The film "Double Indemnity" directed by Billy Wilder is also called "Double Insurance". The film uses an insurance salesman and a snake temptress to conspire to design a murderer to defraud insurance. I thought I had a chance to win, but I couldn't resist the torture of my conscience. In the end, I was willing to tell the story of the truth, which profoundly revealed the tragedy of the moral judgment of the soul in the face of guilt.
2. Thematic analysis
1. The conflict between lust and reason.
Walter Neff (Fred MacMurray played by Fred MacMurray) is a successful insurance agent. I fell in love with the sexy and sultry client wife Phyllis Dietrichson (Barbara Stanwyck). Complimenting her ankle bracelet, deliberately teasing, alive a prodigal act. When a man has aspirations in life, he will inevitably be complacent. It is reasonable to see a beautiful woman. What's more, he is a bachelor who is facing a semi-naked sexy young woman. People are not in vain, but no matter how charming Medusa's singing is, it is always a trap. Neff, who was originally thoughtful and experienced, saw through the conspiracy of the client's wife at a glance, but how could the sexy and sultry woman let go of this fish. When she went to the door at night, the protagonist was expecting and a little confused, or half-pushing half-heartedly accepted the beauty trick. Trying to use his savvy to help the woman realize the act of killing her husband and defrauding her husband.
By this time, it was certain that Neff's passion had completely prevailed.
If the story is a scam seamlessly realized, it may be a good story, but as the most influential media tool of popular culture, movies can no longer praise evil on the screen, and the bad guys must be punished. There are many ways of punishment. It can be a tragic fate, a prison disaster, or a karma. Of course, the most powerful one is the torture of conscience.
Neff is a rational person. He has a clear and accurate judgment of the situation. He is very aware of his situation and can continuously respond effectively according to the evolution of the situation. When he started to implement the plan, he had already figured out what the consequences would be if the conspiracy leaked. In order to escape punishment, he chose to avoid the more important things, especially when he learned that Phyllis Dietrichson was dating other men behind his back, and instantly felt that he had been fooled, so he acted to survive by docking his tail. When he stepped into Mr. Di's villa for the last time, he didn't expect that he was still a bad move. Both psychologically and emotionally, he lost to Mrs. Di in front of him. The other party was not as chaotic as he was, but was ready to fight and even prepared a pistol in advance just in case. Choosing to confide in a colleague is not so much a frankness, but a warning from conscience. He finally struggled from the quagmire of lust and regained his rationality.
From the perspective of Mrs. Di, she thought that she could succeed again by applying the old tricks, not only earning wealth, but also capturing the heart of a good-looking man by the way. In order to realize the wishful thinking, it needs external force, but what I didn't expect was that I couldn't deceive my heart. You must be cruel to do bad things, even if you murder your husband. However, after all, a woman is an emotional animal, and the moment of emotion is also the moment of punishment. When she was undecided when she shot, she didn't expect that the man she liked would wield a butcher knife at her. The originally meticulous and cold-blooded femme fatale, whose mind was controlled by emotion, turned from a knife to a fish, and died in a trap designed by herself.
2. Conspiracy and deciphering
are the so-called "Road and Devil". There will be many different versions of this sentence to understand. It is generally believed that the Tao represents justice and the devil represents evil. If the growth of Tao is not as fast as the devil, then the bad guys have the upper hand. This may be true in real life, but Xiao Xiaozhi cannot be allowed in the movie. The audience cannot be fooled, nor can it be hurt.
Mrs. Di and Walter, one mastermind and one accomplice, the biggest obstacle to the scheme of killing money is how to lie to the sky and defraud huge insurance premiums. The bosses and agents of the insurance company are not in vain. They must have rich experience and logical ability like a detective. On one side, adulterers and adulterers meticulously created various evidences and illusions, but it seemed to outsiders that everything was so natural and there were no loopholes; on the other side, insurance agent Barton Keyes was digging into the accident from the appearance of the accident. The battle of wits and courage made the film suspense, and the interlocking events were out of control.
3. Film Features
1. A
good story with suspense needs suspense, and it cannot be suspended for too long. This will make the audience feel that the author is deluded and fatigued; nor should it be released too early to avoid reducing its appeal. The peculiarity of this film lies in the flashback technique, which allows the protagonist to confess his heart to the tape recorder at the beginning, and then slowly opens the curtain of the story under the lead of the lines. From the perspective of artistic effects, the audience already knows that the ending of the story has received the effect of "bombs under the table". Knowing that there are conspiracies and killings, they are becoming more and more curious about what caused the characters to be in trouble. What is the reason for all this, which satisfies the audience's interest in the truth?
2. The sound
is destined for the indissoluble bond between the film and the sound from the wax drum tape recorder props at the beginning. The sound film of 1944 is no longer a rare product. Not only can 100% dialogue film be realized, but also the meaning can be expressed by dynamic effects. The actors in the film said that the lines are very fast. On the one hand, it can be seen that the recording technology at that time has not yet developed to the point where it can only be done in a limited time. On the other hand, it can also control the length of the lines. Willing to listen to the characters coming and going on the screen. Even if the story reaches its climax, the conspiracy of Walter and Mrs. Di will be revealed, and the two are forced to meet again at the grocery store. In a shop where there is a flow of people, even if the form is urgent, two people can't have a long conversation, they can only talk intermittently. This situation can be seen as technical constraints that have contributed to the expressiveness of the story.
After Walter helped Mrs. Di complete the plan to kill his father, the psychological monologue said that he could no longer feel his footsteps. Only dead people would have no footsteps. In fact, it can be regarded as a discovery of the character’s conscience. It fails to accurately portray male emotional voice expressions. Footsteps can also have expressions. Different moods, different genders, emotions, and different statuses, including the specifications, types, and styles of shoes, will have different footsteps.
In order to portray Walter's horrified mood, the director chose to ask Barton, the insurance company's agent, to come forward and specially invited witnesses for the crash. The witnesses had not seen the positive image of Mr. Di, and only had some impression of his voice. When the witness and Walter face each other, he consciously talks to Walter more, perhaps unintentionally, but from the point of view of the ghostly person, it appears to have ulterior motives. For the audience, from the omniscience perspective, he hopes that the truth will come to light. He is also unwilling to expose the protagonist’s conspiracy prematurely. After all, he is the object of the audience’s psychological identification. Although there is no sympathy, he is passively involved and proactively confessed that the audience’s sentiments to such a tragic character will be more or less for him. The situation squeezed a sweat. This is exactly the director's brilliance. The seemingly plain dialogue makes the characters and the audience shocked.
There is a lot of music in the film, almost from the beginning to the end. Before the story unfolded, the concert felt a bit noisy. Not only this film, but the movies of that era will have a large number of soundtracks, including the epic-level luxury giants such as "Benxu" and "Lawrence of Arabia". After the audience is firmly attracted by the plot, the music of this film quietly becomes a background color. When the characters act, they play an appropriate role in rendering and contrast. The most typical part is when Walter and Mrs. Dee are implementing the plan. When they leave the fake manufacturing site, Mrs. Dee cannot start the engine after getting in the car. After Walter helps, the car finally starts. The music changed from the original dullness to the shortness, and then to the later soothing. The situation at that time and the faintness formed a good counterpoint. Music that you can't hear is good music. In this film, when you are really obsessed with the story, you can't hear music. In other words, not feeling the music does not prove that the music does not exist, but that the music is well integrated with the plot.
3. Cause and effect
Bodhisattvas fear the cause and ordinary people fear the fruit. When a person has a heartbeat, it is when his mood changes. The insurer has no intentions and will not be easily conquered by the woman. It is precisely because Mr. Di is financially demanding of the bride, he controls the economy, and his will states that he will leave it to his daughter, that makes Mrs. Di, who was already serious, determined to kill again. Those who are greedy for money lose money, and those who are passionate die in love. If insurance is not deceived, people and money are in vain.
At the beginning of the film, Walter looked flustered and looked at the tape recorder in embarrassment. It was not only because he had just shot and killed the woman he liked, but also because he had been struggling for a long time. The big stone in my heart. It is conceivable that even without the shrewd White discovering the flaws in their conspiracy, Walter would still find it difficult for him to get better. Facing a woman who murdered her husband, how many men can sleep peacefully on her side? The inability of the car to start after committing the crime is a hint that the two people cannot escape the blame.
Mrs. Di is definitely unwilling to kill Walter. After all, this is her last choice, but hiding a gun under the sofa shows that she has no confidence in her feelings. Moreover, in order to conceal the previous one, the next one is needed. To make up for it, and accumulate more and more, eventually playing with fire and self-immolation. Before the conspiracy was carried out, she stood in front of the mirror and looked at herself in mourning. It can be said that she was rehearsing in advance and was very sure of the conspiracy. It can also be understood as the unpredictable fate of the world. Buying accident insurance means worrying about accidents, and accidents happen to people who have accidents. The most severe punishment Walter and Mrs. Di received was that they knew that there was a sword hanging over their heads, but didn’t know how sharp the sword was, let alone when the sword would fall. Punishment may be the best punishment for wrongdoing.
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