they imagined the world in 2019. Did they really think that the world would look like this or did they just exaggerate it? Anyways, I do not think that there will be flying cars and clones in 2019. The thing that I liked about this film, is mainly the atmosphere of it that was very unique and scary at the same time. I also enjoyed the character of Harrison Ford because I really adore him, he is one of my favourite actors. My favourite scene was the “romantic” one, when he tried to seduce Rachael and when she refuses him, he becomes a little bit agressive. I think it was a very powerful and emotional scene. I also liked the fight of Deckard and Roy at the end of the film, because it was very exciting, especially when Deckard almost fell of a building. The heavy rain made the scene more enjoyable and it created a special mood.

            On the other hand, there are some things that I did not like about this movie. First of all, I hate sci-fi, I never watch films like this because they are too unrealistic for me. So it was hard for me to tackle with the genre of the film, but I think I could manage it and in the end I thought that it was not a bad sci-fi. However I found it boring sometimes because there were some scenes in which nothing really happened, but it was slow and dragged. I also disliked the violent, bloody scenes but I think it comes from the fact that I am a woman. Women usually do not like blood and disgusting things. Blade Runner is not a good choice to watch on a date. There were some parts when I even had to close my eyes, because I did not want to see how they kill each other.            All in all, I cannot decide wether I like or do not like this movie, but I think there were more good things in it, than the bad ones (or is it just the fact that Harrison Ford is the main character??). I think I will watch it again when I have time and I will figure it out.