Double Indemnity And Touch Of Evil Film Studies Essay

doubling support And interrelate Of evil-minded acquire Studies EssayFilm in popular culture was under scrutiny from ethnic theorists during the 1930s and 1940s. It was suggested that pic lacked originality and authenticity because of the way in which organisations, much(prenominal) as Hollywood, were producing art by using generic throwulas (Grant, 20075). This repetition of conventions, geniuss and settings was typical of the Hollywood genre transcription (Palmer, 19941). This system enabled Hollywood to make films cheaply and competitively, which was criticised further by cultural theorists because the organisation was mainly motivated by profit (Grant, 20077).Genre films were at the forefront of the American ideal as films were an grand feature of American culture. They represented an expression of the spirit of the time and worked as an inexpensive form of entertainment (Grant, 20075). The generic laws were liked and accepted which was beneficial for some(prenomina l) consumer and brass as the Hollywood studio could cater to a large auditory scent out (Palmer, 19942).However, the poor economic conditions of America in the 1930s meant that cinemas had to entice their hearing with a more than modern form of storytelling and representation (Palmer, 19943). Whilst the typical Hollywood film had to follow genuine principles of history, the film noir was able to push the terminal point of conventional storytelling.The opthalmic stylisation, storyline and turned newspapers describe the essence of the noir film. These conventions allow be discussed with examples from Billy deliriouss echo grant (1944) at the beginning of the noir power point and Orson Welles run across of meanity (1958) towards the end.The distinct elements that form the noir were largely ascribable to the contributions of those in film production. During the early 1930s directors, actors and cinematographers who were involved in German expressionist cinema moved to Hollywood (Grant, 200725).The stylistic qualities of noirs were heavily influenced by expressionism German silent films were admired by the Hollywood film exertion ( silver-tongued, 200411). The artistic roots in German expressionism atomic number 18 portrayed in the use of common stylistic conventions such as chiaroscuro kindling, depraved tv photographic camera angles and the use of symbolic designs (Silver, 200411).The most visible feature of the noir elbow room is restrained lighting cinematographers manipulated contrasts of light and shade between day exteriors and realistic night persuasions through the use of curtains or venetian blinds (Silver, 200416). Dramatic use of lighting was apply to render tension and confirm beliefs that the noir world was uncomfortable and corrupt. In Double Indemnity the establishing scene already implies this as Walter Neff begins to confess his umbrages, part his face is in shade suggesting that he is ashamed.A less seeming featu re, though crucial in terms of its expressionist value, was the use of distorted camera angles. Each camera angle was employ specifically to create a dramatic and symbolic meaning. Low angles were pivotal in creating the tone of claustrophobia and paranoia, for example when ceilings of interior settings were visible in the straighten up (Silver, 200416). Double Indemnity continues to provoke uneasy facial expressions with low angled shots in the initial scene suggesting that Neff is trapped with no other option but to confess.The use of advanced angles creates disequilibrium, for example when a city street is visible far on a lower floor out of a window (Silver, 200416). This type of feeling is likewise de nonative by dimly lit alleyways and shadowy pedestrians in the urban adorn (Silver, 200416). The noir style frequently makes use of shadow and unbalanced compositions (Telotte, 198917). Off-angle compositions of characters in the frame were used to create the suggestion of an unstable world (Spicer, 200247). In Touch of worthless, Spicer (200262) suggests that Orson Welles is able to draw the earreach into a state of perplexity by not including any stabilising balance of scenes.Touch of reprehensible was produced after the film noir description was established which suggests that the noir features in this film were used more deliberately. The expressionist style had been genuine by using scenes of measureless darkness to create a sense of claustrophobia and agoraphobia (Spicer, 200261). Welles primarily uses night scenes, which allows characters and shadows to merge together creating a sinister atmosphere. Vargas is unsuccessfully attacked with acid by a shadowy figure.Hank Quinlans own corruption is symbolised in Touch of immoral as he falls to his death into floating waste (Silver, 2004169). Similarly, optic symbolism is used in Double Indemnity as Wilder carefully constructs a mise-en-scne to provoke meaning that may not always be obvious. The character of Phyllis Dietrichson is disposed(p) primary importance twain in style when she makes spectacular entrances and in the narrative when she manipulates those close to her. some(prenominal) Double Indemnity and Touch of Evil share similarities in their visual styles which are heavily influenced by German expressionism. The expressionist style also influences the narrative and alkalis of noirs. Some of the themes that are expressed in the films are developed through the narrative. Noir stories challenge the conventional linear narrative of other Hollywood films and explicitly state points of view (Telotte, 19893). Strategies used are the voice-over, the terce soulfulness flashback style, and the subjective camera technique (Telotte, 198912).The voice-over narrative technique enables the audience to develop situations through the protagonist. The first person narration allows the audience to identify with the character or narrator even if they are morally wrong (Sil ver, 200420). Telotte (198916) suggests that the I whose most basic purpose is to provide us with a inside and personal eye on the world.Flashbacks are used to introduce the gone which is presented from the narrators point of view (Silver, 200416). This is clear during Double Indemnity as Neff takes the use of goods and services of narrator in flashbacks through to the present day. The first person voice-over is used as he retells the hatred story on the Dictaphone but third person is used in the flashback scenes. Telotte (198945) suggests that Dictaphone narration is used to avoid dissertation directly, which conforms to the noir ideology of tricks, lies and communication difficulties.There is frequent use of the subjective camera in noirs which emphasises points of view (Telotte, 198917). Welles uses this technique in Touch of Evil in demoation during interrogations between Quinlan and Vargas where the audience is constantly deciding who is the sovereign figure.Noir films we re generally marketed as detective, thrillers or crime melodramas. Audiences were unaware that they were watching anything that was assorted from the Hollywood genre system. It was only the French critics who coined this term as the films dark qualities went unnoticed by audience and industry (Palmer, 19946). However, these films followed the crime detective formula as most, including Double Indemnity and Touch of Evil, were based on crime fiction novels. Double Indemnity was an innovative film and perhaps therefore a more authentic film noir. By comparison, Touch of Evil was rewritten into a much darker version that deliberately played on the noir styles. Silver (200415) states that noir relies on the element of style not just the content and that narratives are complex and not just icons.Literature of the time contained existentialism and mental matters that promoted the importance of the past reflecting on present actions. This was particularly meaningful given the circumstanc es of America during the World War and the Depression (Silver, 200415). Grant (200726) suggests that noirs exhibit a sense of post-war disillusionment and was a delayed reaction to the obligate optimism of popular culture during the Depression and war years.The intended purpose of Hollywood narratives was to confirm the beliefs and values of the audience. Hollywood took a conservative stance indoors society both socially and politically. Films had to follow censorship regulations where certain principles had to be followed such as poetic justice, unsuccessful villains and restricted sexual liaisons (Palmer, 19944). Film noirs, for the most part, complied with these regulations given that they were unnoticeably different. However, they did touch on certain non-traditional themes such as sexual and criminal violations (Palmer, 19949).The French critic Nino Frank (cited in Palmer, 19948) described noir having rendered obsolete the traditional detective film because noirs focussed on the psychology of the characters rather than the actual crime and criminal.According to Silver (200415), important themes in film noir were classified as the haunted past and the fatalistic nightmare. The haunted past suggests the protagonists escape from a traumatic incident as in Touch of Evil or, crimes intrustted out of passion as in Double Indemnity. Past and present circumstances are immix within the narrative the past is real and inescapable and the protagonist has to confront it to seek redemption. This is featured in both Double Indemnity and Touch of Evil. The second theme is the fatalistic nightmare which is based on origin where present events lead to an inevitable conclusion. Good intentions of characters can be overridden when certain factors are taken into consideration. Double Indemnity uses chance and opportunity to commit crime, whereas the structure of society affects situations in Touch of Evil.Confusion was another theme in noir. It gives a sense of ambigui ty to the narrative and a sense of nightmare to the atmosphere. This is conveyed in Touch of Evil when Susan Vargas is resting in the motel and a sort of Mexican youths take over which leaves the audience questioning what happened exactly.Noirs present a bleak vision of contemporary life that was populated by criminals and immoral people all of which opposed the American ideal (Palmer, 19946). The protagonists are in the main male and reflect the disruption to the traditional male role that was caused by the war and post-war readjustments thereafter. Females were characterised as both domestic and bland or as femme fatales. Male powerlessness is demonstrated next to the femme fatale which was a common feeling in post-war society (Grant, 200726). However, post-feminist critics suggest that Phyllis Dietrichson in Double Indemnity was a strong woman in a male-dominated world where she had to use any kind of weapon, including sexuality, to become an equal (Silver, 200416). But ultimat ely, the femme fatale corrupts the protagonist.The themes in Touch of Evil also promote the sense of corruption drug dealing, sex exchange and gambling. Touch of evil represents the conflict between true justice and the dominate norms of justice. It has a theme of good versus evil where the moral Vargas can come near through the noir world of corrupt police officers such as Quinlan (Conard, 200643). hostile Neff in Double Indemnity, Quinlan is deeply flawed already. Noirs involve moral determination making, the ethics of knowing what is morally right but finding alternatives more attractive. For example, in Double Indemnity a manipulated insurance salesman plots with a unify woman to murder her husband to gain financial rewards (Conard, 200642).Double Indemnity contains adultery, cold-blooded killing, insurance fraud and criminal activity that are doomed on a female, which went against the contemporary censorship rules of the time. However, Neff and Dietrichsons inescapable f atality that draws them into crime seems to agree with those rules (Palmer, 19949). This is proven as Neff begins his narrations suggesting that crime does not pay (Double Indemnity, 2005) Yes, I killed him. I killed him for money and for a woman. I didnt get the money and I didnt get the woman. Pretty isnt it?The noir categorisation occurred because of the interaction between style, narrative and theme attributions. Noirs were able to branch away from the beat Hollywood product in such a way that it still catered to a large audience but unknowingly contained influences from European cinema. The impact that German expressionism had on Hollywood was remarkable and it is clear that the expressionistic style influenced many subsequent films.Double Indemnity, the earlier film, was a good example of innovative style both in appearance and narrative and was extremely influential. Touch of Evil was do towards the end of the noir period and deliberately used noir features but to an excess ive degree.Noirs were considered to be a new type of detective crime thriller that subtly changed from the standard Hollywood genre film. They were still able to maintain the industrys principles by allowing a moral outcome but incorporating a more complex clay to the story. These themes reflected the feelings of the American people towards their own society which made the films acceptable. The audiences need for a new way of expressing the story was met by a different, experimental narrative technique which heightened the impact of the dark qualities in the themes. These influences together with the dramatic, expressionist style established the film noir and give it a unique element in Hollywood.