A Film Critique On The Movie Double Indemnity

I chose to do my film critique on the movie Double Indemnity because it’s a crime, mysterious murder movie that really caught my attention. This movie was made in 1994 and directed by Billy Wilder which is known as one of the most brilliant and versatile filmmakers of the Hollywood Golden Age of cinema. Raymond Chandler also helped with the screenplay, the actors that were in the film where Fred MacMurray who was one of the most underrated actors at that time and Barbra Stanwyck she was considered a gem to work with. Barton Keys was one of the main detectives and Walter's best friend that caught on to the women Barbra about the murder and knew that she had someone help her. This movie is filled with suspense and a voice over that keeps you in your feet not knowing what is going to happened next.

This film is told in flashbacks by Walter who's role in this movie is being used my this beautiful, seductive and innocent woman who wants to kill ger husband for the money she will get out of it, if its caused by an accident like throwing him out a train. But Walter has another plan of committing a scheme to receive twice the amount based on a double indemnity clause. When the body is found they believe the death is caused by suicide, but Keys thinks otherwise he suspects foul play on Phyllis part because he thinks she was having an affair, but he still doesn’t know till he gets proof. Keys is Walters best friend and Phyllis are the women how who had an affirm with Walter and the one with the plan to kill her husband. What I like the most about the film is that is filled with suspends and the way the actors interact with each other, the way Walter and Phyllis talk to each other and flirt is like people today. Walter is like a mysterious handyman that Phyllis falls in love with.

Walter is described as a person who completely blends into his surroundings, because the way his apartment is, it's very dark and small with pictures of people boxing meaning he has courage and will to fight and survive, and also pictures of a woman which probably means he was married once and know is lost and depressed for losing that loved one so he will take any chances to get that back even if it means killing someone. Phyllis on the other hand is a person who is sexy, strong and unattainable. Keys is the one to crack the case, in his office he has many graphs and maps which explains his character. Sexuality is a big thing in the movie and Phyllis is the main viewpoint for that. She is a woman who shamelessly objectifies her body, wielding it like a weapon. She shows it with her lipstick, high heels, anklets and flashy jewelry. Everything about her amounts to a deliberate attempt to silicate the male gaze. Death is a major factor on the main actors because it looms over their shoulder throughout the film. The framing device of Walters confession in the begging of the movie clues the viewers into the fact that their affair will lead the at least one death, but in fact leads to three of them, as the movie is ending Walter realizes that the final destination for him is the cemetery.

This film is black and white, it has fast badinage and a story from the classic age. It has a lot of low lighting and very oppressive music. The men in the movie wear dark suits, gangster-like hats and the women wear elegant dresses and luxurious jewelry. The movie seems that it was sculpted by light for example it hides the actors from the audience's sight and wraps the plot in enigmas and secret crimes. The lighting also revels the hidden evils within the actors. The voice over is common in film noir, he uses flashbacks in this movie that Walter recalls is what happened, but we don’t know if it’s the truth or he is making himself look innocent. As he talks to the audience, he looks back at the mistakes he did and says why he did it “I killed him for money and for a woman. I didn’t get the money or the woman.” I feel like the voice over created more suspense then the audience was already expecting. The music also plays a big role in the scenes in the film its artfully repetitive and it accompanies Keyes through the investigation of the affair and murder.

To conclude this film critique, I just want to say that if you are into crime, suspense, murder movies this is the perfect movie for you. There are a few things I probably left out that you will probably find in the movie, but I just recapped on the actors and how they were used in the film and the way the light and music affected the movie. Without the light in this movie the characters would not be as affected as they were because with light you could do so much like hide the characters form the audience hide their secrets from each other and also could revel secrets that you wouldn’t know where there. This movie also makes you think about some actions that Walter did that weren't very smart and makes you think why he did what he did for example never tells you why he left so easily with Phyllis and why he was so easily convinced to killing her husband. I believe after seeing the movie a couple of times he did what he did because he was lonely and depressed so it worked out good for him because he nothing to lose until he last everything and at the end gave up and knew he had been caught.