Review of Double Indemnity (1944) by Gavin S — 08 Aug 2012
The beginning of Film Noir, and the template for every film that followed it in the same genre. A normal enough insurance man (MacMurray) is led astray by the quintessential femme fatale (Stanwyk) with all her feminine wiles.
The voice over from the start by the lead character, the crimes, the adultery, the scams. The insurance man's associate who just doesn't buy it (a fantastic Edward G. Robinson), and black and white cinematography at it's finest.
Is so much stronger for what it doesn't show than what it does. Billy Wilder's first huge success, ushered in his run of stone cold classics. This is as important as nearly any American Film for the possibilities it offered for everyone who followed and copied/echoed it.
MacMurray was a great choice for the lead, as he is quite easily believable as an honest man gone wrong "I did it for the money, did it for the girl". I definitely saw parallels between this and Dostoevsky's Crime & Punishment in the way the aftermath of the crime and the guilt and conscience eats at Neff and Raskolnikov.
A fascinating study at what drives people to crimes, and what it does to them.
This review of Double Indemnity (1944) was written by Gavin S on 08 Aug 2012.
Double Indemnity has generally received very positive reviews.
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