<<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).>>
But art is artificial...if *any* actor talked to you in the
street as he
does on the stage or the screen you would probably run for
cover (or at
least finger your roscoe thoughtfully and start whistling a
show tune).
I very much doubt that Double Indemnity could be filmed a la
Bresson or
Tarkovsky; for one thing, there is an awful lot of talking
(in fact,
that is essentially how the story is told); for another, the
book
highlights two typical American traits: insecurity (often
masked as
showing off) and the desire to get something for nothing. A
theatrical
treatment highlights this in ways that a "naturalistic"
treatment could
not.
Now comes the fantasy: Jean Renoir directing "The Long
Goodbye" with
Jean Gabin as Marlowe; and the complement would be Kurosawa
doing the
same with Toshiro Mifune as the immortal detective (I'll
spare you the
Polanski/Cybulski team, though). Be lenient, folks; these
days I only
post about once a month. See you in December...
Best regards,
Mario Taboada
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