Sunset Boulevard
the worker at sky who put this film on sky cinema in april 2025 genuinely changed my life
sunset boulevard encapsulates the pinnacle of my interest in cinema. old hollywood has always entranced me; what with the glamorous front set up by the studio system. but billy wilder goes underneath that, and uncovers the horrors of hollywood (which is why louis b mayer DESPISED this film). through this movie, i get to see a fictionalised (although it can be argued that this is a semi-biographical showing of gloria swanson’s career) version of the disturbing treatment of stars in the era of classic hollywood - a subject i can’t help but be infatuated with.
all of the performances in this are perfect to me, but it’s impossible to ignore gloria swanson as norma desmond. she portrays a woman abandoned by her true love - never joe - but being an actress, desired by viewers. i may have this wrong, but i’ve always interpreted joe as the personification of norma’s dreams. perhaps it’s never joe himself that she falls for, but the added hope to her delusions of a return to film. as he begins to distance himself and leave, she subconsciously has to accept that her career is well and truly over. rather than face this fact, she kills joe. she is fully lost to reality, and cannot bear that she isn’t desired by the industry (in turn, joe) anymore.
the scene in the paramount studio is probably my favourite. it makes clear to the viewer that her past fame was never a lie, with the elder doorman recognising her and praising her. when rumour spreads that she’s arrived - comments are made about her age, yet Cecil B. Demille is “old enough to be her father”. wilder shows viewers the misogynistic treatment of aging women in hollywood as she is described as being “100 years old”. when inside with demille (who you can see actually shooting his 1949 release samson and delilah!!) she is seen expressing disdain toward a microphone as it hovers past her - once again showing her hatred for sound cinema.
my favourite part of said scene is when the light is shone upon norma. people flock, welcoming her home, and marvel at her. this only proves norma’s point, people do still care about her career - and if given the chance her talent could still prove an asset to the studio. however, it is demille who says to move the light “back to where it belongs”. this causes people to walk away from norma. saying the camera belongs AWAY from desmond is wilder’s way of saying that the system now sees desmond as ‘past it’. there is no space for an aging woman in this hollywood.
as she descends the stairs in the final scene, despite the horror of the situation - onlookers are entranced by her. no matter what, norma desmond is a performer who is admired by audiences, in any realm. people in the building hardly blink or move, stunned by her performance, that may not even be a performance by this stage.
and despite all of this, the taboo around her name in the industry, demille’s look of horror at the prospect of working with her again, and the views of other people upon hearing of her - she was only 50 years old. treated like an outcast and a woman on her dying breath, she was only 50 years old.