Double Indemnity

I loved you, Walter, and I hated him. But I wasn't going to do anything about it until I met you. You planned the whole thing. I only wanted him dead. I think this might be my favourite film. It's such an interesting one, not only because of it's historical context, the time it was released in but in general it's a pretty endearing film. When watching it, it is undeniable that it has set the standard for the film noir in years followed. Noir didn't even exist in this era but this has popularised the very genre symbols. From it's trademarks like a femme fatale and picturesque cinematography to even the themes like moral ambiguity. It definitely was a very shocking film I would imagine in 1940s America. I don't think the hays code has seen anything like this. From it's explosive sexuality to its gruesome criminal nature, I literally think this film raised the temperature of many while also making them cold in their boots. Double Indemnity definitely reflects the era it was made in. Women in the 1940s gained an unprecedented level of freedom and control. They could work, because the big men were off at war. Although I know this predates the post war America, it's definitely a thrilling topic and the femme fatale represents a symbol for the power that women held and that power came at a cost when men felt uneasy seeing women in power. Power is an important theme in this film. It literally takes Phyllis Dietrichson into the most enduring character in the film noir genre. Double Indemnity definitely defined the film noir genre, there's no doubt, it's a thrilling film. Walter Neff is initially a charming character. He throws a few lines and you may swoon over him. He's literally the lead character. He seems all fun and go lucky and happy. It seems fate had another idea for him. Walter Neff has a downfall. He literally gets brought down from this pedestal of a moral man to this corrupt man, who gave up everything for money and a woman, only he never did get the money or the woman in the end. He is a very foolish character, very easy to deceive and to manipulate. His foolishness was his greatest tragedy. His morality over the film decays, he finds himself doing things he would have never imagined. He like me ironically falls to Phyllis's knees (because who wouldn't?). He succumbs to her seductive sexuality. It's like a desire that he cannot control. It's like he finds himself being weak and guilty. Indeed very guilty, he cannot handle the idea of Lola finding out that he killed Mr. Dietrichson. Whereas Phyllis is after cash, Walter is after a body. After sex. It's literally so clear that I cannot even explain it. He finds himself being drawn to her erotically, to her erotic anklet which is probably one of the most sexiest things of this film. It's kinda like a symbol as it grasps her legs the way she grasps him into her hands and controls his every move. I feel like Neff's narration was terrific no doubt but it's very biased as it kinda doesn't show his villainy and only focuses on Phyllis's. "Oh she made me do that", that is the very feeling that this evokes from me. Almost as if he cannot accept the actual fact that he chose to do this himself, he could have ran away and told her not to, he had the power but he every fell to her. Where Walter and Phyllis represent evil, Keyes represents the moral compass of this film. His character is another thrilling one, very defiant and intelligent a very respectable and admirable man. He finds himself owning his power and he's not like Walter or Phyllis. He's obsessed with the idea of justice and getting them two into jail. He does not know that Walter however was involved in the implications. Making the betrayal of Keyes more tragic. The fact that these two have a brotherly bond together and can trust each other, make jokes at each other even say "i love you" to each other. It's fantastic to see. It's very sad to see the moral decline of Walter end up in him betraying his friends and his own moral values. The trust is broken. Walter lost everything real, and everything real for something superficial, and that something superficial was sex and money. Phyllis Dietrichson, is the deadliest femme fatale in the annals of cinematic history. She is so deadly and so cold that she happens to be one of my favourite characters in history. I just love her character so much. Yes she is a villain and has done very wrong things which I do condemn but you do feel some sympathy and admiration for her well to an extent. We find out that her husband is abusive and literally berates her. He sees her as nothing. In the sense killing him, means that she would reclaim her power. And it's just something so thrilling to see. We as the audience are the victims of Phyllis Dietrichson, we find ourselves so horrified by her but we root for her. It's literally a reflection of the film, it's something that Billy Wilder does so smart, to make us sympathise with her but feel exactly repulsed by her. She's cold af. You can see the death in her eyes, she barely has any expressions and even when she does you can see they're superficial, they're there for the nonexistent cameras. She's in control of her sexuality and her desire to destroy everyone around her, her husband, Nino Sachetti, Lola, and Walter Neff. She's the archetypal femme fatale. She's compelling and dangerous despite the fact that she has actually never commited a murder. She's only asked someone too. While yes Phyllis is a very complicated and a very one dimensional character there's something thrilling about her and a lot of femme fatales that a lot of women and people like me who just admire them and have reclaimed and loved them. She's in control of her narrative and the men around her. Something that puts the men in fear around her. Phyllis is preoccupied with money, and greed. There's no lust or love. She uses and desposes of people around her. She doesn't trust anyone, and will betray you. I think there's something quite ironic in the thought of Walter Neff killing her own husband but not stopping to think "wait she can do this to me?". She betrays Walter Neff and it's clear that she will probably despose of him whenever she can. Phyllis Dietrichson's name also is something I wanna mention by a lot. Phyllis gives very femme fatale vibe to me. But the surname definitely stands out to me. If you're a huge fan of Weimar Germany or 1930s Hollywood cinema, you'll know of Marlene Dietrich. It is so clear that Dietrichson was a nod to Marlene Dietrich, an actress infamous for her femme fatale and seductive roles. I think one of the things I wanna speak about too, is the motif of train tracks, they are parallel, and that means the lines never truly stop, it's a symbol of how Phyllis and Walter's fate are parallel they're never getting on the same train, it just goes on and on, and they hold a secret together. It's even said that the secret is way more dangerous. Phyllis is cold, in her eyes in the way she looks. She literally makes you terrified and makes your feet cold. I think the lack of her blinking gives such a reptilian ominous image, something that a lot of actual messed up serial killers do, that they don't blink a lot. Phyllis however in her final scene seems to be the most vulnerable she is. You can see her expression changing you feel sympathetic for her. You don't think she's lying. At least that's my interpretation. It's something that's so thrilling. Okay now enough analysing. The cinematography has to be one of the best cinematography ever done and like it's so stunning. It's dark and it fits the tone. I think the introduction of the light contrasting with the shadows through the venetian blinds among others helps create that moral ambiguity and the characters inner darkness. The shadowy aspects and it's just amazing. You notice that in the insurance building, the lighting is bright and great but in the uneasy scenes it's dark and uneasy. The lowkey lighting plays such an aspect in this respect and it's wonderful. The flashback narrative has long since been universally praised, it truly is a trademark with the film noir. Somehow even when the whole story is spoiled in the first five mins you find urself engaged in the film. The music is stunning too, it's just perfect wonderful and tense. Also omg I forgot to mention that scene where Barton Keyes is at Walters apartment and Phyllis hides behind his door, it has to be one of the most tense scenes ever. Billy Wilder has to be one of my favourite directors. He creates such a tone with this film that helps keep It immensely thrilling and makes is an engaging journey. He can build tension but also show you humour like that Oregon man. He I am sure directed the actors way better than anyone could have and well made then give stellar performances. Even his screenplay alongside Raymond Chandler, another name I will discuss a bit, is perfect. The very dialogue and omg it's perfect like insane. Raymond Chandler's involvement is fantastic too as he is literally a hard-boiled crime writer which fits the tone of the film. The actors are perfect as well no doubt. Edward G. Robinson played the insurance Investigator which such cynicism and perfection, he captured the essence of his character. Jean Heather as Lola was delightful, thanks to her performance you accept her as a victim herself. And no doubt mentioning that Fred MacMurray is perfect leading man. He was famed for his charming comedic leading men, which is another reason why he is so perfect for this because it's like you see that perfect and charming nature being destroyed through Fred's performance. He's incredible. Double Indemnity owes so much credit to the performance of Barbara Stanwyck. I think she's a director's actress, she gives the vision of what the director asks of her. And she does it so wonderfully. Her performance is a lesson for acting. Especially when playing such villainous characters. Stanwyck is so manipulative in this and yet so charming. That perfect embodiment of a calculating cold hearted femme fatale. You see her think, you see her emotionally distant, this is so great due to Stany. Her lack of facial expressions and tone is great. Barbara not only manipulates Walter but even us. Stanwyck gives Phyllis another dimension that this film definitely failed, the dimension of vulnerability. As I mentioned you see her feelings cracking through in the final scene. Compare the scene in the supermarket in which she says she loves Walter, she's hiding behind sunglasses, and the expression is cold, that does not look like someone who loves somebody. But then in Barbara's final scene she confesses that love and well it's realistic, you see it, you admire her. Shes more than just even a villainous femme fatale. Stanwyck and Fred have such chemistry, while in their other films like There's Always Tomorrow they had tragedy to them or in Remember the Night there was such a delightfulness, in this it was explosive sexuality, the film was tense with their sexuality, and it was a very sexy chemistry, it's just perfection. Even down to Stanwyck's hair it shows the coldness and frigidness of her character, ironically the hair which was not to be intended fuelled it even better. Anyways I'm gonna end this on here. But I'd like to say one more thing, that I wonder had the hays code never existed what would have this film been like with the death scene, would Phyllis have been punished, would she have pulled a Matty Walker in Body Heat? I don't know, I can hope. I do like her death scene though, it's tragic. Anyways I loved this film. It's my favourite, or one of, and I love it so much!