Sunset

Complex characters such as Norma Desmond and King Lear are often used to display the effect people have on other’s realities and beliefs. In Sunset Boulevard by Billy Wilder and King Lear by William Shakespeare, complex characters are used to demonstrate how permissive relationships can create the false reality and ultimate madness one may endure. In Sunset Boulevard, Norma Desmond experiences a sheltered life that leads to a state of insanity. While much of this insanity comes from her own state of mind, her butler, Max, is the main enabler of her aberration from society. Max von Mayerling became attached to Norma, and because of this he grew to have an idolized view of her: “‘It was I who asked to come back. I could have continued my career,…

1. The movie Sunset Boulevard follows a writer, a man named Joe who comes across an old mansion while trying to hide his car which is about to be reclaimed because he is unable to pay his bills. Desperate for a job, he starts to read the script of the old Hollywood star that lives in the mansion, Norma Desmond. Norma was once one of the biggest silent film stars in Hollywood, but once talking pictures got popular and she got older, there was less demand for her work, and she has spent the last…

I was always forced to wait until the sun set. My grandmother always tried to get my siblings and I to take a nap in preparation for the night’s festivities, although this was never successful. It was impossible to rest with these feelings of anticipation. I can vividly remember the moments when my grandmother would finally reveal the fireworks from their hiding place in the back closet, only for us to gawk at them on the porch table until dark. Pacing back and forth from the lake to my family…

Sunsets play a huge role in The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton. They are mentioned throughout the book as a symbol that nothing good can stay, which is learned quickly by the greasers in their epic battle to remain superior to the socs. During the story sunsets are mentioned multiple times and each time portray a different or meaning to the characters. As the plot of the novel continues, the sunset show how the gang lives their lives. A sunset is defined in the dictionary as “the time in the evening…

West Hollywood is a city in Los Angeles, California. West Hollywood is known for a variety of things, including the Sunset Strip, its large LGBT population and regular celebrity sightings. Since its earliest years, West Hollywood has earned a reputation for its nightlife and home to emerging artists in the entertainment industry. Based on the city’s history and current demographics, it is suitable for a new live entertainment venue to be established. SWOT Analysis Strengths: One of the biggest…

Joe Gillis: A Character Study Joe Gillis is one of the most interesting characters to ever grace the silver screen, and a character that is still studied to this day. While Gloria Swanson’s historic performance of Norma Desmond garners more attention and praise, I would make the argument that William Holden’s portrayal of Joe Gillis is just as intriguing. Billy Wilder created a character that I have never been so unsure of, he is one of the great examples of the anti-hero. He’s not a great guy,…

1513 Sunset Circle is an address that I will be remembering for a while. It is not that I want to remember it, but trying to forget something that played a role in breaking your heart is a hard thing to do. But, today I get to take a part of what makes him so happy; and by him I mean my rotten, good-for-nothing, lying ex boyfriend. What I am about to do should not something I or anyone else braggs about. In fact, I am pretty ashamed that I considered it in the first place. However, once it…

On Sunset Blvd. at a health food restaurant, the relationship between Annie Hall and Alvy Singer came to an end. Alvy could not face the reality of all of it so he went and wrote a play. He uses this play almost to create a happy ending for himself. The happy ending that ended up being that both Annie and Alvy enter their cars in the health food parking and parting their ways. In the play the character Sunny is a representation of Annie and Arty is a representation of Alvy. It is all opposite of…

Even though film experts still debate what genre it best falls into, the 1950 Billy Wilder-directed film Sunset Boulevard is, in many respects, the archetypal film noir, and is also widely regarded as one of the most brutally honest depictions of Hollywood, by Hollywood. One of the biggest reasons Wilder’s film is viewed as such an exemplar of the film noir movement is its innovative use of lighting effects. Use of lighting can make or break a black-and-white film much more than it can one in…

The New York of the West Coast, the land of dreams and opportunities, the place where hopes come to thrive, because they know that one day, they too will eventually die. I found all this more after the first time that I watched “Sunset Boulevard”, the 1950 film about love, deception, greed, and the inevitable passing of time. Upon my first time viewing the film I found myself on three roller coasters. I kept thinking to myself, “am I the Desmond?” The one stuck in the past, full of regret and…