Common in film noir are the binary oppositions between characters’ personalities and the visually mesmerizing images which often explode on-screen before the eyes of the audience. The high key lighting of a beautiful countryside, the low key...

The 1920’s and 1940’s were economic boom periods in American history; in the 20’s this was due to the rapid growth of investment in consumer economics, in the 40’s it was due to the increased industrial production demanded to fight world war two,...

The role and subsequent objectification of women in film have prompted extensive debate in modern media and film theory. In particular, many film critics focus on how the female body is often presented as a hyper-sexualized object for viewer...

Among the history of the greatest opening title sequences in film history, Sunset Boulevard is rarely even mentioned. Certainly it lacks the panache of L.A. Confidential, the understated elegance of Raging Bull, the typographical aesthetics of ...

The Graduate and Sunset Boulevard are two films that follow young men who, though clearly talented and intelligent, cannot seem to succeed in the way they wish they could. In The Graduate, Benjamin Braddock, an accomplished twenty-one year old...

Sunset Boulevard: A Fresh Avenue for a Familiar Genre

In Billy Wilder’s 1950 classic Sunset Boulevard, an unwitting male protagonist, played by William Holden, falls into the grips of (and is eventually murdered by) a dangerous and scheming former...

In Billy Wilder’s 1950 film Sunset Boulevard, Gloria Swanson plays a former silent film star named Norma Desmond who lives as a wealthy recluse in order to protect herself from the truth of her irrelevance in the public eye. In the film’s first...

Billy Wilder’s 1950 film Sunset Boulevard--today an acclaimed staple of the noir genre--chronicles the demise of screenwriter and narrator Joe Gillis at the hand of Norma Desmond, a silent film has-been clinging desperately to Hollywood relevance....