I had to recently watch this film for a Dramatic Analysis class of mine, and going into it, I was terrified. I desperately want to love old, classic films, but I was scared that it would be another Citizen Kane, which turned me off from that time period of films for a long time. However, Sunset Boulevard was luckily nothing like that, as it was an exciting and engaging drama with some great performances, memorable lines, and absolutely gorgeous design.
The most interesting aspect of this film was the way Billy Wilder wrote and developed the characters. Joe Gillis (William Holden) was a struggling screenwriter who, after running away from the bank's repo men, ends up trapped in Norma Desmond's (Gloria Swanson) mansion. She hires him to edit her screenplay as he eventually becomes trapped as her sort of pet. The relationship between Norma and Joe was the most engaging part of the movie, as it teetered from business to sexual to friends, and how Joe reacted to the controlling demands of Norma was interesting to see. Norma, being a crazy, older actress who is still stuck in her glory days, was obsessed with Joe, and this led to some great conflicts throughout. Joe also had a relationship with a coworker of his, Betty Schaefer (Nancy Olson), and his inner demons were really displayed when it came to choosing between whose demands he wanted to satisfy. When Joe first meets Norma, he finds out that she had a chimp as a pet who was recently deceased, and by the end of this film, Joe symbolically becomes her new pet. These characters would not have been so interesting, however, if it wasn't for the fantastic performances by both Holden and Swanson.
Writing and story are two other great elements that make this film a classic. The entire plot of the film took place near Hollywood and revolved around the lives of people in the film community. No matter how exaggerated it may have been, the story was very introspective as it provided a look into the world of filmmaking and how it will relentlessly take one down. This theme also gave the audience a lot of motifs throughout the film, including the pool that Joe ended up dead in and the focus on Norma's conceitedness. While this film is typically classified as a drama, there was a lot of well-written dark comedy in it as well. The writing also cleverly hid the twist at the end, as I quite literally was standing up in disbelief. When Norma chased Joe out of the house and shot him three times, it was only then that the pool motif kicked in my brain yet again. All of the narration came full-circle as it wrapped up the tragedy of Joe reporting his own death.
All of the technical parts of this film were very impressive too. There was many shots with amazing lighting, most notably the one where Norma stands into the light of the projector as she is making her desperate plea for more talented silent actors to return to Hollywood. The music in the film was utilized well too, as it was emphasized at just the right moments for heightened dramatic effect. One of the things that I find most dull about older films is how they linger on shots for very, very long. However, in this film, while the cinematography did just that, it surprisingly held my interest; most likely because of the story. The best technical piece of this movie, however, is the design. All of the costumes and all of the sets (including Paramount Studios, Norma's mansion, and Joe's apartment) were done so well. The gorgeous and haughty decoration of Norma's mansion contrasted the simplicity and cleanliness of Joe's apartment and provided for even more character development.
Sunset Boulevard is a very well-written and performed film that honestly surprised me with every piece of its filmmaking. This deserves to be higher on the AFI list, as it is an engaging and original story that will definitely prove the test of time. Also, I'm still a bit upset how dirty my girl Betty was done.
My Rating: ★★★★½
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