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Gonna be posting abt noir movies I've watched and enjoyed. It is, after all, is my faaaaaaaaaaaaave film genre. FWIW, I'm much more familiar and knowledgeable of USian movies, so that's what you'll see the most of w/r/t these posts. One of my goals for the next year is to dive into noir films that aren't from the US.
I have more than enough noir film posts for this to continue up to mid-December at the v. least. Which would make it Noircember, then? I don't know.
Kicking things off with one of the most well-known and loved movies in the genre: Gilda. Ppl either know of this movie via Rita Hayworth gifs or have heard/seen her perform "Blame It on Mame". Even if you haven't seen it, though, it's v. likely you're aware of it in a way that transcends past the cinematic bubble
Released in 1946, this Columbia Pictures film stars Rita Hayworth as Gilda, Glenn Ford as Johnny Farrell, and George Macready as Ballin Mundson.
Shortly before the end of WW II, Johnny is in Argentina trying to figure out what he's going to do with his life. While in the middle of being robbed, Johnny is saved by the v. suave-yet-aloof Mundson. The latter takes a shining to Johnny; he likes him so much that he makes Johnny into his right hand man/closest confidante in a v. short time. They're SUPER CLOSE. That is, until Mundson has to go away for plotty reasons.
When he comes back, he's married to Gilda. Johnny is hostile toward her for no apparent reason. Meanwhile, Gilda doesn't like her new husband's closeness to Johnny. Mundson is trying to keep the peace between them with little success…
There is also a plot around these three characters, but that's not the true focus of the story for me. I watch it for the dynamic between all three. The way that Mundson and Johnny, erm, connect; Johnny and Gilda's weird animosity + attraction to each other; Mundson and Gilda's possessiveness (one sided, imo) disguised as playfulness. There's this delicious frisson between all three, sometimes for the better, oftentimes not. To the point that you can't tell which is the character whose fortune will be completely reversed (per flm noir's conventions.)
The whole thing abt Johnny and Mundson is FASCINATING. Their moments together have a lot of nuances to them both when it's just the two of them and after Gilda comes into their lives. Adding to that, there's an extra layer that, depending on your own values and opinions, is a bit perverse at worst and kinky at best.
jealousy mixed with ongoing quasi-infidelity. It's not cuckholding cuz no one is happy abt this. But, okay, so Gilda (in order to rile Johnny up) decides to end up in situations that lean v. heavily into her being unfaithful to Mundson (her actual!husband). Mundson is an extremely jealous character; Johnny takes it upon himself to hide Gilda's indiscretions as much as he can (before HE ends up being he one being caught making out with Gilda); Gilda's having as much of a good time as she can causing chaos and trying to be cute abt it.
As for what makes it a noir, the movie does touch on themes such as fate, the criminal underground, a femme fatale, I'm going to throw in Johnny as a proto-homme fatale, and some aspects of cinematography.
Good casting and acting all around.
Do I have any critiques?
It's not that I don't like the ending, but I wasn't thrilled abt it either.
Do I recommend it?
I do! If you watch it thru a subtext lens, you'll probably enjoy it. Same if you watch it without it.
Watched it on YouTube for free as it is available this month if you have YouTube Premium. Otherwise, you can watch it via one of the free apps (I wanna say Tubi?). Plus I know that I've seen it added to Hoopla at least 2 times this year. If not, you can always rent it. At worst, if you have Turner Classic Movies, it gets added to the rotation on a regular-lish basis.
I'm giving this movie a solid 4 stars out of 5.
Queerness Level*: It's QUITE HIGH w/r/t Ballin Mundson specifically. Everything from his affectation to his cane (that is used in semi-subtextual phallic meanings) and, ofc, his bond with Johnny. Those two have SOMETHING going on that isn't spelled out. And, without the queer factor, a lot of their interactions truly make zero sense.
THAT SAID, Ballin is not worth rooting for. IDK.
* I'd totally forgotten that queer subtext IS part of noirs (there are a lot of gal pals and lavender fellas whether the filmmakers meant to include that or not). And so I'm adding my opinion on whether or not a viewer will be able to pick up on queer themes.
I have more than enough noir film posts for this to continue up to mid-December at the v. least. Which would make it Noircember, then? I don't know.
Kicking things off with one of the most well-known and loved movies in the genre: Gilda. Ppl either know of this movie via Rita Hayworth gifs or have heard/seen her perform "Blame It on Mame". Even if you haven't seen it, though, it's v. likely you're aware of it in a way that transcends past the cinematic bubble
Released in 1946, this Columbia Pictures film stars Rita Hayworth as Gilda, Glenn Ford as Johnny Farrell, and George Macready as Ballin Mundson.
Shortly before the end of WW II, Johnny is in Argentina trying to figure out what he's going to do with his life. While in the middle of being robbed, Johnny is saved by the v. suave-yet-aloof Mundson. The latter takes a shining to Johnny; he likes him so much that he makes Johnny into his right hand man/closest confidante in a v. short time. They're SUPER CLOSE. That is, until Mundson has to go away for plotty reasons.
When he comes back, he's married to Gilda. Johnny is hostile toward her for no apparent reason. Meanwhile, Gilda doesn't like her new husband's closeness to Johnny. Mundson is trying to keep the peace between them with little success…
There is also a plot around these three characters, but that's not the true focus of the story for me. I watch it for the dynamic between all three. The way that Mundson and Johnny, erm, connect; Johnny and Gilda's weird animosity + attraction to each other; Mundson and Gilda's possessiveness (one sided, imo) disguised as playfulness. There's this delicious frisson between all three, sometimes for the better, oftentimes not. To the point that you can't tell which is the character whose fortune will be completely reversed (per flm noir's conventions.)
The whole thing abt Johnny and Mundson is FASCINATING. Their moments together have a lot of nuances to them both when it's just the two of them and after Gilda comes into their lives. Adding to that, there's an extra layer that, depending on your own values and opinions, is a bit perverse at worst and kinky at best.
It involves an aspect of
jealousy mixed with ongoing quasi-infidelity. It's not cuckholding cuz no one is happy abt this. But, okay, so Gilda (in order to rile Johnny up) decides to end up in situations that lean v. heavily into her being unfaithful to Mundson (her actual!husband). Mundson is an extremely jealous character; Johnny takes it upon himself to hide Gilda's indiscretions as much as he can (before HE ends up being he one being caught making out with Gilda); Gilda's having as much of a good time as she can causing chaos and trying to be cute abt it.
As for what makes it a noir, the movie does touch on themes such as fate, the criminal underground, a femme fatale, I'm going to throw in Johnny as a proto-homme fatale, and some aspects of cinematography.
Good casting and acting all around.
Do I have any critiques?
It's not that I don't like the ending, but I wasn't thrilled abt it either.
Do I recommend it?
I do! If you watch it thru a subtext lens, you'll probably enjoy it. Same if you watch it without it.
Watched it on YouTube for free as it is available this month if you have YouTube Premium. Otherwise, you can watch it via one of the free apps (I wanna say Tubi?). Plus I know that I've seen it added to Hoopla at least 2 times this year. If not, you can always rent it. At worst, if you have Turner Classic Movies, it gets added to the rotation on a regular-lish basis.
I'm giving this movie a solid 4 stars out of 5.
Queerness Level*: It's QUITE HIGH w/r/t Ballin Mundson specifically. Everything from his affectation to his cane (that is used in semi-subtextual phallic meanings) and, ofc, his bond with Johnny. Those two have SOMETHING going on that isn't spelled out. And, without the queer factor, a lot of their interactions truly make zero sense.
THAT SAID, Ballin is not worth rooting for. IDK.
* I'd totally forgotten that queer subtext IS part of noirs (there are a lot of gal pals and lavender fellas whether the filmmakers meant to include that or not). And so I'm adding my opinion on whether or not a viewer will be able to pick up on queer themes.
