The first film I consider one of the best film noirs is Sunset Boulevard. Sunset Boulevard was released in 1950 and was directed by none other than Billy Wilder. Joe Gillis is a down on his luck writer. His most recent script has just been rejected by Paramount Studios and he has some large depts to pay off, fearing his car being repossessed he hides it in the garage of a mansion on Sunset Boulevard. The mansion is in fact the residence of Norma Desmond a once loved silent movie star who lives with her ex-husband and butler Max. Norma wants to re-enter the world of showbiz and has a script she wants Joe to look at, she offers him cash upfront on condition he moves in with her. He accepts. When Norma tries to get closer to Joe they have a fight and this drives Joe off to his friends New Years party where he meets Betty Schaefer. Joe falls in love with Betty and tries to leave Norma who unfortunately shoots him in the back
Like many other Film Noirs the story is not told in chronological order, we start the film with Joe narrating his own death, the pessimistic themes throughout are apparent to the genre, murder, insanity, paranoia. There's Norma who is by far one of the most chilling femme fatales in all of noir. Low key lighting is used throughout the film especially when Joe first moves into the out house, the bulb is broken so it's too dark.
The second film I chose is Double Indemnity. This was released in 1944 and was directed again by Billy Wilder.
A successful insurance man, Walter Neff, has the unfortunate pleasure of meeting Phyllis Dietrichson, the wife of one of his clients, after a couple of meetings he suspects her of wanting to kill her husband for the insurance money but it's already too late, he has fallen for her and does the deed himself. As the investigator for Walters company becomes closer and closer to unveiling the truth, Walters and Phyllis relationship deteriorates, one night Walter meets Phyllis and tells her his investigator thinks it's someone else and tries to severe ties with her and the crime, she puts a bullet in his shoulder. Upon being shot Walter takes the gun from her and shoots her dead then heads to his office to admit his crimes.
We start the film with Walter telling us how he came to be a double murderer, he tells the events in a series of flashbacks occasionally cutting back to present time. Your bog standard characters, femme fatale, investigators, fall guy star in the action. When ever the characters are in the insurance offices the venetian blind effect is used to create an additional sense of paranoia for Walter.
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