Double Indemnity Character Analysis

1 There are two sides to every story. The characters in Billy Wilder’s Double Indemnity attempt to hide their true feelings to avoid dangerous consequences. Phyllis, for instance, comes across as innocent and somewhat languorous but as the plot unfolds, the viewer sees the cunning and ruthlessness inside of her with a touch of weakness. Through the choices these characters make and the actions they perform, their inner emotions are revealed, whether or not they want them to be seen.

Before we even learn the doomed tale of Walter or even physically meet him, we can get an idea that there is some sort of guilt involved from the opening sequence alone. We are taken to downtown Los Angeles and notice the erratic driving of a car from a long shot.

Save for the headlights and street lamps, the city is shadowy and bleak-looking, almost hidden. The viewer may question whether or not the lights – that eerily look similar to piercing eyes – are meant to be taken to represent a guilt-ridden or paranoid conscience that the driver of the car may be having. We soon see Walter enter and sit in the office and we still do not know exactly what he is there for. He could have forgotten an important document, or left his wallet, or had crucial news to report right away. He may be trying to give off the “tough guy” image by lighting his cigarette and hunching forward, but the high angle put on him as he’s reaching for the Dictaphone has the viewer understand that Neff is feeling vulnerable, nervous, or even in fear for his life. When we eventually learn of Walter’s situation and his involvement in Mr Dietrichson’s murder, we understand how vital it is to Walter that everything is kept under wraps. Initially, it seems that his secret has been perfectly concealed –until, that is, he notices Mr Jackson about to be called into Keyes’ office. Walter correctly knows not to let his facial expressions show his true horror towards a potential whistleblower, while he instead attempts to shift towards the right corner of the room and then to the left as Keyes is questioning the supposedly one-shot character. As Walter is on his last legs waiting for the police and ambulance with Keyes, there is an intimate distance between them. Despite clearly hearing Walter confess to committing murder and treachery, Keyes does not particularly shun him; telling from his forlorn face, it almost pains him to do so. Keyes himself may be feeling just as responsible for his comrade’s downfall as Walter is. A question is now up for debate: if Keyes had discovered the truth earlier on, would he have covered for Walter Neff?
Throughout the events of the film, Phyllis and Walter believe, or, rather, want to believe that they will leave their dilemmas triumphant. The viewer, however, can easily identify the ongoing breakdown of resilience occurring inside of them. The high angle on Neff looking up at Phyllis at the top of the stairs when they first portrays him as weak, in a sense –weak at the knees, that is. The cut to the low angle put on her adds to this as she is made up to be the dominating figure rather than Neff. The open blinds and windows in this “first encounter” scene represents Neff’s openness at becoming more interested in Mrs Dietrichson, whereas the medium shot of him closing the blinds at her home before getting shot signifies him giving in to whatever consequences as he realizes there is no way out of this predicament that he got himself into. As merciless and cruel Phyllis really is, she too suffers from weakness towards the end of the film. In the beginning, the first outfit we see her wear is an all-white dress but in all of her subsequent appearances, we notice that at least one part of her ensemble is black, serving as a shroud of some sort. It isn’t until the final confrontation where everything is falling apart that we see the return of the white dress worn by Phyllis, a desperate last attempt to recapture the “innocence” Neff initially saw in her. By now, though, the viewer, Neff, and Phyllis included know that it is too late. Wilder has the main characters depicted as truly weak in order to demonstrate how easily it is to succumb when you dive in head-first.
The deception committed by Neff and Phyllis reaffirms deceit as one of the leading themes of film noir, but through the cinematography the viewer is able to see through the illusion the main characters is casting over everyone else.

As Phyllis tells her sob story to Neff on his sofa, the light from the lamp is on one side of her face while a shadow takes on the other side. This “two-face” effect hints that she is not to be trusted. Seeing Lola dressed in white and Phyllis in black as they play backgammon further establishes their roles as the innocent “good girl” and the deceitful “femme fatale”, respectively. The frame in which Neff and Phyllis are watching Mr Dietrichson signing his so-called “car insurance” also provides examples of exposed trickery. The closed form of the shot tells the true motive just in that one frame: the positions of the three creates a physical love triangle, and the back-to-camera of Neff raises suspicions as to what he’ll plan next as Mr Dietrichson is truly signing his death

certificate.
Phyllis is the epitome of the femme fatale.

Under the persona of the abused and unhappy housewife, she manages to have Walter wrapped around her finger with no difficulty until the end. The snappy dialogue from her serves as bait for Neff’s attention as shown in the “There’s a speed limit in this state” bit. After she lets Neff in on her plot, we see him pacing back and forth in the dark of his apartment replaying it in his mind. He is debating his moral conflict until Phyllis comes in to “return his hat” and he turns the lights on; this is representing him giving in to the alluring woman. Meeting Neff at the grocery store to discuss the plan to kill her husband, Phyllis pretends to be nervous and afraid to carry out in order to confirm that Neff will fully commit to the murder. Driving her husband to the train station (and his inevitable death), a close-up and dominant contrast are put on her emotionless face as she has Mr Dietrichson believe that she will actually miss him when he leaves. Even when Walter has her figured out, Phyllis believes she has one more trick up her sleeve when she shoots him once but no more than that to try to convince him that she is remorseful.

Double Indemnity is one of the most perfect examples of film noir, in that the main characters commit the worst deeds that they could possibly do. However, that is not to say that there has been no underlying sentiment of guilt, vulnerability, treachery, and manipulation in the atmosphere. One may even argue

that what goes on underneath Walter, Phyllis, and even Keyes is more intriguing than what appears upfront.