The Big Sleep (1946)

 Howard Hawks' "The Big Sleep"


After watching Howard Hawks' 1946 film noir "The Big Sleep," I have to say that it is not one of my favorite film noirs. That being said, it was definitely the best Howard Hawks film I've seen thus far. It did not have the typical dark ending that permeates the whole film with bleak darkness, which probably made it a lesser noir for me. In fact, it felt more like a 'studio noir,' if that makes sense.

I'm not going to go into the entire plot of the film, especially because the entire plot is incredibly convoluted. In fact, this was a major strike against the film at the time of its release. Many reported that they could not keep up with what was happening. I've got to say that, for myself, this was the case as well. I found myself having to rewind to figure out what exactly I missed or who was who. However, upon reflection, the convoluted plot may only add to the feverish intoxication of the film. 

Because of how much is going on plot-wise, it seems as thought there is not a single person that isn't out to get something, out to extort somebody, and out to steal anything. It's a film in which there are no good guys, only bad people taking things for themselves. In that sense, the film is bleak - enacting its noir values. Even at the end, its a little unclear who the real killers was. Many confess it to being an accidental death by one of the characters, but our protagonist is still completely unsure of that information's viability. Despite not being fully keen on the details, our protagonist tells the police it was the gangster, Eddie Mars. He does this to protect his love interest from black mail, even though Eddie may not be the killer. So really, our protagonist has sunken to the depths of exploitation and lies to selfishly get what he wants, making him no different than the other characters in the film. 

Because of this convolution of entrapment, blackmail, murder, and a tangled web of lies and uncertainty, the blackness of "The Big Sleep" is still felt, despite having a seemingly more 'heroic' final ending in which our protagonist goes out unscathed. I've got to say that I still really enjoyed the film, despite it not living up to the echelons of most other film noirs.



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