(Links to It’s A Wonderful Life from week 11, and week 1 for new people)
This is a bit late, but who really would notice, anyway. The movie is delayed, too; I’ll start watching it as soon as I finish this post.
I’ve never seen Sunset Boulevard before. In fact, I’ve never even heard of it. I have no idea what to expect, other than it’s a black and white movie, and no one shouts ‘Take it off! Take it off!’
Hopefully I’ll learn something over the next two hours.
When I first saw the movie(as a kid) on television I thought it was a drag. I don’t go that far now, and I think I do understand it, but it’s still rather dreary. But there is still that great line “I’m ready for my closeup, Mr. DeMille” that has been parodied so many times.
“It was the pictures that got small.”
I love the movie. A little piece of trivia - Erich Von Stoheim, who plays Max, had been a cutting-edge director in the early years of Hollywood (he directed “Greed”)and once insisted that extras in a battle scene have authentic-period underwear.
Keep your eye our for Buster Keaton in the film as well.
I watched it, but I’m not quite sure if I missed something.
I mean, it was an enjoyable movie - fantastic one-liners from the narrator - but I can’t help but feel that I got whooshed.
Although I think I’ve figured part of it out:[ul][]Max is/was her first husband[]He does not sleep in the husband’s chambers[]He is now Norma Desmond’s unquestioning servant[]They have secret satanic monkey burial rituals in the graveyard at midnight[]Norma Desmond == Norman Bates?[]In conclusion, Norma Desmond is really a necromancer and Max is her undead zombie servant, and she is raising the unholy armies of the night. Joe’s corpse in the pool will be reanimated as another servant, and she’ll keep suckering people in.[/ul]Mother would have wanted it that way.
“I am big. It’s the pictures that got small.”
What a great movie!
Anyone remember the Carol Burnett parodies, where Carol Burnett would play “Norma” Desmond and Harvey Korman would try to play Max (but couldn’t keep a straight face?)
Fenris
Why do you think this is such a confusing film? It’s Billy Wilder, for heaven’s sake, not Maya Deren.
Max gives you a subtle clue to his past when he says “I vas her first hoosbin!” and there’s an orchestral sting on the soundtrack. No, he doesn’t sleep with her any more. And there was only the one monkey.
This is one of my favorite Hollywood movies, and it’s simply LOADED with great quotable lines.
“I’ve got a million dollars. Own three blocks downtown. I’ve got oil in Bakersfield…pumping…pumping…pumping…”
I love this film because Billy Wilder was so bold in blurring the line between Hollywood reality and Hollywood fiction, all the while making fun of the whole thing.
Gloria Swanson really was making a dramatic comeback, and Wilder encouraged her to hybridize the over-the-top silent film style with contemporary acting style. Erich von Stroheim really was a director. Buster Keaton, Cecil Demille, and others play themselves.
If homage is an indicator of a film’s importance, then Sunset Boulevard should be high on the list. American Beauty borrows the “dead narrator” concept, while The Player is essentially a reprise of the inside the Hollywood scandal story. And of course Sunset Boulevard is already paying homage to the bygone silent film era, which makes sort of the Rosetta Stone of Hollywood films.
One of my top ten all-time favorites, without question. I’d love to see the origial introduction, as described in the IMDB trivia page.
It didn’t confuse me, in that I easily followed the plot, understood people’s motivations, and enjoyed it. My whoosh-sensation stems from my feeling that there was something else that I missed, whether it be a reference to historical events, literary works, or anything.
e.g. watching Citizen Kane without knowing about William Randolph Hearst. It’s still a good movie, but there’s far more to understand and appreciate than just the surface story.
(On preview, I see that Sofa King explained some of what I was looking for-- thanks.)