RARA-AVIS: Re: Acting Noir

Victoria Esposito-Shea (vmes@sbt.infi.net)
Thu, 20 Nov 1997 10:40:45 -0500
> When I have shown that film or CITIZEN KANE or just about anything in the
> German Expressionist mode (BLUE ANGEL), students--and good ones too--will
> always ask something like "Why didn't they learn how to act?" The
> performance styles of the period strike the younger generation as way
> overdone--and of course Welles pushed the limits of that style anyway.

I'm not sure that German Expressionism is to blame here. I have not seen
TOUCH OF EVIL, and therefore can't comment on that movie in particular, but
I'm a big fan of Weimar-era expressionism in general--and I still can't
stand CITIZEN KANE (I know, that's high heresy.). It seems to me that
Expressionist films (I'm thinking particularly here of JOYLESS STREET),
while they're certainly melodramatic, "know" that they're movies and don't
take themselves overly seriously; I think CITIZEN KANE takes itself quite
seriously *and* is melodramatic, which is a tough combination. Also,
CITIZEN KANE is sophisticated enough in many ways that the melodrama seems
all the more grating, which certainly isn't the case in most Expressionist
films--or at least not the one's I'm familiar with.

In
> fact, if young viewers weren't so schooled to revere Bogart, I'll bet
many
> would admit that films like THE MALTESE FALCON or THE BIG SLEEP have
scenes
> that are too theatrical for their tastes.

Absolutely, the acting and camerawork go over the top in those and similar
films at some points, but it's not a sustained melodrama. Rather, there
are bits and pieces where you roll your eyes and shake your head, but then
you settle back into the rest of it. One of my favorite examples of this
is the grocery store scene in DOUBLE INDEMNITY, which is utterly and
completely unbelievable--but certainly doesn't ruin the rest of the film
for me (especially when you cut them some slack for the time they were
filmed in).

Sorry--this is a little off-topic, but I couldn't not respond to this.

Slainte,
Vicky
(a young viewer in Indiana)
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