Sunset Boulevard (Wilder 1950) explores the intermingling of public and private realms, puncturing the illusion of the former and unveiling the grim and often disturbing reality of the latter. By delving into the personal delusions of its characters and showing the devastation caused by disrupting those fantasies, the film provides not only a commentary on the industry of which it is a product but also a shared anxiety about the corrupting influence of external perception. Narrated by a dead man
The main character in Sunset Boulevard is Joe Gillis played by William Holden. Joe is the protagonist of the film because he is a primary character who is pursuing a goal. His goal when he meets Norma Desmond is to finally end his financial woes. He couldn’t pay for the car he had and once he was with Norma he had everything he ever wanted. But with Joe being in a relationship just to be living in a big mansion and the clothes he got free didn’t satisfy him. In the first half of the film Joe was
This was not my first time viewing Sunset Boulevard. I once watched it in my high school English class and enjoyed it very much. Sunset Boulevard’s main plot was about Norma Desmond, a silent-screen “goddess“ whose pathetic belief in her own indestructibility has turned her into a demented loner, who falls in love with Joe Gillis, a small-time writer who later on becomes her lover. Their relationship, which rarely leaves the walls of the crumbling Sunset Boulevard mansion where they live with only
Sunset Boulevard Billy Wilder’s “Sunset Boulevard” is a 1950’s film about famous, but forgotten, Norma Desmond, a silent film star, who has been living in exile, in her gloomy rundown mansion. William Holden stars as Joe Gillis, a struggling Hollywood screenwriter looking for work with no success. During a car chase between Joe Gillis, and the repo men who are after his car, his tires blow out leaving him stranded in Desmond’s deserted mansion. Desmond spends her time watching her old films, dreaming
theoretically cast away in a dark rainy alley, like bag of garbage or a typical film-noire hero. Sunset Boulevard is a satisfyingly humorous film-noire film about the inner workings of the vicious “jungle”, that one would know of as Hollywood. It was perhaps the purposely over acted antics of antagonist Norma Desmond (Gloria Swanson), that makes Billy Wilder’s black comedy so memorable. Sunset Boulevard fits the definition of film-noire thanks to Wilder’s use of the typical film-noire style characters
The film Sunset Boulevard, presented in 1950 is a black and white film. The film is about Norma Desmond an old actress, who has issues accepting that she is becoming old. The main actor in the film is Gloria Swanson, who plays Norma Desmond, an older woman who believes she is still young. Desmond is not content with the fact that Hollywood has replaced her with younger actresses. The next actor Nancy Olson, plays Betty Schaffer who falls in love with Gillis despite being engaged to his friend. The
Sunset Boulevard Revisited When the film Sunset Boulevard premiered in Hollywood in 1950, the picture caused a riot in the theatre after the feature finished. Director Billy Wilder commented, “I’ve never seen so many prominent people at once – the word was out that this was a stunner, you see. After the picture ended there were violent reactions, from excitement to pure horror”(May 570). Wilder did whatever he could to keep the plot of Sunset Boulevard a secret outside of the walls of Paramount
achievement, but an individual recognized for his/her reputation created by the media. The phase of stardom is slippery, and media may choose to represent celebrities varying from exaggerated admiration to mockery. The three texts chosen, movie "Sunset Boulevard", feature article "Over the Hilton" and television show "Celebrity Uncensored Six" are texts presenting different perception of celebrities than their usual images - either corrupted by the encircling media, overloads oneself with self-indulgence
The Embittered Older Woman in Great Expectations, A Rose for Emily, and Sunset Boulevard The character of the delusional, embittered older woman is prevalent in literature and movies. Since Dickens created the memorable Miss Havisham in Great Expectations, she has evolved with the times into many other well-known characters, including Miss Emily in Faulkner's "A Rose for Emily" and Norma Desmond in the film Sunset Boulevard. In each of these incarnations, the woman seeks revenge after a man's
From the lavish mansions of Hollywood stars to the cigarette smoke filled offices of broke screenwriters, the 1950 noir movie Sunset Boulevard remains a timeless classic with a stunning story of an actress gone mad, and a screenwriter just trying to squeak by. This film is the first pre-1960’s flick that has left me with a feeling of awe. The first word that comes to mind after the credits begin to roll is just“wow!”. I was struck by the intriguing plotline and brilliant execution of the story. Not
Since the advent of Hollywood, the media has promoted the benefits and exclusivity of enjoying a lavish and decadent lifestyle. In Billy Wilder’s sardonic and confronting noir film, Sunset Boulevard, the director focuses on how exciting, but also how destructive, it can be to seek wealth and an affluent lifestyle. Through his portrayal of a former film star and a burgeoning writer, he explores the vast influence of celebrity and fame, and how easily people can become lured into the cut-throat world
world too. So they opened their big mouths and out came talk. Talk! TALK!” (Sunset Boulevard). The film Sunset Boulevard directed by Billy Wilder focuses on a struggling screen writer who is hired to rewrite a silent film star’s script leading to a dysfunctional and fatal relationship. Sunset Boulevard is heavily influenced by the history of cinema starting from the 1930s to 1950 when the film was released. Sunset Boulevard was released in 1950; five years after WWII. Five years after WWII, the cold
Discuss ‘The film is a warning about the dangers of obsessive ambition and fame.’ Discuss. Billy Wilder portrays Hollywood as a toxic entity in his 1950 film noir, Sunset Boulevard. It follows protagonist Joe Gillis, a struggling yet ambitious screenwriter as he stumbles into the garden of Old Hollywood actress, Norma Desmond, whose grand mansion shields her from reality. Wilder uses his film to caution the audience and those within the film industry about the perilous consequences of excessive
Film Analysis Essay Sunset Boulevard is a hollywood classic film that digs into the aftermath of the sound era caused. Sunset blvd came out on August 10, 1950. The film was directed by Billy Wilder, produced by Charles Brackett, and starred William Holden and Gloria Swanson. Sunset blvd shows us the aftermath of Norma Desmond and how she is stuck in the past of silent hollywood. The darkness and bitterness that many silent movie experienced after they were kicked to the curb once sound came. The
in a semi documentary style these movies are based on real events, usually crime or espionage, they are set in urban areas and deliberately have a realistic feel, many are film in location where the actual took take place in real life. Ex: in Sunset Boulevard, the body of Joe Gillis floats in the swimming pool. In a flashback, Joe relates the events leading to his death. Voices over are common this is due to the popularity of Freudian thought at the time, the voice over narration and introspection
Hollywood's transition from silent pictures to talkies; with his film Sunset Boulevard. Sunset Boulevard is a 1950 American classic film noir, starring Gloria Swanson (Norma Desmond), William Holden (Joe Gillis), and Erich Von Stroheim (Butler Max).
Sunset Boulevard: A Film Analysis Sunset Boulevard is a film noir movie shot in 1950. It tells the story of a washed up silent movie star Norma Desmond from the 30s trying to gain her fame with the help of a screenwriter by the name of Joseph Gillis. Even though this story mainly focuses on Desmond, it is told in the eyes of Gillis in past tense. The whole movie is told as a flashback. Sunset Boulevard is characterized by its symbolic usage of light, complementary main characters, camera angles
as the romantic comedy, giving us such classics as Bringing up Baby and His Girl Friday. The war film gave us All Quiet on the Western Front and Paths of Glory. The western gave us Stagecoach and The Searchers. Film Noir gave us such films as Sunset Boulevard and Chinatown. The one modern film genre not existing prior to 1959 was that of the modern action film whose entrance as a genre was inaugurated with the release of Hitchcock’s psychopolitical thriller North by Northwest, starring Cary Grant
The Culture of Hollywood Overview A new edition to the course lineup, this week's film classic, Sunset Boulevard. This film will focus on the culture and environment of the Hollywood studio system that produces the kind of motion pictures that the whole world recognizes as "Hollywood movies." There have been many movies from the silent era to the present that either glamorize or vilify the culture of Hollywood, typically focusing on the celebrities (both in front of and behind the camera) who populate
Sunset Boulevard is a classic film noir with all the noir likings and tropes present. I will focus on three characteristics of film noir and how they manifest in this film and our post-1970 film. Most noirs found themselves to greatly take place at night or maybe a back alley or dimly lit rooms or maybe the PI’s office or a bar. The lighting in these films is the most noticeable as they greatly utilized low-key lighting. Low-key lighting is a lighting technique used to create a chiaroscuro effect