The Big Heat

The Big Heat is an exemplary film noir. A fairly simple story given royal treatment by Fritz Lang. Lang was fond of stories about revenge and hate, but he always showed the negative side of them, rather than sympathizing. In his films, it's always a futile, destructive force that drives characters. The Big Heat features plenty of rotten acts driven by vengance.

At first, I was surprised that the lighting of the film wasn't as dark and moody as it tends to be in film noir, especially in Lang's film. But, as it went on, I realized it was an intentional decision, as things are nearly idyllic in the first half of the movie, then when tragedy strikes and Banion becomes a creature motivated by revenge, the lighting gets a whole lot darker. Strange shadows are thrown all over rooms, light pours in only through windowblinds, lamps cast dark shadows on characters' faces and their shadows loom behind them on the walls. Yes, The Big Heat's lighting is awesome.

It's quickly become one of my favorite film noirs, and my favorite Lang noir that I've seen yet. I've still got plenty to go, but The Big Heat only excites me more, thinking about the possibilites.

Le Million

There's not much to say about Le Million in terms of analyzation or criticism. It's just a great, wonderfully entertaining and charming movie. In most ways, it's a musical, and that thought makes me shudder. But, it's up there with Singin' In the Rain as the films that transcend that genre and simply become great. It's hard not to fall in love with the film and not get wrapped up in the plot or identify with the characters. The use of sound is fantastic, especially for an early talkie. Le Million was far ahead of its time, I'd say.