Review of The Killing (1956) by Kevin R — 06 Apr 2012

There are two types of heist films: one relies merely on the act of the robbery to hold the audience's attention, and the other explores the psychology and meticulous nature of planning a robbery. For me, I'm with Truffaut in naming Riffifi as the undisputed "king of the heist film," but The Killing is a great example of the latter. Sure, Sterling Hayden is as stiff and wooden as ever, but he is bailed out by an exemplary supporting cast (minus the awful Coleen Gray, who thankfully only really has one scene). And of course, there's Kubrick's show-stopping dolly shots, and his patented lighting schemes. What he lacked in Fear and Desire and Killer's Kiss, he perfected in The Killing. Getting this complete, assuredly paced film under his belt would go on to be the impetus for him to create some of the greatest cinematic achievements in the 20th century.

A lot has been made of the narration being sometimes irritating, that it carries a kind of B-movie police drama expository tone, and the information is too much. I would argue that the narration was necessary in establishing and maintaining the complex and non-sequential plot, and that the information is an interesting mold in the film's structure. It adds on a layer to that existentialist subtext, as every description makes it sounds like the narrator's a reporter looking back on the past events with a (detached) objectivity. Every aspect of the plan is on a rigid schedule (time of day is consistently highlighted throughout), but even the most stringent, meticulous of plans can't avoid the inevitable disruption of chance, luck, or in this case, fate.