Review of The Killing (1956) by Victor T — 07 Aug 2015

After two films that have been forgotten as the decades pass by, Stanley Kubrick meet producer James B Harris and the duo managed to create a film that would represent the beginning of a legend and one of the most influential films of all time: "The Killing".

Johnny Clay is a veteran criminal who plans to make one last heist before retiring and marrying, he plans to steal two million dollars from a horsetrack with the help of some minor criminals.

Most lovers of the seventh art consider "Paths of Glory" the beginning of the masterful Stanley Kubrick as we know, but I have to disagree with that statement. For me, that honor goes to this underrated heist film. "The Killing" counts with solid performances with the highlights being Sterling Hayden as a charismatic criminal, the camera movements are impeccable, the use of music is excellent, a solid screenplay, an innovating (for the time being) use of fracture storytelling, memorable characters (the ones we get two know), a suspenseful vibe, the built up is so masterfully done that you will be leaning to the screen as the film progresses, powerful and sometimes poetic dialog that provide an extra amount of power to certain scenes; the pacing is adequately fast, and an appropriate and extremely memorable ending. The big issue this film has is its narration. Sure, it helped the 50´s audience to understand the innovative time fracture storytelling but it s not a hard film to follow so it is pretty unnecessary and takes away any ambiguity.

"The Killing" is a film that despite the fact it is a product of the 1950´s, it has everything that's need to endure the test of time. It is undeniably the first masterpiece made by Stanley Kubrick and one of the best heist films ever put to film. It is astonishing how quickly Kubrick learned the art of filmmaking.