Sunset Boulevard

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…

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,…

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…

Levitt Sunset Boulevard The movie Sunset Boulevard directed by Billy Wilder was very well shot and edited. There was a lot of great shots in the movie, a couple of the great shots was at the New Year's Ball scene and Norma got mad and went up the stairs but it showed through the mirror where she was going it was a really neat shot. Then when they were driving to Paramount and max looked through the rearview mirror to tell Norma what was wrong with her make up. What was neat with that shot was…

want to believe. There is no proof of what was before one’s life or what will happen after one’s death. It all comes down to faith when observing the inexplicable. There is no defined purpose; therefore, an individual creates their own life meaning. Sunset Boulevard (1950), directed by Billy Wilder, is a black and white film, where Norma Desmond, a famous actress of the silent film era, cannot come to terms with her career’s end. Pan’s Labyrinth (2006), directed by Guillermo del Toro, centers…

lighting, non-chronological storylines, and hard-boiled main characters (Barsam 94-96). But, what gave rise to the Genre? Many will argue that is was German expressionism that inspired Film Noir. “The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari” (Wiene, 1919), is a silent film that followed a mentally ill man’s perspective through troublesome times. “Sunset Boulevard” (Wilder, 1950) follows a struggling screenwriter that is put into a unique position when he stumbles upon the house of an old Hollywood star. When…

considerably easy, but attaining that achievement of fame is hard to come by as Norma Desmond knows all too well. She was an impressive silent movie queen, but got caught up in the corruption of success. Billy Wilder’s award winning film of the year 1950, Sunset Boulevard, portrays the theme of corruption of fame. Sunset Boulevard, compared to the films Chinatown and The Maltese Falcon, establishes a greater essence of film noir through the use of black and…

Sunset Boulevard vs. The Great Gatsby What is disillusionment and why is it so significant to American literature? Well, it goes hand in hand with the American dream, which was the concept that you could achieve success and wealth in America by starting fresh. At a first glance this seems ideal. However, as many famous literary works have shown, the American dream is very different from its unfortunate reality. F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby lets its readers into the lives of the 1920’s…

to get others to come to America in search of riches and wealth. Two films that depict various aspects of the American dream are Billy Wilder’s Sunset Boulevard and Mike Nichols’ The Graduate. Whether it is Norma Desmond’s blindsided view of Hollywood or Benjamin Braddock’s search for love from all generations, both of these films suggest the idea that the American dream is rather cloudy. Both Sunset Boulevard and The Graduate use isolation as a way to convey a greater idea about the American…