One major thing
stands out in this thriller when you sit through Sunset Boulevard, and
that is Gloria Swanson as she plays the character Norma Desmond. She plays this
character with so much intensity and passion that you’re left lost in pity for
her and the idea of a human who has gone over the edge. The character Norma
Desmond suits Gloria so well in the way she portrays it that I have to wonder
if part of her personal life went into it. Gloria was, in reality, a
silent-film era star before the time of talkies. In her life, she moved with
the times and wasn’t stuck in the past like Norma, the character she plays.
The movie’s plot
starts with us getting a look into the life of Joe Gillis (William Holden) as
he gives us a flashback into what led him to the point we find him at the
beginning of the film. Joe is down on his luck as a screenwriter—he hasn’t
gotten a job in a long while, and his finances are in the dust. He owes rent
and car payments, and they’re coming to repossess his car. He tries to raise
three hundred dollars to keep his car, but all his attempts fail.
While fleeing
from the repossession men, he gets a flat tire and drives into an old,
abandoned mansion. He hides his car there, then hears a voice—the voice of a
woman (Norma) who calls him to come upstairs. He goes. He’s let into the house
by a man named Max (Erich von Stroheim) and soon realizes he’s been mistaken
for a coffin maker.
He meets Norma and quickly understands that she’s living in her own fantasy world. Norma used to be a leading actress in the silent-film era, where she made her fortune, and now lives a reclusive life as the talkies began. She has carved out a time for herself and refuses to age beyond the time when she was still popular. In her world, she’s still a film star, receiving thousands of letters every week from fans asking her to make a comeback.
She’s truly
rich, and her riches, along with Max’s love for her, are what Max uses to fund
her fantasy world. She learns that Joe is a screenwriter and asks him to read
her screenplay—she plans to use it to make a comeback. Joe reads it, sees an
opportunity to make money, and tells her the screenplay (which is a waste of
paper) needs a rewrite. He gets her to hire him as a ghostwriter.
The movie’s
appeal is its energy. It has this scary, ghoulish feeling, like there’s
something dark and amiss about what’s happening, and as you watch, you’ll see
it unfold. The movie has a great score and features two iconic lines that have
been referenced often: “All right, Mr. DeMille, I’m ready for my close-up,” and
“I am big; it’s the pictures that got small!”
Sunset Boulevard received Golden Globe Awards for Best Motion Picture – Drama, Best Motion Picture
Actress (Swanson), Best Motion Picture Director, and Best Motion Picture Score.
It also received 11 Academy Award nominations and won three, including Best
Screenplay and Best Musical Score.
0 comments:
Post a Comment