Never thought I would review this classic film noir in my film blog. I was actually exposed to this one by having to write a paper about it for my Intro to Film Analysis class at Texas A&M. Without a doubt, this is considered one of the best film noir films that I have seen and in many countdown lists. Perhaps in the future I might review more but, for the moment I want to give this classic the spotlight it deserves for a new generation. SPOILERS will appear in the review.
1. Story
I don’t want to give away too much because this is such a classic film, but I will talk about it. It begins with a shot of a dead body in a pool in a mansion. The narrator describes how that body made it dead on arrival. We later realize that the body is the narrators. Played by classic actor William Holden, he portrays the washout writer Joe Gillis. After being hounded by debt collectors looking to repo his car, Joe goes to Paramount Studios to pitch his new script.
As he is pitching his script, a young script doctor named Betty played by Nancy Olson arrives and gives the producer her opinion about the script. Unbeknownst to her that the writer is sitting in front of the producer. Joe leaves and tries to contact other studios but reaches the same answer. He spots the collectors and evades them by hiding his car in what appears to be an abandon mansion. Gillis recognizes the tenant who was a silent movie actress Norma Desmond played by an literal former silent film actress Gloria Swanson.
Norma tells Joe that she wants to make a comeback by drafting her own script in which she had wrote. Gillis decides to work with Desmond, thinking that if he uses her, Joe can get a real job in Hollywood. The whole movie as I said is told in a nonlinear style. Somewhat similar to Citizen Kane, but where the main narrator has the whole authority since he’s retelling his death. I feel that it’s really a first time any film does that since a traditional movie has a standard story formula. Here though, it’s part of the story formula that is mostly seen in the film noir sub-genre. Which I will get into.
2. Film Noir
So what exactly is Film Noir? Well, to put succinctly it’s a sub-genre of Hollywood crime dramas. They typically deal with dramas that an ordinary person gets into usually by a women called the femme fatale. Having studied the genre for the class, most of the films including this one are dynamic enough to be distinct with each other.
With Sunset Boulevard, I feel that the whole framing story is sort of a meta perspective of finding a job in Hollywood. The two main characters unintentionally come across each other in hoping of finding a way to get back to their main profession. Norma Desmond for instance was a silent film star but has become jaded of how everything in the Hollywood system has changed such as introducing sound.
She becomes the femme fatale when she wants Joe to help her fix her script. It’s interesting how this connection works in tandem with Joe using her to get a job and vice versa. The ultimate irony is that she believes that a director who worked with her wants to do a movie with her. Although, the fictionalized Cecil B. DeMille says to a producer that her script is trash and the real reason someone called is that they want to use her old car.
3. Hollywood
If you would allow me, I want to expand more on the Hollywood aspect since I feel that the point of the film is one of the brilliant things about it. The overall main idea of the film is that Hollywood is cruel, they move on. For Joe, he can’t produce a good script where the producer wants to alter it completely. Norma can’t understand that no one wants to work with her due to her prior experience of being difficult to any director.
I feel the only example of Hollywood allowing the new stars is with Betty. She can be interpreted as Joe’s earlier years being an ambitious screenwriter. While Joe is a complete cynic with her script when she elaborates more with his scripts. I think that Joe can’t stand anyone who challenges him or suggests a better idea than his. It has to do more with the jaded being jealous with the more up and coming talent arriving.
To be honest, it’s radical that Paramount allowed this type of self awareness to be shot and shown. There is an idea of Hollywood that is mostly any bright eye talent would instantly become washed out is something that no one wants to admit but is evident here. It’s commendable since Hollywood was at an age to have the idea of the stars become popular and to recognize just how far the silent film stars had lost. Albeit, for the purposes of the film, Norma is disillusioned by her prospect of being a star for the talking films.
4. Overall
This is another short review. I feel that I left out most of the good aspects due to wanting anyone who reads this to experience the film. Yes, it is black and white, but that should not be a turn off to anyone who wants to give this movie a shot or watch something they normally wouldn’t watch. It’s one of my favorites and I may include it with my next slate of favorite films.
Sunset Boulevard gets a five out of five.
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