1) During the Coen Brothers presentation, our panelist mentioned for us to keep an eye out for the fish. Were the fish meant to represent anything? Or were they just used as a device to show how much time had passed (as they decayed)?
2) Although this was the first Coen Brothers movie I was struck with how similar this was to some of their later works. Some scenes that reminded me of their later films: Private Investigator drove an old VW Bug, just as in The Big Lebowski. The looming incinerator reminded me of the wood chipper in Fargo. The hotel room that Abby and Ray had their tryst in at the onset of the movie looked EXACTLY like the Texas hotel rooms used in No Country For Old Men. What other similarities can be found?
3) What elements of noir does this film possess?
Evil all happens at night. Silhouettes and low light situations used throughout. Everyone is immoral. Many extreme close-ups and abnormal camera angles. Others?
4) There was a 10-minute or so stretch of the film with no dialogue (from when Ray discovers Julian's body to when Ray returns to Abby's apartment after burial). I found the use of sound in this stretch to be particularly effective.
5) What was the point of Visser taking the "Employees must wash hands" sign? Was he just being mischievous?
6) Was Abby a Femme Fatale?
We talked about use of sound in the film, but didn't mention the source music (pre-existing songs, etc.). The bartender puts on the Four Tops "It's the Same Old Song" in the film, which returns at the end of the film. Anything we should make of that choice?
ReplyDeleteI apologize if this is redundant, I know I answered this, but some posts seem to disappear, hmm? Anyway, I thought the song related literally to the "same ole story" (cheating, suspicion, etc). It's just new names and faces. There may be some new twists and turns in retelling a story and the fact that the characters are different, but in the end, it's still just the same thing.
DeleteI liked the sound of the film and how it turned into part of the film's soundtrack. For instance, when Abby's dog is running to her and we hear the dog's panting which then becomes Abby's frantic panting, I believe, when her husband finds her. The piano theme that was used in the film reminded me of a scary movie piano theme such as Halloween or The Exorcist. It's interesting and brought up in discussion how Abby isn't a femme fatale but the last girl or the survivor in the horror movie genre.
ReplyDeleteTo answer your question about the dead fish. It was supposed signify that the husband caught more than Visser. Visser didn't kill anyone or thing (at this point) and Marty did.
ReplyDeleteAs far as the music, I think it's interesting in the title. Maybe just the Coens making fun of it a bit. It's the same of type of film, perhaps. On the other hand, I thought it made the film more circular; it begins where it ends.
About whether Abby was a femme fatale. I would say in the traditional sense, no she wasn't because most of the femme fatales we saw in the previous films were generally cunning and manipulative. They knew what they wanted and how to go about getting it. Usually through manipulation and sexual allure. However in Abby's case she was pretty much in the dark about what was going on in most of the film. She is more or less seen as a femme fatale by the men in the film due to her infedility which brings up the question of her ability to be honest. A femme fatale is driven whereas Abby was just more of an unhappy house wife trying to separate from her borish husband.
ReplyDeleteAbby was not Femme fatal, I agree with you because through out the movie Abby was kind of trying to save herself from unhappy relationship she was involved in with her husband and did not even know if her husband was death or alive but when she realized Femme fatal instinct came upon her and she finally kill the detective.
ReplyDeleteIn both Double Indemnity and Out of the Past, the femme fatales attempt to invoke sympathy with the audience and male lead by stating that they are in horrible relationships. Does this make either Evelyn or Kathie less of a femme fatale? Or does it make them more so, since they are using this to manipulate the man?
DeleteEveryone keeps mentioning that Abby was not a femme fatale because she was unaware of a lot of the action in the film, but I would argue that there are aspects of Abby’s character that DO encourage the title of femme fatale. For instance, there is her final scene in the film, where she—all of the sudden—sheds all of her innocent-seeming actions and becomes a gun-wielding bad ass. Then there is her very intentional infidelity and her relationship with Ray, where (I would argue) she uses her femininity to manipulate Ray into doing what she wants.
ReplyDeleteThough not blatant femme fatale like leading ladies Faye Dunaway in Chinatown or Barbara Stanwyck in Double Indemnity, there are moments where I think Frances McDormand’s Abby is a version of a femme fatale. I think this is a very pointed and intentional move by the Coen Brothers to create a movie that challenges the noir formula. Like I mentioned in class, in all the other films there is the inclusion of windows with the Venetian blinds drawn, creating a look that is prison-like and also functional . . . they are used to hide the character’s dirty deeds. In Blood Simple, most of the windows in the film are wide open, not a blind or shade is used to hide the action. Instead there is light shed on the arcane nature of the characters and their misdeeds. In essence, the filmmakers are shedding light on the noir, creating a new commentary on a typical drama, one that seems to be stating that perhaps human nature and people’s intentions are not that mysterious. Or perhaps they were saying that they are hiding nothing in the intention of the characters they are portraying. If this is the case, then Abby can depict a new type of femme fatale that does not rely on intrigue and cunning to become an independent woman who can commit dirty deeds. Though her character is earnest and unassuming, she is still a killer, still manipulating, and still an object of desire . . . just not by the typical conventions of older noirs. I believe this is the point of Blood Simple, to challenge the old conventions of the noir and bring new elements into the genre (if you can call it a genre).
Regarding Visser and the bathroom sign:
ReplyDeleteWhen Marty went into the bathroom, he took the "Employees must wash hands" sign and placed it in the envelope in place of Visser's 'murder' photograph. He then gave the envelope back to Visser. After Visser left (thinking he had the photo) Marty then placed the photograph into the safe - sorta as insurance.
Later in the film, while destroying evidence, Visser discovers he had been tricked by Marty and he returns to the bar to retrieve the photo and attempts to break into the safe.
-PK-
Thank you! That makes sense, I don't know how I missed that.
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