WOW. Another great Wilder movie. It seems that I don’t know enough about drinking and alcoholism to judge the authenticity of the performance that being said it feels like a very true and heavily researched and studied role and the performance sells the demon that is alcoholism very well. You feel just as nervous and anxious and desperate as he does. Talk about internal conflict and the monster living inside the house, this film is all about that.
There is a great sequence around 22 minutes in where Don leans back in his chair as the camera dollies over him and the music makes it out to be a scene from a horror film as the camera then pushes into the glass itself. Right there this is an example of how going into the 1940s' the camerawork is starting to bring the audience into the mindset and psychological condition of the characters. That shot serves to translate the obsession of the main character with alcohol. It doesn't present any plot or character backstory or foreshadow at all. It serves entirely to thrust the viewer into the frame of mind of an alcoholic chasing the end of the bottle or glass. It is translating a state of being otherwise unfamiliar.
This is a horror film in a way about the horrors of alcoholism and is a true step in the direction of developing the main characters to have deep internal conflicts and push the tension back inside the home. There is a serious exploration of self and the family unit in this time period.
I think we’ll be seeing more of this similar self exploration in the Best Years of our Lives. Billy Wilder got the Oscar nod for this one and claims this movie made people take him seriously for good reason. The film is extremely well shot, again using movements that translate state of mind rather than just story, an extremely taut script that gets us further and further into the head of the main character and an excellent performance that delivers the full experience for us.
The acting is becoming more played out and dramatic. We are also seeing fewer scenes and less overhanging story. Much of the drama comes from INTERNAL STRUGGLE.
THIS SHIFT IS CENTRAL TO UNDERSTANDING 1940’s Cinema in the context of WW2, The GREAT DEPRESSION WROUGHT ESCAPISM and WW2 WROUGHT REALITY.