Sunset Boulevard

 

This is probably my new favorite film so far simply because there was so much going on in it. I find it interesting how the story revolved around a silent film actor that got pushed away with the introduction of sound. Norma Desmond is supposed to be very similar to the actor that played her , Gloria Swanson. The ironic thing is that Gloria is actually a super good actor, who really carried this movie. So I find it surprising if she dealt with anything that Norma had to go through. Max might have been the most interesting and complex character in the movie. One thing I still don't understand is how he knew that Joe would end up arriving at the mansion. In the movie Max states that he had the room ready for him before he arrived. How did he know that? Did he somehow cause Joe to end up there the whole time? Max is a complex character because he cares so much for Norma and sacrifices so much of his own life for her. He saw her as a 16 year old actress when she was just an innocent girl and watched her innocence get stripped away from her due to the movie studios. It almost feels like Max is the femme fatale in this movie because its clear that he is the one manipulating everything that goes on in Norma’s life. Norma is so delusional and in her own mind that she doesn’t even realize that Demille and Max are 2 different characters by the end of the movie. I find it interesting that like Citizen Kane, and Double Indemnity, the film starts where it ends, with the death of Joe in the pool. As the story unfolds you get to see how he ended up there. I find it weird that he is narrating throughout the film considering he is dead, perhaps he is narrating from heaven.