The Maltese Falcon is a 1941 American film that is considered one of the earliest examples of film noir. The film takes place in San Francisco and is about a detective, Sam Spade, who's partner is murdered after a flustered woman hires him to tail a man. As it turns out, this woman is not who she appears to be and is lying at every chance she gets. Soon Spade finds out that this woman, Brigid O’Shaughnessy, was a criminal whose partner was the one would killed Spade's partner. He also finds out that she is involved with other eccentric criminals named Joel Cairo and Kasper Gutman. Gutman has been after a golden Maltese Falcon for seventeen years and was informed that Brigid had obtained it and was willing to sell it to him. After not being able to get the Falcon, Gutman and his crew try to take matters into their own hands, but in doing so underestimate the cunning of detective Spade.
This movie is fast paced and takes many twists and turns. Just when everything seems to make sense, something will happen that turns it all upside down. No one can be trusted and everyone is out only for themselves. Lies and double-crosses fill this movie and give it an aspect of uncertainty. If I had to label this movie with a specific type of genre it would be crime, drama, thriller. A few things that stuck out to me were a rough style of editing, important use of lighting and shadowing, and an almost typical Hollywood style narration. Even though there is chaos throughout the movie and no one is certain of anything, all is resolved at the end leaving few questions to be asked.
Overall, I enjoyed this film and it's differentiating genre style. This film drew me into the story and had me trying to figure out who was lying and who was telling the truth. I was delighted with Bogart's style of acting and the way that his character handled situations. This film was very unique and surpassed my expectations.
No comments:
Post a Comment