The opening
credits scene for Double Indemnity was ingeniously done. The opening
score of course sets the tone of the movie however without the image of the
dark figure of a man hobbling with crutches towards you, one could not come to
the conclusion, which is an immediate and strong indication of the man with the
crutch’s fate. The word vulnerability comes to my mind when seeing this image
of this man. Which brings up questions like who is being depicted in this
scene? Whose vulnerability are we seeing? These questions are what make this
scene powerful. Is it Mr.Nirdlinger/Dietrichson or Walter Huff/Neff vulnerability?
I could understand many stating it is Mr. Nirdlinger/Dietrichson walking
towards you because after all he is the one that has the broken leg and is the
one that gets killed. However, I believe it is Walter dressed as Mr.
Nirdlinger/Dietrichson , simply because this novel and film is about him. So it
would make more sense for his vulnerability to be displayed in the beginning of
the movie. Which is why I think that placing this faceless man in the beginning
of the movie is so ingenious, making the audience ask why is this man with
crutches being depicted during the credits? The visual impact
of this scene is fitting for the movie because, even if you had not read
the novel, the symbol of a man with crutches means the film is going to be
about this vulnerable looking man.
The way you are being told the story through
the criminal eyes makes this flashback technique dramatic. The flashback
technique builds a relationship between the criminal and the audience, kind of
like when you meet someone and them talking to you, you get to know them, which
makes the audience more sympathetic and even begin rooting for him to get away
with his crimes. In this film the flashback was required since the opening
scene started with Walter with a bullet hole and needing to know the events
that lead to his known fate. The impending doom and the all-knowing narrator
are what help support the need for flashbacks and are characteristics of film
noirs. The gloomy feel from this technique used in this film is what made it a
film noir.
I really like what you were saying about how the flashback technique is used. I did not really think too much about how you start to connect to the character and root for him, but that is definitely true. I found myself feeling sympathetic for him even though I knew he was going to die. Film noir uses so many techniques that draw the viewer in and I think that the flashback technique is one of its more prominent qualities. I also agree that the opening of the movie shows the viewer that someone will be getting hurt and someone is very vulnerable. We do not know who it is right away but we can only assume as soon as the movie starts that it is Walter.
ReplyDeleteDenise, I agree with you about the first person narration flashback technique made the story dramatic. It did feel like we were drawn into Walter’s world, identifying with him and at the same time feel sympathy towards him. Even though we knew he was a criminal, this type of narration made it where I view his demise more as a tragic fall rather than a collapse of evil. I also liked how you emphasized the idea of vulnerability in the opening credits. I agree with you that the character is Walter himself and as we saw it throughout the movie, he was the character that was the most vulnerable.
ReplyDelete