Review of Double Indemnity (1944) by Nix V — 04 Mar 2010

These darkly lit corridors, these somnolent streets - they have in them some viscious crooked individuals. In Phyllis Dietrich, whose eyes shine in a restrained evil glow throughout(or is it evil? Is it something beyond that? Beyond comprehension?) the movie, you have an absoprbing femme fatale.

In Walter Nett, you have the soul of the movie, he is the director's voice, an individual stricken by the beauty of all kinds. And in Director Keys, you have your window into the world of post-war capitalism.

All the actors outdo each other, until you realize there isn't competition at all, you wanna remember them all. The cinematography is consistently absorbing, the use of light remarkably ahead of its time.

Let us not hide from the fact the central plot is flabby and could have shed a few pounds. The climax is a tad anti-climatic.(However, do watch out for the final scene where Nett finally crumbles down and with him, the music falls down in a heap, from a glorious cresendo to a broken orchestra.

) Leitmotifs abound. They all add up to a sensory and emotional treat. The less you try to admire it, the more you'll fall in love with it.