Sunset Boulevard Essay

During the course of this essay it is my intention to discuss the differences between Classical Hollywood and post-Classical Hollywood. Although these terms refer to theoretical movements of which they are not definitive it is my goal to show that they are applicable in a broad way to a cinema tradition that dominated Hollywood production between 1916 and 1960 and which also pervaded Western Mainstream Cinema (Classical Hollywood or Classic Narrative Cinema) and to the movement and changes that came about following this time period (Post-Classical or New Hollywood). I intend to do this by first analysing and defining aspects of Classical Hollywood and having done that,

After this, the shot pans along the road, and turns into a shot of police cars storming down the street. The fact that the street name, which serves as an embodiment of Norma and all associated with her, is so low to the ground emphasizes that the images of grandeur often associated with Hollywood are a facade, and that the true Hollywood is dark and grim, like a dirty street curb. The street pictured is dirty and unkempt, with weeds peeking out the cracks and piles of loose garbage and leaves strewn all over. This image serves as a stark contrast to the typical impressions people have of Hollywood, and reinforces that the true Hollywood is not the one seen so often on the big screen. Rather than opening with a scene showing off Hollywood’s magnificence, Wilder exposes to the audience what the “real” Hollywood is: a degenerate place full of misery and squalor. Moreover, opening scenes tend to set the tone of the movie, and leave lasting impressions the audience that carry through the entirety of watching. By showcasing the dark side of Hollywood before anything else, Wilder asserts that it is this dark, twisted version of the city that truly defines its inhabitants. In addition to pan shots, Wilder also incorporates music in the opening scene, which further adds to the dark image being relayed about Hollywood. The score is borderline cacophony, trademarked by sharp bursts of drums and trumpet that build suspense and

The film’s main focus largely represents the Hollywood star system to which Norma Desmond is a victim of. The film particularly highlights the fantasy world in which Norma lives in, the world where she is the ‘greatest star’ (Norma Desmond, Sunset Boulevard, 1950). Sunset Boulevard steps into Norma’s mixed up world where hundreds of photos of herself clutter her crumbling mansion and where she watches herself on screen on a weekly basis. The crumbling and deteriorating mansion could be seen as a metaphor for Norma’s fall from stardom, the collapse of her career.

John Ford built a standard that many future directors would follow with his classic 1939 film “Stagecoach”. Although there were a plethora of western films made before 1939, the film “Stagecoach” revolutionized the western genre by elevating the genre from a “B” film into a more serious genre. The film challenged not only western stereotypes but also class divisions in society. Utilizing specific aspects of mise-en-scène and cinematography, John Ford displays his views of society.

Sunset Boulevard (Wilder 1950) explores the intermingling of public and private realms, puncturing the illusion of the former and unveiling the grim and often disturbing reality of the latter. By delving into the personal delusions of its characters and showing the devastation caused by disrupting those fantasies, the film provides not only a commentary on the industry of which it is a product but also a shared anxiety about the corrupting influence of external perception. Narrated by a dead man, centering on a recluse tortured by her own former stardom, and concerning a once-promising director who refuses to believe his greatest star could ever be forgotten, the work dissects a multitude of illusory folds to reveal an ultimately

Have you ever wanted a bad memory erased? Is love erasable? These questions are attacked head on in the wonderfully complex drama Eternal Sunshine of a Spotless Mind. After working together on the film Human Nature, director Michael Gondry and screenwriter Charlie Kaufman discussed the possibility whether or not they would have their memory erased of a bad relationship should the opportunity present itself (dvdtalk). Out of that discussion a movie idea was formulated, pitched to a studio, and a film was created showing the potential impact of doing so. Through Kaufman’s brilliant and strange storytelling, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind takes its audience on a journey challenging us to ask: what would we do

The film industry operates in a continuous cycle, searching for the newest and best pieces to make their movies creative, interesting, and marketable. Historically, the film industry attempts to follow a set structure in an attempt towards success in such a volatile market, however, this approach creates a system much like that of Ford’s Model-T production line, invented in the 1910s, which involved each worker on the line doing a single job. Only a few years later, during the 1920s and 1940s, the film industry showed that they adopted a similar approach to their industry, with each person—actor, director, producer, writer, etc.—performing a distinct role. In the late 1920s, as Hollywood transitioned from silent films to “talkies”, actors and actresses were met with the challenge of adapting to a new role and many of them no longer fit the role required by the growing Hollywood machine. The film Sunset Boulevard (Billy Wilder, 1950) explores and critiques the landscape of the hierarchy and harsh realities of Hollywood. In the same vein as many films of the film noir style, the mood of pessimism and fatalism reflected in the form parallels the reality of many people in Hollywood during the 1900s.

American western movies were a thing of the 1950’s but they were no longer captivating in the 1970’s. It was apparent that guns, cowboys, and American heroes were no longer seen as a point of interest for the viewing public. Mel Gibson’s film entitled, Blazing Saddles, debuted in 1974 and seemed to fit the bill of the post-1960’s western. Blazing Saddles is a film that is able to take on racism and utilize it as an important reflection of the time. The film goes where no film has gone before in terms of discussing race and Hollywood. Blazing Saddles was able to seemingly integrate elements of Blaxploitation and introduce the film industry’s first interracial buddy comedy.

During the end of the 3rd Century, the Playwright Plautus wrote many of the first Roman comedies. A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum is a musical comedy film adaptation of Plautus's comedies.Set in ancient Rome, many aspects of Roman theatre, including stock characters, were included in the film’s production. While the film is based off of multiple comedies, Plautus's Pseudolus character Calidorus is nearly identical to the film’s Hero. During the time Pseudolus was written, the Crisis of the Third Century led to up to 25% of Roman population being comprised of slaves(Southern). Of the many stock characters Platus included in his comedies, Calidorus/Hero, the son of Pseudolus’s owner and the stock character adulescens, best

As the audience knows well already since the very first scene, Sunset Boulevard does not have what one would call a “happy ending.” In this sense, the movie gives itself away as film noir considering the fact that all such works of cinema which fall in this style category are known to have dark themes predominantly sending a message of hopelessness and meaningless existence. With Joe’s lifeless body floating around in a swimming pool in mind throughout the entire movie, audiences of this motion picture are filled with a sense of pointlessness for Joe’s life, since his personal resolutions and growth as a

Growing up, Americans begin to form dreams, or goals,based on where they want to go in life. These dreams may change over time, or remain the same, but they are always the focus of an American’s life. However, there comes a point in life when you must decide whether to continue chasing your dream or to face reality and give up and illusions you may have about your life. The plot of two American-based stories, “Sunset Blvd”, directed by Billy Wilder, and The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald, revolve around this conflict of illusion, or dreams, against reality and facing the facts of life. Both “Sunset Blvd” and The Great Gatsby ultimately side with illusion and dreaming over reality, a decision which becomes solidified by the closing scenes in both tales, and the death of a main character.

Louise Brooks, a silent movie star, was an idol of the flappers, and their prototype for offending older generations and pushing the bounds of acceptable female behavior. She led an exuberant social life, hanging in a social circle that included George Gershwin, F. Scott Fitzgerald, and other authors such as Benchley, Mencken, and Anita Loos. Louise Brooks epitomized the flapper culture and could be described as “flamboyant”, or “ambivalent”, yet always with an uneasy sense of pessimistic depression underneath it all.

The plot of Sunset Boulevard shares common aspects with many other film noir movies. The whole plot of the movie is told by a dead man, William, which is a common theme of film noirs. Especially taking in the facts that the whole story was one long flashback. Another common aspect is the recurring voice over describing what is happening in the scene and what was going on in the

In the movie, “The Road from Crime”, Greg was a great example of how Merton 's Anomie and Agnew 's General Strain theory led them through a criminal lifestyle. The environment that Greg lived as a child was a prime example of the Agnew’s General Strain theory. He came from a society where crimes are viewed as a norm in his community. There are different types of circumstance that lead people and groups inside a community to participate in deviant behavior, such as harsh disciplines, child abuse, negative school experience, residence in economically deprived neighborhoods and more. However, Greg was a resident of an economically deprived neighborhood, which had an influence on his criminal background. According to Merton’s Anomie theory, offenders lead a criminal lifestyle because they are not able to accomplish their desire goal. Everyone does not have the same opportunities to become successful. Greg came from a society where people were looked down upon and did not have the opportunity to become successful in life due to their race. Greg was from a community where everyone in his society had an impact on one and other. For instance, he had a friend name Terry who inspired him to be the man he is today. As a kid, Greg looked up to Terry and tried to follow his footsteps. Terry and Greg were neighbors and that is one reason Terry was a role model to Greg. Greg admired Terry because he played basketball and was a “ladies man”. During, Terry and Greg childhood drugs were

The third chapter will mainly discuss Woody Allen?s The Purple Rose of Cairo (1985) to examine how a theme about cinema-goers reflects a desire from the filmmaker and the audience. The film fabricates a fantasy where the protagonist of a film called ?The Purple Rose of Cairo?, Tom Baxter (enacted by Jeff Daniels), ?steps? out of the film during a screening. He joins Cecilia (starred by Mia Farrow), a frustrated waitress and aggrieved wife who has watched this film countless times, and starts an adventure in the real world. Confronting the chaos caused by Tom arbitrarily leaving the screen, Gil Shepard, an actor who impersonates Tom, comes to persuade Tom to return to the film, while pursuing Cecilia at the same time. In the end, Cecilia chooses to stay in reality but ends up alone due to Gil abandoning her for his career in Hollywood.