DOUBLE INDEMNITY

Billy Wilder's 1944 classic, "Double Indemnity", is considered by many to be the quintessence Film Noir. With its low-lit city setting and circularly structured narrative, it makes use of stylistic elements which are characteristic of the movement. I myself would have to think long and hard to decide between this film and "The Third Man" to decide which is truly the ultimate example of Noir, but nonetheless "Double Indemnity" gives viewers plenty of insight into why this style of filmmaking is one of the most beloved and replicated in the history of cinema.

To observe what is perhaps the strongest example of Noir style in the film, one needs only to look deeply into the picture's two major characters and the roles that they play in the conspiracy at hand. Fred MacMurray's Walter Neff is an archetypal Film Noir protagonist. From the moment viewers are introduced to him, he is conflicted, stressed, and clearly ill-equipped to handle whatever circumstances the film is yet to reveal to its audience. As Neff works through his detailed, outright confession in the form of an office memo to his employer Barton Keyes, the motives for his involvement in the elaborate murder of the wealthy Mr. Diethrichson are unveiled.  His statement, "I killed him for money, and a woman, and I didn't get the money and I didn't get the woman", reveals what is true of many male protagonists in Film Noir; the shallow temptations of greed and lust have led him to a complete moral crumbling. Neff is a prime example of the way many men of 1930s, 1940s, and 1950s were shown in films like these as easily manipulated and dishonestly motivated.

Equally important, in her last lines of dialogue, Phyllis Dietrichson divulges the reality of her character to Walter Neff, telling him, "No, I never loved you, Walter, not you or anybody else. I'm rotten to the heart. I used you just as you said. That's all you ever meant to me." Just as Neff is a prime example of men in Film Noir, Phyllis embodies the genre's classic "femme fatale" role. As beautiful as she is deceitful, it is her allure that leads to all of the sexual tensions and eventual irredeemable actions committed by the characters. Like many films of the 1940s and 1950s, she seems to warn viewers of an untrustworthy nature of beautiful women like her.

Even the supporting figures in the film are essentially stock characters which are often seen in Noir films. Barton Keyes is the familiar high-ranking, straight talking, cigar smoking businessman, and Lola Dietrichson is a young, naïve, out-of-element beauty. While we often see characters like these in older crime and mystery films, and truthfully none of the performances in "Double Indemnity" rank among history's greatest acting jobs, the way that these characters are presented seems to transport the audience to the old world for the 30's and 40's for the duration of the film.

While there are many beliefs about what spurred the Film Noir movement, such as the tensions of the Post-War world and increasing European influence in American culture during the time, "Double Indemnity" is more a study of character than anything else. Walter Neff and Phyllis Dietrichson are equally pathetic and equally subjugated by their respective temptations. Neither of the film's main characters is a hero, and as I see it, they are both bored, trapped individuals who turn to elaborate crime to spice up their daily lives. They treat the murder case as a sort of game, which often shrouds the fact that its a brutal, violent, psychopathic deed that they take part in. We are not meant to feel sorry for either of them.

Of course, being a seminal piece of Film Noir, the movie is riddled with smoky, low lit rooms, foreboding city jazz, and weighty, symbolic camera angles. Billy Wilder succeeds in combining these elements of undeniable filmmaking charm with a story nearly as fascinating as its visuals. It is a testament to the daring beauty of Film Noir and its pioneers that "Double Indemnity" remains a universally admired masterpiece.

RATING: 8.1/10