Review of The Long Goodbye (1973) by Stuart B — 23 Apr 2011
âYeah, I event lost my cat.â?
The Long Goodbye is a neo-noir every bit as grand as Chinatown. Noir is always foremost about the mood and atmosphere before delving into complex plot. There is no difference with this film as ever so slowly things become ever more convoluted and it becomes hard to track individual characters motivations. The crooked cops help make Marloweâ(TM)s world feel claustrophobic. The Altman touch adds much needed humour to the grimy world Marlow finds himself in. The hippy neighbours! The impressionist security guard! The dogs copulating! The doctor! The harmonica!
Marlowe wanders the film with no partner and much is dealt with in a voyeuristic manner. This is certainly handled well without the need to plant a character with him solely for the purpose of articulating the plot. In Marlowe is a man living in disconnect, his 40â(TM)s self is supplanted in the 70â(TM)s and finding the world quite distant from him. This meta aspect is handled extremely well, never forced on the audience and never devolving into self-parody. It is a great lead performance only undone somewhat by Altmanâ(TM)s hideous sound mixing.
Bursts of violence also punctuate the film. Augustineâ(TM)s battery of his mistress is truly hard to watch. The death of Wade is also a peak to the film in its immediacy. In fact in Augustine exists one of the most insane villains put to celluloid. His demands to get naked in his office is quite a delight. And in the same scene exists Arnie as a low-level thug. What a find!
As good as the film is, the meandering style does wear ever so slightly tiresome. However this need never have been concerned as one of the great endings is delivered, followed by a reference to The Third Man. Marlowe for the first time acts out of character, but this also suggests his 40â(TM)s persona would never survive as a knight of pureness in the 70â(TM)s.
And really, a $5,000 note is something you really donâ(TM)t want falling out of your pants. Certainly not during an interrogation.
This review of The Long Goodbye (1973) was written by Stuart B on 23 Apr 2011.
The Long Goodbye has generally received very positive reviews.
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