And how about Mike Hammer's very manly signature double slap?
What typical aspects of film noir did you notice in this film? Which were not present?
What specific things did you learn from this film that will help you as you write your own film noir?
This film uses a writing device that comes up a lot in film noir but which we didn't talk about in class yet. It is called "MacGuffen". Some of you might want to do some research to find out what a "MacGuffen" is and report on that in your comment. Then, start a conversation about the MacGuffen in this film: what was the MacGuffen? How was it used to create/build drama? How does the uses of a MacGuffen in this film a good or bad example of how MacGuffens usually work?
Also, you might think about the fact that this film was made during the Cold War. It deals with issues very relevant to the Cold War era. We are all young enough that we don't remember how frightening it was to live with the constant fear that the Soviet Union might bomb us today. How can this film help us understand better how people felt during the Cold War? How might people's reaction to this movie been different when it was shown in the Cold War verses when we watch it now?
So, go ahead and comment below. And remember ... don't open the box.
I don't even know what to say except.
ReplyDeleteDON'T OPEN THE BOX.
So it was a really great film, I loved it, it just lost me a little when it got to the box part. There were certainly surprises to the very end! The girl that turned out to be the femmefatale I can honestly say I didn't expect her to be it in the end, she was extremely creepy. That one is a little tough to explain, it just throws you off so much at the end it's hard to explain! Maybe it's just me but it seemed as though they had more lighting than your 'classic' film noir.
Uhm, just like every other film made before the 90s I had trouble sitting through it.
ReplyDeleteBut I am glad I watched it because it educated me on what noir really is. It also gave me a lot of ideas for the script i will be writing in this class.
Other than that, it was very confusing and dark but that was its purpose.
I totally agree with everything you just said Tony.
DeleteI admire your guys' ability to learn from a film even if you weren't particularly entertained by it.
DeleteI enjoyed the film. It was obviously the second film in a trilogy though. The first being Raiders and the last being Pulp Fiction. Here's what happened. The box was originally in the Ark of the Covenant. It was opened so the Hebrews put it in the Ark. After the Nazi's opened it the box closed as did the Ark did. Many years later someone found it and put it in a locker. You know the other part. After the fire, Quentin Tarantino found it and stuck it in the briefcase that was next to the box and survived. They morphed. Later it was opened for a third and final time. As the years went by the power of the box reduced, as you can see in the movies. From killing every one to killing one person to just being a really annoying light.
ReplyDelete(CARLOS)
Carlos, is this for real, or are you just being silly? I can't tell.
DeleteI'm not sure if it's a real thing but I'd like to believe it is just because it would be awesome if it was. It's really up to you.
Delete(Carlos)
In my opinion most of the movie was quite dull. There were humorous parts but most of it made me sleepy. I didn't understand what was going on half the time and the ending didn't make sense to me. I don't know, maybe I'm just stupid
ReplyDeleteAnyways.. I thought Carver/ whatever her real name is was really cute.
Does anyone have anything to say to Naomi that might clarify some of this for her?
DeleteI think it started out rather great. All of his cases involved marriage and such, nothing 'too big' in his perspective, then something really big comes along so naturally he's intrigued and his sense of curiosity is peeked. That girl was apart of something really underground, so he tried to dig deep and figure out why they were after her and why on earth they would throw her in such a place. Why was she so important that they had to kill her and go as far as to make it look like an accident? So he uses all of his insight and friends to try and get more intel from anyone willing to spill. However you need to pay close attention to the character's actions and what they say otherwise you are going to get lost, he was mislead by the girl who turned out to be the femmefatale, he found the people that killed the girl and pushed him and his car over the cliff, so to try and keep him quite they try bribing him and killing him so to have no lose ends or have him snooping about. However clearly all attempts had failed. The box.. cannot be explained haha don't even try, it's just a very odd twist in it. I talked with Will and I believe he said something about it resembling the atom bomb during the wars or something? The men he's investigating kidnapped the only woman he could trust, though that motivated him more to go after them of course. The end is all kind of crazy and hard to explain. I'm not sure how much I helped it might be easier to explain while watching the movie. It was a great film in my opinion just a little crazy. Though I do understand your reaction as well don't worry.
DeleteIn my opinion this movie was decent. While the movie had a decent plot for the first half I felt that the second was extremely dull and almost funny. During the first half his method of gathering information seamed clever the second half was overly brutish and had no intellectual value. Further more what was in the box as far as I can tell it was Uranium 235 which wouldn't burn down a house. So over all the second half with its scientific inaccuracies are what make this movie only okay.
ReplyDeleteI have to say it was one of my first film noirs. I like it but it lost me near the end when it came to the box. That was just left turn to me. This movie is a great example of film noir. it totally help me understand better what they are.
ReplyDeleteIt totally helps me see how a film noir is suppose to be, so me writing in class should be a lot easier or at least I hope so.
(dea 4th and 5th)
I honestly really loved this movie, I didn't really care much for what was in the box, but what the plot was in whole. I was thoroughly entertained the whole time, and it had started a love for film noir movies, but maybe that's because I was fascinated with the makeup. I learned that a mac guffen is basically an object in a movie that leads on to develop the plot, so in this case the mysterious box was the Mac Guffen,
ReplyDeleteGood work researching the Mac Guffen. Also, what did you learn from watching the makeup?
DeleteFilm noir and black and white makeup are just new to me so it inspired me to learn more about values in makeup. and the fact that they didnt need blush or it would just be grey steaks. and maybe i was a bit too distracted by it.
DeleteThat is so cool that studying this genre is motivating you to explore new skills! I love it!
DeleteI just love it's the 1940's and people have Stripper Poles in their homes. Scene of when Hammer is at his "girlfriend" home practicing ballerina.
ReplyDeleteYou know Tyson, I think your name is very film noir. I can totally imagine a P.I. protagonist named "Tyson Marlow" walking around, doing stuff in B&W.
DeleteThe movie could have been better in my opinion. It was rather interesting in the beginning, but I think the ending killed it. It was poorly done, and I don't think I liked it too much. I understand that this is from a different time, but I believe that the acting could have been better. I am also not a big fan of the whole box scene. I feel the movie didn't go into saying what it was like it should have, this resulting in a lot of confusion. Oh well.
ReplyDelete(Angell Chandler)
I totally agree especially with the information about the box the closest thing to a clue is when the cop is in hammer's apartment vaguely referenced the contents to be uranium 235.
DeleteThe best scenes in the film I felt that when Hammer slaps people to get answers. It's better because in my opinion this was a very serious act of matter. But in today's world be think of it as a joke non-intense way to show dominance.
ReplyDeleteI agree i feel like things were a little dramatic and old rather then our more realistic things these days
DeleteI wasnt in class the whole time due to some personal issues, but from what i saw of the movie, it was definatly different to me. it had a lot of weird things that i didnt understand and had a lot of really bad stage fighting and sound effects. The ending was very, very questionable but i really wish that the ending had answers. I was realy frusterated without knowing what was in the box.
ReplyDeleteIn my opinion, the ending seemed like a little bit of a cop-out. Ending notwithstanding, it was a very good example of well built suspense and intrigue; the characters were all mysterious, and tension was such that you were left in anticipation at the end of every scene.
ReplyDeleteCompletely agree. The ending aside, this film was really well made. I'm glad I'm not the only one who felt that the ending was a cop-out though. It seemed to have the potential to work but the ending portrayal just didn't work. I can see why this film is well liked but I probably wouldn't watch it again.
DeleteI see the ending as not very enjoyable but interesting. perhaps it was like an inception moment. or they added that to give the great depression audience something to think about in stead of depression and money. it was deffinately aimed at that time period.
DeleteI get your point Ashley. I can see how people of that time would want some kind of escape and this movie certainly offered that. I guess it's just hard for us to really understand the true impact or meaning of the ending because we weren't alive in that era and at least for me, it seems almost impossible to relate to the experience of it. At least the ending caught our attention and kept us talking about the movie as a whole. I'll give it credit for that. :)
DeleteEven though it had great suspense, I didn't really like any of the characters. All the female characters were weak and flat. They all looked to the men for strength, and even though the blonde at the end showed a little bit of badassery, it was show the fallibility of women; greed, selfishness, and misguided thinking.
ReplyDeleteSo, it looks like everyone hates the ending which is understandable. I think it is important though to think of the end in terms of what it reveals about how freaked out people were during the Cold War. It was a VERY scary time for people. Everyone was afraid of nuclear weapons and no one really understood them. There was a lot of hype around them and this film gives us a glimpse into the psyche of the time.
ReplyDeleteWell since you put it that way the ending makes a lot more sense to me now, at first thought that the thing inside the box was some magical artifact but nuclear weapon makes more sense because the energy even a little bit of nuclear radiation vould incenerate a full grown man with little to no problem.
DeleteA man in a snazzy outfit that gets lots of tail and is investigating some sort of crime/puzzle, yup it's a noir alright.
ReplyDeleteI'd have to agree with Sydnie on the female characters being weak and flat, they were very uninteresting and although I'm sure the actor had a great time working with them, I don't think they add much to the story as they could have.
As far as helping my writing goes, I'm sure at the time with all the cold war mumbo jumbo going on it had a lot bigger of a punch than it does for us 50 something years later. So it's a fun thing to think about if a film of mine would still be relevant however many years later.
Also, every character matters, weak characters not only add nothing to the story but feel like a huge waste of time.
I really didn't like the ending and thought that it could have ended better.
ReplyDeletethis is the first film noir movie i saw. i didnt like it that much but i thought it was worth watching.
ReplyDeleteThis film is definatly my favorite out of all the ones we been watching. I liked the first part were he picks up the girl and she looks all innocent at first then when she is gone he looks for her Then when he finds her she is totally crazy and tries to kill him.
ReplyDeleteI liked the last part of it also when she opens the box and she dies... coolest death in noir ever!