https://padlet.com/mbattaglia01_2/z30rrgflahurg4i5 Made with panache en-us 2021-02-08 22:15:49 UTC 2025-11-09 23:11:29 UTC hello@padlet.com mbattaglia01_2 https://padlet.com/mbattaglia01_2/z30rrgflahurg4i5/wish/1179647156 To any first time viewers, Sunset Boulevard (1950), by Billy Wilder, may not seem like a film that would be categorized as a Gothic noir. Just by the title of the film and having no knowledge of the film, someone would think this is actually the complete opposite of a Gothic noir. We are immediately introduced to a crime scene showing police rushing to a mansion where an unknown dead man is floating in a pool. Just by the opening scene, the audience is given a feeling that this may show signs of a Gothic noir as a genre for the film. We are first introduced to Joe Gillis, a struggling script writer in Los Angeles. While scrambling from two finance officers he blows a tire and pulls into what seems to be an abandoned mansion, almost similar to a haunted mansion. Gillis discovers an older car in the garage and notices the licence number is from 1932, leading Gillis to believe that is when the owners moved out. Furthermore, the landscaping surrounding the mansion was overgrown and not kept up with. Quickly after Gillis arrives, the audience is introduced to a suspicious woman calling from a balcony, and a man inviting Gillis in. Before there’s a chance to even introduce each other, the woman known as “madame” is giving orders to Gillis on what type of coffin she wants made for her dead chimpanzee. Joe Gillis is able to recognize the woman as Norma Desmond, a previously famous actress who had extreme success in silent films. Desmond offers to help out Gillis by paying off his debt if he helps her review a script for a movie she had been working on. Desmond lets Gillis stay the night where he notices her swimming pool which is empty and filled with leaves. Gillis also notices a group of rats giving way to the Gothic noir. Simultaneously, Desmond and her servant Max bury the chimp in the white coffin she had requested. This all occurs within the first thirty minutes of the film. These are just a few of the many elements suggesting that Sunset Boulevard is a Gothic noir. ]]> 2021-02-08 22:42:52 UTC https://padlet.com/mbattaglia01_2/z30rrgflahurg4i5/wish/1179647156