Mildred Pierce Analysis

Mildred Pierce, directed by Michael Curtiz in 1945, as well as The Lady from Shanghai, directed by Orson Welles in 1947 are both considered a film noir. These films are considered to be a film noir because of its dark and eerie lighting, its use of night club scenes and also the narration voice over that starts in the beginning of the film. From the beginning of the film until the end of the film the main characters, Mildred and Michael are both sent on a series of unfortunate events. From Mildred’s younger daughter death to Michael being framed for a murder. Film noir’s are said to have “unhealthy relationships” and a huge paranoia sense to the films. Mildred Pierce could easily be depicted as a women’s film because it, unlike other film noir’s center around men. However, it displays the same elements like low-lighting, narrative and betrayal. This film unlike the usual film noir doesn’t provide us with the typical housewife agenda that we have been used to. It is a different take on women in post-war. She learns how to do everything herself. In Orson Welles’s The Lady of Shanghai we are introduced to a newer concept called Femme Fatale, being Rita Hayworth’s character. In film noir the men are usually betrayed by these “femme females” however, in Mildred Pierce, Mildred was the one that was betrayed by no one else but her …show more content…
Rita Hayworth’s character Elsa, (a femme fatale) cares for the writer, Michael but will also use him for personal gain. She is however destroyed at the end of the film with an intriguing sequence of mirrors. Elsa unlike Veda shows a little compassion for what she has down throughout the film, which is said to be typical for these femme fatales. At the end of this film Michael, even after realizing everything she has done is still very much interested in