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Where The Sidewalk Ends Film Analysis

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Film noir is a style of filmmaking that began after World War 2, and it focused on darker themes and settings. Most commonly, this style of film is set in a city with rampant crime and corruption, with the characters and protagonist being morally ambiguous. Where the sidewalk ends was created in this style with its stylistic choices and its focus on settings with police corruption, an anti-hero protagonist, and a femme fatale.

The film Where the Sidewalk Ends directed by Otto Preminger is a film noir that was praised for its even grittier take on this style of filmmaking. In this film the protagonist (Detective Dixon) kills Ken Paine in self defense while interrogating him due to his expected involvement in an earlier murder. Dixon drops Ken’s …show more content…

This shows that he is an extremely flawed character as he is being dishonest and destructive to those around him. In terms of film noir, this flaw both drives the plot of the film and portrays him as an antihero. This is a commonality between most films in this style as they often present a darker view on the world.

A second element that this film uses is a femme fatale who tempts the hero away from their goals and eventually helps to cause their downfall. The femme fatale in this film is Morgan Taylor, as she was unwillingly involved in the first murder, as well as causing Dixon to try to deflect blame off her father when this had a chance to expose him. However, Morgan is a variant on this archetype as she generally is unaware of the effect she has on others.

Near the beginning of the film Morgan is watching a gambling game. She wants to leave, however one of the men there tries to force her to stay so that another person will stay and lose more money. She leaves anyway, and this angers two of the men until one of them snaps and kills the other. In this example, Morgan acts as the unwilling subject of the argument between the two men. Though she is not tempting the protagonist in this case, she still demonstrates some of the qualities of a film noir femme fatale in this scene, resulting in someone’s death partially because of her

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Released September 29, 1950, Sunset Boulevard is a film noir of a forgotten silent film star, Norma Desmond, that dreams of a comeback and an unsuccessful screenwriter, Joe Gillis, working together. Ultimately an uncomfortable relationship evolves between Norma and Joe that Joe does not want a part of. Sunset Boulevard starts off with an establishing shot from a high angle shot with a narrative leading to a crime scene shot in long shot (a dead body is found floating in a pool). The narrative throughout the film established a formalist film. Cinematography John F. Seitz used lighting and camera angles in such a way to create a loneliness and hopefulness atmosphere.

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He tries to forgive himself but he cannot, no matter how hard he tries. The heroic characteristics as well as the flaw leads him to be a tragic hero. On top of his road to self discovery he must deal with the ever declining social structure of the town. He tries to stand out as an honest resistor to the hangings, which ultimately leads to his

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However, when Joe is visiting another scriptwriter in the night, secretly and against Norma's wishes the style becomes much darker and much more shadowy. This again helps to back up the point of Joe being the central noir figure. An unusual noir in both style and content, much can be learned about the themes and styles of noir when viewing Sunset Boulevard in comparison to many other film noirs. One thing is for sure though, Sunset Boulevard remains just as enticing and fascinating and is truly one of the great

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Throughout the movie “End of Watch” follows along with Officer Brian Taylor (Gyllenhaal) and Officer Mike Zavala (Pena) on their daily patrols in the inner city of Los Angeles. During the course of the movie, there are many things that Officer Taylor and Officer Zavala do that is very common and even accepted among police officers. But, one reoccurring theme is that they use foul language while on duty, act unprofessional, and use excessive force. In addition, Officer Taylor is actively recording his daily activities while on duty with a handheld video camera and lapel body cameras for both himself and Officer Zavala. Even though Officer Taylor was repeatedly told to cease his filming by fellow officers and supervisors he continued his behavior.

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The movie "On the Waterfront" is an example of Film Noir which literally means black or dark film. Movies like this were more serious and explored more realistic and depressing subject matters. The movie was mainly about the struggle of the working longshoremen in Hoboken, New Jersey against the gangsters who bullied and extorted money from them. The protagonist of the movie is Terry Malloy.

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Film noir is a cinematic style that began in the early 1940s that focused on the crime and corruption that occurs in everyday life. Film noir was influenced by two major film movements, German Expressionism and French poetic realism (Schrader 8). While German Expressionism influenced lighting techniques, realism affected narrative and cinematography. The Great Depression and World War II shaped film noir’s cynical tone that fate is uncontrollable. A classic example of film noir is the 1945 film Detour, directed by Edgar G. Ulmer.

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