Sunset Boulevard (1950)
Directed by: Billy Wilder
Written by: Charles Brackett, Billy Wilder, & D.M. Marshman, Jr.
Starring: William Holden & Gloria Swanson
Genre: Film Noir
Your assignment: First, post two comments (meaningful and including your initials) on other people's romance movie blog posts. Then, write a two-paragraph blog post about a movie you've seen outside of class that either features an unconventional detective/cop and/or a femme fatale (check your notes!).
Paragraph 1 should describe the plot of the film, including the characters, up until the inciting incident (no spoilers!). For instance: Sunset Boulevard follows Joe Gillis, an out-of-work screenwriter who tells us at the beginning of the film that he is dead and floating in a pool. Through an extended flashback, we watch him evade the police from repossessing his car to repay his debts and then ditch his car in what he thinks is an abandoned garage. It turns out, however, that the attached mansion is actually the residency of former silent film star Norma Desmond. When the two meet and Desmond finds out Gillis writes movies, she wants him to help her stage a comeback, as she has become a washed-up has-been ever since the film industry started working in sound and talking actors. What happens after the two join forces is an uncomfortable, twisted, and often dark tale of fame, strange love, and insanity.
Paragraph 2 should include your opinion of the film and answer the questions: How is the film dark and downbeat like film noir was when it first started out in the 1940s? Is the main character (the detective or the one who unravels the mystery) unconventional in a way that's entertaining and yet still believable? Is the female character a successful femme fatale, meaning does she lure both the viewer and the protagonist in only to turn out to be bad? Example: This movie is dark and downbeat in a much more subtle and unique way than your average film noir. Joe is not a gloomy detective or crooked cop, but both he and Norma show the underbelly of Hollywood for what it is - a merciless business in which the next best thing is always being sought after and many good souls get left behind. They're both essentially good people, but they're pushed to bizarre circumstances when neither of their lives are looking that great. Sure, from the beginning you see Norma as the much weirder of the two, but you never expect where the story is going or how much further Joe is going to let (or should let) Norma drag him into her isolated world of depression and delusion.
