Review of The Killing (1956) by Jeff Q — 13 Jul 2009

The Killing is a crime based noir thriller that happens to be one of the first directorial efforts of the one and only Stanley Kubrick. The fast paced and airtight story portrayed by an impeccable cast is only surpassed by the direction of Kubrick himself. This noir doesn?t go the route of the wide shot and instead takes us right in tight to the seedy characters and uses shadows to effectively create an anxious atmosphere.

Much like Reservoir Dogs tells the story of everything except the crime, The Killing does the same, only 4 decades sooner. Likewise the non-linear story provides the background story and character development in an original and electrifying method, along with generating suspense in droves. Kubrick who also penned the adapted screenplay clearly demonstrated his genius very early in his career.