Theme Of Manipulation In Femme Fatale

Film noir is a genre commonly known to feature the character of the femme fatale. The femme fatale is a seductive woman who knows how to manipulate, influence and charm the “Hero” in the film which is mostly known as a male. The women are able to manipulate the men and often lead them into compromising, dangerous, and deadly situations. In the film double indemnity directed by billy wilder we see this theme of manipulation and influence happening between walter and phyllis. In the meeting scene that i studied we can see an interaction of film techniques showing the manipulation and influence phyllis has on walter. The theme of manipulation and influence is developed in the scene using a low angle shot, high angle shot, body language and dialogue film techniques.

The scene starts with Walter trying to sell insurance. He is greeted by the maid and pushes his way through the door. When he gets inside he …show more content…
This Sort of manipulation was going on around the world around the 1940-50s. Women were starting to gain more power. An example of this was women gained the right to vote around the world giving them power of authority. Another example of this is the contraceptive pill came out, Allowing women to have sex freely with out wanting to have a baby. This allowed women to use their sexual appeal to seduce men into doing what they wanted. Women started to try fight for equality in the workplace and other places. Man started to fear for their place of power because they had always been in the dominate person and now it 's getting taken away from them. Wilder used these these film techniques to help the audience understand The femme fatale and how women were able to manipulate with their sexual appeal to get men to do what they wanted. In the film Phyllis makes walter become obsessed with her and made him fixate on her anklet she was eating in the film, she did this to draw him in and manipulate