An important film in the history of film noir, Italian neorealism (even if it doesn’t fit most of the characteristics of the movement), and Italian cinema in general
The beginning of Luchino Visconti’s distinguished career as auteur- and despite fitting into (or starting) these genres and movements, it is his fully his film—a Visconti film—and has much in common with Senso and Death in Venice for example.
Visconti seems to have arrived as a fully formed mature voice as an artist- this is an accomplished work and one of cinema’s great debut films. Visconti did work as an apprentice under Jean Renoir in the 1930’s (on the underrated Toni in 1935 for sure)—and this film has as much in common with Renoir’s La Chienne (1931) as anything else
Giuseppe Rosati operatic and menacing score is a perfect match for Visconti’s vision— it hits you will full force as you start the film inside the truck that drops Massimo Girotti’s Gino off, fatefully, at Clara Calamai’s Giovanna’s (and her husband) shop
After he gets off the truck, Visconti elevates the camera in a crane shot to reveal the setting for the remainder of the movie— like a horror film revealing the haunted house—the shop where Giovanna’s character lives
Visconti is graceful in his camera movements, gliding to catch the unspoken flirtation (which quickly turns to lust between the two).
In his sweat and dirty sleeveless undershirt—Girotti’s aggressive Gino is Brando in Streetcar 8 years before that film
In the scene where the two plot the murder- Visconti pushes the door with the mirror on it open – fantastic little show off touch
There’s an entire paper to be written here on whether this is neorealism or not. It is about the desperation of the poor like Bicycle Thieves. But this isn’t overtly (or overly) sociopolitical. This could be set anywhere at any time (this is an authorized adaptation of James Cain’s The Postman Always Rings Twice in the US). This is before De Sica’s masterpiece (1948) and before Rossellini’s war trilogy (1945, 46, 48) though both had directed films before. It is the first great Italian film of the 1940’s and Visconti’s next film is neorealism—so I think it gets lumped it.
It is much closer to film noir—and I think another paper could be written here. Obviously this film (with Cain’s title sticking) is done again with Lana Turner and John Garfield (and years later with Nicholson) but this is very close to Wilder’s Double Indemnity (which would come in 1944- the following year).
Love, lust, passion – all apparent in many of Visconti’s ladder films- from Senso to Death in Venice– the harmful self-destructive sexual mania
The opera contest at the fair (Carmen I believe) is no mistake. Visconti a great admirer of the opera, worked in opera, and includes it in many films. The scene is masterfully constructed – the husband singing in the background, silent glances and intense conversation—and Visconti with the camera- almost an instinctual ability to know when to go in for close-ups
Most of Visconti’s work after his 1940’s films would lean towards the aristocracy
A gorgeous shot of Gino walking away after punching his friend (and the moral compass of the film) and the night is over. He’s riddled with guilt. The empty road—empty glasses on the table. Only a few minutes later we get a twin shot of Giovanna’s loneliness- she falls asleep surrounded by a pile of dishes as the camera tracks out
One of the single greatest shots in the film is near the end when Giovanna is sitting at the restaurant and she sees Gino is with a new girl. Visconti shows this on Clara Calamai’s face. The camera rotates behind her as she stalks him—genius
Of course the ending is noir (and again- this may be the first film noir), the grizzly final accident. Fate strikes her down and the camera tracks in on a close-up of his face—bloody and beaten—FINE
Lawsuits kept the film out of theaters in the US until 1976
Hopefully Visconti goes up in the ranking, since you no longer consider the Leopard overrated and in general other of his films. You’ll probably tell me that you want it to sink a bit, but would you put it in front of The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp? (film that I have not seen)
@Aldo– Visconti will most assuredly go up in the ranking. I’m not sure on 1943 specifically with Colonel Blimp. Want to wait a little and let this one sink in.
Drake,
I am a huge Visconti fan, Rocco and His Brothers is probably my all time favorite Italian movie and The Leopard is not far behind. I have been dying to see this one again, only saw it once in a college film course we watched it back to back with Double Indemnity (also one of my favorites). I cannot find it though, it’s not on Criterion, or Amazon, or anything else I can find.
Where did you watch it?
@James Trapp- I’m pretty sure it was amazon prime– doesn’t look like it was available now and it wasn’t during my original Visconti study (I skipped it and had to circle back)
Okay, I actually found it now. It is on Amazon, there are 2 versions, one is not available but the other is. The available one is 2 hours flat while the unavailable one is 2 hour 14 min. So the version I can watch is a slightly shorter which is fine (beggars can’t be choosers!)
Just watched this for the first time since a college film course I took 12 years ago.
I liked the choice to not actually show the murder (leaves it up to audience’s minds) and instead just show the aftermath
I thought the pacing was perfect as it takes its time in putting in the motion the events leading up to the actual murder
There’s an interesting dynamic between Gino and Giuseppe (the husband) in that you are simultaneously repulsed by the husband, who is certainly a slob and all around disgusting, and feel bad for him as he takes in Gino gives him food and shelter and Gino “repays” him by killing him
I also have watched Rocco and His Brothers and The Leopard in the past year, Visconti’s range is thoroughly remarkable
As for it being the 1st noir, wouldn’t that be Maltese Falcon (1941)?
@James Trapp– thanks for the contribution to the page here. “I also have watched Rocco and His Brothers and The Leopard in the past year, Visconti’s range is thoroughly remarkable”– spot on here! As for Maltese Falcon being the first noir– although there are some similarities between the detective film and noir genres I think there’s a pretty clear separation. I think with most genre arguments and discussions there are films that absolutely land squarely in the genre (like say Halloween or The Exorcist in horror)– and then there are films like The Silence of the Lambs or Jaws that are often included on the horror list but many would take issue. If Maltese is film noir– it is Jaws or Silence of the Lambs in this scenario at best
Do you view Clara Calamai’s character, Giovanna, as a typical femme fatale?
She seems far less scheming than say the Phyllis Dietrichson character in Double Indemnity (one of my top 10 favorite movies of all time btw)
After all she is granted the life insurance money, even if they are suspicious, and she wants Gino back
I must second James’ belief that The Maltese Falcon is a film noir. In fact, I have never thought of it as anything else. It conforms to virtually all of the hallmarks of the genre. To reach even further, I’d say it is probably more of a film noir than Touch of Evil and many other noir classics. You say that “between the detective film and noir genres I think there’s a pretty clear separation.” I disagree. If detective movies are not film noir, is The Big Sleep not a noir? Is Chinatown not a neo-noir? Would Vertigo not be considered a noir if it was black-and-white? I’ve always believed that Hitchcock’s masterpiece would be the ultimate pillar of the genre in such a situation. Read the beginning of The Maltese Falcon’s Wikipedia page: “The Maltese Falcon is a 1941 American film noir.” Look at the genre decription on IMDb. The first thing written is film-noir (including the unnecessary dash). In the website’s user ratings, the term film noir is used 247 times. One rating is titled “It is the definition of film noir.” See Roger Ebert’s review. One of the tags is film noir. He says, “Some film histories consider “The Maltese Falcon” the first film noir. It put down the foundations for that native American genre of mean streets, knife-edged heroes, dark shadows and tough dames.” One commenter writes, “The character is one of the great femme fatales of the entire genre.” On TSPDT, the film not only appears in the list of 1,000 noir films, but also is marked by a “100” symbol, which the creator of the site says indicates, “These 100 films have been identified, according to my research, as the most mentioned/cited noir films of all-time. Call them the 100 most essential or quintessential, or whatever you like. They are, simply put, the 100 films that most often show up on film noir lists, in film noir festivals, and/or in film noir publications.”
You know much more than me about cinema, yet I simply cannot agree with your claim that The Maltese Falcon is not film noir. Have I provided enough evidence to redirect your notion?
@Graham– I do think it gets thrown in there often– again like Jaws in the horror genre or Silence of the Lambs- ultimately the genre definitions don’t do much for me– we spin our wheels. Does it have more noir elements than many films? For sure. Is it as “noir” as Double Indemnity and Detour? Not even close.
Hopefully Visconti goes up in the ranking, since you no longer consider the Leopard overrated and in general other of his films. You’ll probably tell me that you want it to sink a bit, but would you put it in front of The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp? (film that I have not seen)
@Aldo– Visconti will most assuredly go up in the ranking. I’m not sure on 1943 specifically with Colonel Blimp. Want to wait a little and let this one sink in.
Drake,
I am a huge Visconti fan, Rocco and His Brothers is probably my all time favorite Italian movie and The Leopard is not far behind. I have been dying to see this one again, only saw it once in a college film course we watched it back to back with Double Indemnity (also one of my favorites). I cannot find it though, it’s not on Criterion, or Amazon, or anything else I can find.
Where did you watch it?
Strange. I have it here on Amazon at $2.99 for a rental and $9.99 for a purchase. What country are you in?
US, I actually found it now. Just bought it for $9.99
@James Trapp- I’m pretty sure it was amazon prime– doesn’t look like it was available now and it wasn’t during my original Visconti study (I skipped it and had to circle back)
Okay, I actually found it now. It is on Amazon, there are 2 versions, one is not available but the other is. The available one is 2 hours flat while the unavailable one is 2 hour 14 min. So the version I can watch is a slightly shorter which is fine (beggars can’t be choosers!)
Just watched this for the first time since a college film course I took 12 years ago.
I liked the choice to not actually show the murder (leaves it up to audience’s minds) and instead just show the aftermath
I thought the pacing was perfect as it takes its time in putting in the motion the events leading up to the actual murder
There’s an interesting dynamic between Gino and Giuseppe (the husband) in that you are simultaneously repulsed by the husband, who is certainly a slob and all around disgusting, and feel bad for him as he takes in Gino gives him food and shelter and Gino “repays” him by killing him
I also have watched Rocco and His Brothers and The Leopard in the past year, Visconti’s range is thoroughly remarkable
As for it being the 1st noir, wouldn’t that be Maltese Falcon (1941)?
@James Trapp– thanks for the contribution to the page here. “I also have watched Rocco and His Brothers and The Leopard in the past year, Visconti’s range is thoroughly remarkable”– spot on here! As for Maltese Falcon being the first noir– although there are some similarities between the detective film and noir genres I think there’s a pretty clear separation. I think with most genre arguments and discussions there are films that absolutely land squarely in the genre (like say Halloween or The Exorcist in horror)– and then there are films like The Silence of the Lambs or Jaws that are often included on the horror list but many would take issue. If Maltese is film noir– it is Jaws or Silence of the Lambs in this scenario at best
Okay, I think I see what you’re saying.
Do you view Clara Calamai’s character, Giovanna, as a typical femme fatale?
She seems far less scheming than say the Phyllis Dietrichson character in Double Indemnity (one of my top 10 favorite movies of all time btw)
After all she is granted the life insurance money, even if they are suspicious, and she wants Gino back
I must second James’ belief that The Maltese Falcon is a film noir. In fact, I have never thought of it as anything else. It conforms to virtually all of the hallmarks of the genre. To reach even further, I’d say it is probably more of a film noir than Touch of Evil and many other noir classics. You say that “between the detective film and noir genres I think there’s a pretty clear separation.” I disagree. If detective movies are not film noir, is The Big Sleep not a noir? Is Chinatown not a neo-noir? Would Vertigo not be considered a noir if it was black-and-white? I’ve always believed that Hitchcock’s masterpiece would be the ultimate pillar of the genre in such a situation. Read the beginning of The Maltese Falcon’s Wikipedia page: “The Maltese Falcon is a 1941 American film noir.” Look at the genre decription on IMDb. The first thing written is film-noir (including the unnecessary dash). In the website’s user ratings, the term film noir is used 247 times. One rating is titled “It is the definition of film noir.” See Roger Ebert’s review. One of the tags is film noir. He says, “Some film histories consider “The Maltese Falcon” the first film noir. It put down the foundations for that native American genre of mean streets, knife-edged heroes, dark shadows and tough dames.” One commenter writes, “The character is one of the great femme fatales of the entire genre.” On TSPDT, the film not only appears in the list of 1,000 noir films, but also is marked by a “100” symbol, which the creator of the site says indicates, “These 100 films have been identified, according to my research, as the most mentioned/cited noir films of all-time. Call them the 100 most essential or quintessential, or whatever you like. They are, simply put, the 100 films that most often show up on film noir lists, in film noir festivals, and/or in film noir publications.”
You know much more than me about cinema, yet I simply cannot agree with your claim that The Maltese Falcon is not film noir. Have I provided enough evidence to redirect your notion?
@Graham– I do think it gets thrown in there often– again like Jaws in the horror genre or Silence of the Lambs- ultimately the genre definitions don’t do much for me– we spin our wheels. Does it have more noir elements than many films? For sure. Is it as “noir” as Double Indemnity and Detour? Not even close.
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