Film Noir

Each of the film noir movies that I watched--The Maltese Falcon, Touch of Evil, Chinatown, and Shadow of a Doubt--have certain similarities that cause them to all fall under the title of film noir, however some of them do seem to be variations on film noir. The Maltese Falcon and Touch of Evil seem to be essential film noir; they both were created during the height of film noir which may be part of the reason why. Both movies have the hero private investigator character--Sam Spade in The Maltese Falcon and Mike Vargas in Touch of Evil--who is rather cynical and disconnected with the actual police force. Both of these characters are out to solve some sort of crime mystery--Spade has multiple murders and a strange prized falcon that he is investigating and Vargas is on the trail of a murder when he discovers other corruption that he must get to the bottom of.

The Maltese Falcon and Touch of Evil also have similar settings because both take place in cities and there is lots of darkness and shadows throughout. Both of these films also have the underlying belief that the government run police force is no good and it is up to the outside investigator--Spade as a private eye and Vargas because he is from Mexico--to solve everything and put an end to corruption. There is a suspenseful tone throughout the movies and many of the characters often switch from good to bad and visa versa and there is a strong sense of moral ambiguity. For example in The Maltese Falcon the femme fatal character Brigid O'Shaughnessy switches from being credible to non-credible throughout the film, and in Touch of Evil Captain Quinlan seems reliable at first but then we find out that he has been planting evidence.

The other two films that I watched, Chinatown and Shadow of a Doubt, had some of the same elements as The Maltese Falcon and Touch of Evil, but also seemed to vary from the other films. They both also have some characters that seem to switch from good to bad like Uncle Charlie in Shadow of a Doubt and Evelyn Mulwray in Chinatown. However in these films there is not a direct conflict with the police like there is in the other two films. In Chinatown Gittes does conflict with the government, but he is not really racing against them to solve the crime and in Shadow of a Doubt there is no conflict with other investigators or the government. I think Chinatown is more noir than Shadow of a Doubt because it does have a typical femme fetal character with Mrs. Mulwray and it has a cynical private eye who ends up solving the mystery.

Shadow of a Doubt is a twist on film noir because there are detectives in the film, but they are just minor characters rather than the hero of the movie. The hero in the movie is a female because Young Charlie is the one who discovers the truth about her uncle, but she is also a lot like a femme fatal character because since she knows the truth she can be detrimental to Uncle Charlie and in the end she actually is. Both Shadow of a Doubt and Chinatown have the moral ambiguity and suspenseful tone of film noir, but they do not have as shadowy and urban look as Chinatown and The Maltese Falcon. I think part of this lack of film noir look in Chinatown is due to the fact that it is in color because that takes away from the dramatic effect of the shadows. Shadow of a Doubt takes place in a small town rather than an urban environment because Uncle Charlie leaves the city to go there and everyone seems to know everybody in that town. These films are still noir, but seem to be modified versions of noir.

Chinatown Review

Private investigator J.J. Gittes is hired by a woman pretending to be Evelyn Mulwray, wife of Hollis Mulwray who is in charge of the city's water supply, to find out if Hollis is cheating on her. Gittes does what he does best, takes pictures of Hollis with another woman, but this investigation turns out to be more than just a marital problem when Hollis turns up dead. The real Evelyn Mulwray then hires Gittes and he is out to find out what happend to Mr. Mulwray. He soon discovers that the family is full of more scandal than just a murder. The movie starts out a little slow as you are first convinced that Mr. Mulwray is just spending all of his time starring at various bodies of water. However once it picks up it is definately shocking as the series of discoveries unfold.

I did not really find any of the characters in Chinatown particularly likeable, and I think a movie should have at least one likeable character, but the acting was convincing. The plot was engaging because different mysteries were added along the way. I enjoyed the few jokes that broke up the tension in the movie. As a firs time viewer the movie was entertaining, but I would not watch it again.

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Shadow of a Doubt Review

In Shadow of a Doubt Charlie Oakley goes to visit his sister's family in the quiet town of Santa Rosa. His niece young Charlie, who is named after him, is very excited to have him visiting until she discovers that he may be responsible for a string of widow murders. She then becomes fearful of her uncle and with good reason because he doesn't treat her so well after he finds out that she knows the truth about him. All of the characters are well developed and the movie takes time to develop them before all the mystery sets in which is very necessary for the plot to make sense. Even the more minor characters like Uncle Charlie's other niece Ann or young Charlie's father's friend Herbie have distinct personalities and characteristics. The variety of colorful characters are part of what makes the movie so memorable.

Shadow of a Doubt makes you feel for young Charlie as she keeps the horrible secret about her uncle from her family. The way the plot is set up makes you become increasingly paranoid alongside young Charlie and you want to turn Uncle Charlie in without upsetting the family as well. The movie will keep you on edge as you wonder how much longer Uncle Charlie will be able to fool everyone around him and continue to get away with what he has done. There is plenty of suspense and drama and even some budding love in Shadow of a Doubt so it is hard not to become enthralled in it as you watch.

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Touch of Evil Review

Mexican narcotics officer Mike Vargas gets sucked into a murder crime that takes place just across the boarder. However, once he gets involved he finds out about more scandal than just the crime he is trying to help solve. Police captain Quinlan has been framing suspects for quite some time and once Vargas finds out about it, Ouinlan makes things personal by trying to frame Vargas' wife.

It was very difficult for me to take Touch of Evil seriously and this could all stem from the fact that Charlton Heston was supposed to portray a Mexican. Everything about the film seemed over the top like the fumbling idiot for a motel night manager and the band of Mexican greasers who were pawns of Grandi. Too many different typical character types seemed to be forced into the movie. The plot line was fairly interesting, but not as surprising as it should have been because almost everything that happened in the movie was alluded to far before it took place which sucked out all of the shock value. The film just seemed too forced and unnatural so it was hard for me to really enjoy it.

Image from: http://infolab.stanford.edu/~prasanna/dmc/mexico.html

The Maltese Falcon Review

Detective Sam Spade finds himself in the middle of a strange scandal involving the murder of his partner and the man he was tailing after he meets a strange untrustworthy woman. Spade attempts to get to the bottom of this scandal which involves Brigid O'Shaughnessy, Joel Cairo, and Kasper Gutman, all of whom seem to be after a very valuable Maltese falcon. While dealing with this group of shady characters, Spade is also being questioned about the murder of his partner Miles. The Maltese Falcon keeps adding more and more twists to the story as it goes on and none of the characters can be trusted.

The movie is very conversation heavy and you don't really see a lot of the action that takes place, but you won't miss it because each of the characters are so fascinating that you want to listen to everything they say. It doesn't take long for the movie to grab your attention because the mystery starts off almost immediately before the characters are really even established. More aspects of each character seem to unfold as the story progresses which only keeps you more interested. With all of the crime dramas out there it is often hard to find a detective movie that is able to keep me interested by giving just the right amount of information along the way, but The Maltese Falcon does just that. There were some corny moments, but they were probably just due to the fact that the movie was made so long ago and for me they only made it more enjoyable. The movie is fascinating and engaging and I was entertained by it.

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Classic Film Narrative vs. Alternative Film Narratives Presented in Monsoon Wedding and Daughters of The Dust

Daughters of the Dust and Monsoon Wedding have very different narrative structures than classic Hollywood films. One major way in which Monsoon Wedding deviates from this tradition is the fact that there is not really one main character or one single plot line, rather the movie is made up of an assortment of different stories each having their own central characters. There is the story of the bride deciding to tell her husband to be about her recent involvement with her ex-boyfriend, there is the budding love between the housekeeper and the party planner, and there is light shed on the uncle's abuse of children, just to name a few of the simultaneous plots. Each of the characters in the movie seem to be part of their own story line in which they are the main character, while they also act as supporting characters in the other stories taking place. Even though Monsoon Wedding does not fit within the classical film narrative, it is still understandable. This films ability to work without following the classic conventions shows that those conventions are not necessary aspects of a film, they are just one way to present a story, but not the only way.

Daughters of The Dust also does not have one central plot line or character, but unlike Monsoon Wedding it does not have a linear plot structure. From watching Monsoon Wedding I realized that one central character or plot is not necessary for a film to work, but for me Daughters of The Dust did not work. In Daughters of the Dust there seems to be no concrete time frame in which the events are taking place. It was difficult for me to follow what was going on in the movie because I was never sure when things were happening or how much time had passed. Since this made the film difficult to understand, I think that a linear plot is necessary for a film to work.

Monsoon Wedding Review

Monsoon Wedding revolves around the few days leading up to a wedding in India and all of the drama surrounding it. The bride is not quite over her ex-boyfriend, the event planner and the housekeeper fall in love, the mother and father of the bride have rising levels of stress, and much more. The movie has so many different story lines that it is impossible to be bored while watching it. It emphasizes family loyalty and Indian traditions mixed with some modern issues like the fact that it is an arranged marriage, but the bride is still sneaking around with her married ex-boyfriend.

The movie makes you wonder if all the misunderstandings and wrongdoing will ruin everything, but in the end love and family values prevail. The film is very musical with singing thrown in very naturally throughout it. Subtitles can sometimes be distracting and for me the mark of a good subtitled film is when I forget that I am even reading them, and Monsoon Wedding made me do just that. I do not know too much about Indian culture, but that did not at all hinder my movie watching experience because Monsoon Wedding gave me all of the information I needed to understand what was taking place. The film kept me interested, was understandable cross-culturally, and I enjoyed it.

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Daughters of The Dust Review

Daughters of The Dust is about a family of African descent living on an island and maintaining their old customs until most of the them decide to leave the island and move to the mainland up north. I found this movie to be very confusing and it did not seem to have a very strong plot. I think it really tried to use symbolism, but I did not understand most of it and it seemed overused. I had never heard of these people or this area and even though the movie had brief text explaining this at the start, it did not really make anything clearer. I did not follow most of the metaphors used in the film either. I am not sure if this is just because I have no knowledge of this culture or if is because the movie should have included more information. Another thing that confused me about this film is the fact that the characters had a variety of accents even though they were from the same family.

Nothing about the movie was cohesive and I am unsure about what the theme of the film was. There was some drama and plenty of emotion, but done of it really seemed to contribute to an overall theme or plot line. The acting was decent, but seemed wasted in the obscurity of the movie. The film seems so determined to be unconventional, that most of it remained misunderstood by me. I was over halfway through the movie before I was able to have a faint idea about what was going on. I do like the idea of having a not yet born child narrate a story about family heritage, but the story itself needs some work.

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