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The Killing
(1956, Stanley Kubrick)
(1956, Stanley Kubrick)
I have always been fascinated by film-noir yet I have seen very little of them, so when MGM decided to show one each day in a 'film-noir week' I looked forward to finally increase my noir viewings, the first film for this was the great Stanley Kubrick's The Killing.
Because this was one of Kubrick's first ever films I was all the more excited to finally watch this as a big fan of his more well known works such as 2001: A Space Odyssey and Dr. Strangelove. The thing I love about Kubrick is the fact the his films are almost indistinguishable in terms of plot and had I seen this 50s' crime thriller without knowing the director I would of been surprised to find out that it was Kubrick.
The film follows the plan of Johnny Clay who comes up with a seemingly flawless set of actions that would allow him and his friends to pull off a major heist at a racetrack. Quentin Tarantino has cited this film as an inspiration for Reservoir Dogs which is similar in the fact is is centred around a heist and shares a similar ending, you can also see the influence on his most famous film Pulp Fiction in terms of the intelligent and fluid narrative structure.
In terms of the film's style it has everything you could want from a crime thriller and its structure allows it to run smoothly and keep your interest as the plan carefully unfolds, the camera techniques used are great as well as the dark shadows and colours that we now associate with dark and mysterious crime films.
What keeps the crime aspect most interesting though is the characters who each have their own individual roles in the plan. Sterling Hayden as Johnny Clay, the man behind the heist gives a great performance in his role and would later become the memorable star of Kubrick's Dr. Strangelove. The film has a number of interesting characters though that keep the film constantly interesting, one of my favourite performances was Elisha Cook Jr. as George Peatty, a man who is being cheated on by his wife and is looked down by others as an idiot.
When the heist actually takes place Kubrick does a great job of turning up the intensity of the film and ensuring that each shot is done correctly to match the seemingly immaculate plan of Johnny. Without spoiling too much of the ending, I enjoyed Kubrick's choice to end on an ironic note. Given what has gone before with the heist being planned with such extreme precision up to the point that there is even a plan for what to do if any of the members died it is ironic how things eventually turn out.
Kubrick combines memorable characters, great visuals, a structure that sees the film paced greatly at a rather short length of 85 minutes, humour and a little bit of violence to give us a thoroughly enjoyable noir, a fantastic effort for a man only 28 years old, it is not surprising to see that such a director would go on to be remembered as one of the greatest of all time. Next up for me is Kubrick's Killer's Kiss.
Because this was one of Kubrick's first ever films I was all the more excited to finally watch this as a big fan of his more well known works such as 2001: A Space Odyssey and Dr. Strangelove. The thing I love about Kubrick is the fact the his films are almost indistinguishable in terms of plot and had I seen this 50s' crime thriller without knowing the director I would of been surprised to find out that it was Kubrick.
The film follows the plan of Johnny Clay who comes up with a seemingly flawless set of actions that would allow him and his friends to pull off a major heist at a racetrack. Quentin Tarantino has cited this film as an inspiration for Reservoir Dogs which is similar in the fact is is centred around a heist and shares a similar ending, you can also see the influence on his most famous film Pulp Fiction in terms of the intelligent and fluid narrative structure.
In terms of the film's style it has everything you could want from a crime thriller and its structure allows it to run smoothly and keep your interest as the plan carefully unfolds, the camera techniques used are great as well as the dark shadows and colours that we now associate with dark and mysterious crime films.
What keeps the crime aspect most interesting though is the characters who each have their own individual roles in the plan. Sterling Hayden as Johnny Clay, the man behind the heist gives a great performance in his role and would later become the memorable star of Kubrick's Dr. Strangelove. The film has a number of interesting characters though that keep the film constantly interesting, one of my favourite performances was Elisha Cook Jr. as George Peatty, a man who is being cheated on by his wife and is looked down by others as an idiot.
When the heist actually takes place Kubrick does a great job of turning up the intensity of the film and ensuring that each shot is done correctly to match the seemingly immaculate plan of Johnny. Without spoiling too much of the ending, I enjoyed Kubrick's choice to end on an ironic note. Given what has gone before with the heist being planned with such extreme precision up to the point that there is even a plan for what to do if any of the members died it is ironic how things eventually turn out.
Kubrick combines memorable characters, great visuals, a structure that sees the film paced greatly at a rather short length of 85 minutes, humour and a little bit of violence to give us a thoroughly enjoyable noir, a fantastic effort for a man only 28 years old, it is not surprising to see that such a director would go on to be remembered as one of the greatest of all time. Next up for me is Kubrick's Killer's Kiss.
RATING: