Double Indemnity: A Tale of One City

Adapted from the novella written by James M. Cain, Double Indemnity is a melodramatic film noir that highlights the conflict its characters face through adultery and murder which develops from the dissatisfaction and alienation that arose in the era of modernity as shown in most noir films. Unlike most noir films, Double Indemnity set the bar in terms of structural themes to follow and elements that eventually came to be considered essential in the noir genre. The film was seen to be a full embodiment of what the genre should be. Double Indemnity is an archetypal noir film, which portrays noir elements through its style, the characters, its writers’ backstory and the history of Los Angeles, the city in which it is set. This essay will examine how Los Angeles is integrated not only into the location but also into the storyline of the characters and their motivations but also the filmmakers’ lives. It does this through characteristic noir motifs like “the urban cultural landscape, the lack of rootedness of the characters, and the self-deceptions that center their world” (p. 437) affect the protagonists in the film. Double Indemnity’s use of Los Angeles as its primary location exposes the innate decadence and decay of the city through film noir stylistic elements. Billy Wilder directed Double Indemnity and the film became the archetypal noir film because it embodied all the characteristics of a typical noir film, which include “claustrophobia, paranoia, despair and nihilism” (Place and Peterson, p. 327) course kit source. Los Angeles, the city used primarily as the location in the film becomes not merely a backdrop but a character in the film through its physical and implied characteristics. The context through the stories of Wild...

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...was all along. This was using Neff to get what she wanted and either killing or abandoning him. We see Keyes experience self-delusion. He prides himself on being able to detect fraud and even though he got most of everything, right in the Dietrichson he did not see what was right in front of him. His delusion allowed him to not see Neff as a possible suspect. Through these examples we see how their self-delusions end up being the cause of their downfall at the end of the story.

In conclusion, Double Indemnity makes Los Angeles not just a background but a character in its own right. It depicts the story of Los Angeles through its storyline, characters, filmmakers’ lives and the stylistic elements used in the film. Finally, Double Indemnity is an archetypal noir film because it not only embodies suspense, intrigue and murder but uses Los Angeles to full realization.