Review of The Killing (1956) by Sam S — 02 Aug 2011

Already one of my new favorite noirs. The influence this had on Tarantino for Reservoir Dogs is quite obvious. And the mask: I'm thinking that was an influence on the masks in the beginning of The Dark Knight. It's hard not to love something like The Killing. The femme fatale is a huge b-word, George is a hate-able guy even though you still kind of hope something good will happen to him, the buildup is intense, and there are constant thrills for the payoff. Johnny is a normal enough guy who can't seem to go straight. He just came back from prison, but he is ready to do his next con. His character reminded me of a less good version of Danny Ocean. I don't mean his character wasn't well crafted, I mean his spirit is in the wrong place. Johnny has planned every single detail down to the minute, and everything runs like clockwork. The only problem is that he trusts George. The problem with George is that he trusts his wife. We know she has a man on the side even before we see him. Come on, she is the femme fatale after all, she can't just be mean to him. Kubrick also plays around with the time in the film. We see the shooting of the horse happen before the time actually comes up, then we can pick up on the scene through the commentator of the race. Lucien Ballard shoots the film like he has been ready to shoot the most thrilling noir of all time. When George comes into the room with blood on him is the coolest shot of the film, and one friggin great moment. You know the b-word is screwed.

**SPOILERS**.

The ending with the little dog running in front of the car and making the bag come down and the money fly out is perfect. I laughed while I was also ticked. I didn't want them to succeed, but in some ways I did. They are the lead characters by the way. And the scene when George shoots his wife's lover is something straight out of Reservoir Dogs. We don't know who killed who after that, all we know is that everyone is dead except for George. It was a bloodbath. The Killing is brilliant. I love film noirs, and this one deserves to be towards the top of the list.