Delving into the duplicitous world of 1950s America, Billy Wilder’s iconic noir film, Sunset Boulevard chronicles the downfall of down-and-out writer Joe Gillis and obsolete sweetheart of the bygone silent era, Norma Desmond. Infusing the despair behind the film industry’s pseudo-glamour, Wilder initially exposes the challenging and exploitative environment of Hollywood that pushes one to survive on its materialistic desires. Through disclosing the tragic entanglement of deceit and manipulation, he further laments how such struggles lead people to manipulate each other, ultimately their greed laying path towards their own downfall. Initially, Wilder sympathises with those surviving under Hollywood, whose exploitative force evokes selfishness …show more content…
Following Joe’s foreboding dream of an “organ grinder and a monkey dancing for pennies,” Wilder captures the gloved hand of Max, overpowering Joe in size. This alludes to Joe replacing Norma’s deceased chimp, becoming a prisoner of the “peculiar prison of hers”. Eventually losing his agency, Joe is trained to amuse Norman as he later says “she taught me fancy tango steps.” This scene is ironic considering Joe initially believes that his sweet-talking Norma to hire him was his “little plan” that Norma “snapped at”. However, Wilder underscores how both Norma’s side and Joe fighting to manipulate each other stems from their own ambition—Norma’s desire for a “return” and a token of eternal love, and Joe, to protect his car, a symbol of his freedom. In turn, they become vulnerable to each other’s deception. Likewise, “becoming a fan” of her old movie, Norma’s fervent cry, “those imbeciles!” towards those transitioning from the talkies to sound era of filmmaking demonstrates her delusional belief that the end of silent era has ‘strangled the business.” Her accusation and disapproval of current actresses saying “there’s nobody like that anymore,” is a prime result of Max continuously “feeding her lies” making her “[sleepwalk] on the giddy heights of While Max seems to drive Norma into delusionment, Norma simmering down embraced by the spotlight formed by the projector is also a reminder that Norma’s dream to maintain her stardom makes her vulnerable to the deceptions around her. Hence, Wilder contends that everybody lies to each other to achieve their dream, and yet are victims of their own deceptive
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
Film noir, by translation alone, means dark film, and by that measurement Sunset Boulevard certainly fits the genre. A gloomy story that follows a jaded and sarcastic protagonist, Joe Gillis from his initial dire circumstances to his untimely death, Sunset Blvd. earns the description “dark” several times over. But there is more to film noir than crushingly depressing plotlines. There are common motifs and icons that are found in most film noirs, such as crime, dark alleys, guns and alcohol. Deeper
Delving into the duplicitous world of 1950s America, Billy Wilder’s iconic noir film Sunset Boulevard chronicles the downfall of down-and-out screenwriter Joe Gillis and an obsolete sweetheart of the bygone silent era, Norma Desmond. By infusing the harsh reality behind the film industry, the film embraces the despair behind Hollywood’s pseudo-glamour, portraying it as a force taking advantage of innocent dreams of success using fame as a bait. Through disclosing the entanglement of deceit and control
Billy Wilder’s iconic film noir, Sunset Boulevard chronicles the downfall of a down-and-out screenwriter, Joe Gillis, and an obsolete sweetheart of the bygone silent era, Norma Desmond. Infusing the harsh reality of the filming industry, Wilder exposes Hollywood’s deceptive image that drives individuals to strive for unobtainable success and fame. Through further embracing the grief behind such pseudo-grandeur Hollywood, Wilder conveys that individuals resort to manipulation forming fantasy for each