Welcome to the world of color...and noise and unfocused cameras and humor and violence. We're nearly thirty years removed form The Big Sleep, but we have a private investigator with a familiar name, Philip Marlowe. We'll finish the plot tomorrow but for now give the following three questions your attention:
1. Is this the same Marlowe we saw in The Big Sleep?
2. How does this L.A. compare with that sen in 1946?
3. How are women presented in this film?
This Marlowe is very different then the Marlowe that we see in The Big Sleep. The other Marlowe is much more of a gun slinger. He isn’t afraid of anything and he isn’t scared of anyone. The Marlowe in this movie is much more subtle. While he still mouths off to people he doesn’t pull guns on then or knock them out with karate skills. In fact he is almost helpless when the group of thugs come to his apartment. However he still always looks into things even when people don’t want him to.
ReplyDeleteThis L.A. is very different from the one we saw in the other movie. In this movie it is much more bright. Also there are no random rain storms. However the people seem to be the same from both movies: a group of thugs that push everyone around to get what they want.
Women are treated as if they are very delicate in this movie. None of them stand up to the men. Almost all of them are scared of the men that they were with (except for Marlowe’s neighbors).
The versions of Marlowe in both films are remarkably similar, considering that they live in such different time periods. Both are clever and resourceful, make frequent wisecracks, and won't stop until they find out the truth about a case or a friend's situation. Marlowe from The Long Goodbye goes further with his smart-ass remarks and quirky actions by using them to deliberately annoy and mislead people, while Marlowe from The Big Sleep mostly uses them to impress. In other words, newer Marlowe plays dumb and crazy where old Marlowe never would. Both lack much of a personal life. At the start of the film, Marlowe's only friends are Lennox and his cat.
ReplyDeleteThe Big Sleep takes place mostly in the bars, back alleys, and small apartments of LA with a few scenes in the Sternwood mansion. The LA of The Long Goodbye seems more affluent and naturally pretty since more scenes are shot outside during the day and some take place along the gorgeous beach.
Except for Eileen, the women are presented as silly and merely pretty bodies for the men to look at. Eileen has substance, but she is stuck in a relationship with an alcoholic husband who often disappears. She threatens to leave if he continues drinking but likely would not have the willpower to follow through. With respect to Roger, she is powerless to stop him drinking or bring him home and has to call on Marlowe to help.
For all their similarities, this is certainly not the same Marlowe as presented in The Big Sleep. Marlowe in this film is a wisecracking truth-seeker, but calmer. The Marlowe we knew previously took immediate (and sometimes rash) action and flaunted his intellectual prowess; this Marlowe seems much more removed from the situation, and not so interested in amusing others with his wit as in amusing himself. His quiet manners give the impression he’s talking to himself, making jokes in his head that accidentally slip out. And while the former Marlowe exhibited obvious passion, this new Marlowe seems to hide his emotion behind a fatigued exterior, allowing for an objective perspective: this is particularly evident in the last scene we watched, when Marlowe’s comforting companionship toward Eileen quickly shifts to a cold hunt for the facts. When all is said and done, I think I like this Marlowe better: his restrained curiosity and thoughtful observation only serve to amplify his humor (some jokes were so subtly delivered I almost missed them) and his likability.
ReplyDeleteI like the contrast between rich and poor in this L.A. The varying scenery reflects the multitude of characters we come across: we quickly shift from the beach to Marlowe’s downtown apartment to the roads in the center of town. There’s a much broader picture painted than that portrayed in The Big Sleep.
Many of the women--those next door and the gangster’s girl--are portrayed as not only helpless, but mindless, with vacant eyes and voices and uncontrolled movements. All the women seem to be objects, owned and directed by the men (either by choice or no), though Eileen has a strength of character greater than the other girls: she has an apparent intelligence the other girls lack, and yet still chains herself to a drunkard who beats her, even paying Marlowe to retrieve him when he goes missing. What I find most intriguing about her is that she remains in her husband’s power not out of fear for herself, but out of fear for him: she says the one night she stayed with a friend he destroyed the house and she found him at the bottom of a staircase; and later she’s broken by his suicide. She obviously loves this man, which makes me wonder what he was like before he started drinking for her to stay by his side.
The Marlowe presented in The Long Goodbye has very, very few similarities with the Marlowe we saw before - though still a private detective, interested in pursuing the truth, his entire persona is different. Mellow and pleasant, he'll go out of his way to buy groceries for his neighbors and search for his cat. He makes absentminded but clever commentary about the people and situations around him, though they are not meant to amuse anyone but himself. He seems more interested in justice than the Marlowe of the Big Sleep, but isn't very trusting nor interested in actual legal proceedings.
ReplyDeleteThe city is not only brighter and more colorful (for obvious reasons), but it also has a brighter, more vivid atmosphere. The movement, the people and the places have more vibrant character, more apparent motives and movement. It has more modern commodities, travel is easy and not included unless it has some sort of relevance, and our protagonist could simply waltz his way to a grocery store at three in the morning without being dragged into a dark alleyway, which are all too common place in most noir films.
The women in this film are not presented as particularly strong or intelligent, but much of the film revolves around Eileen. She is important, but often acts simply as a pacifier- both for her dogs and her husband - or a motivator - threatening to leave her husband, requesting aid from and spending time with Marlowe. Phillip's neighbors haven't been important, nor relevant as of yet, and I feel as though they might make a single contribution to the plot before going back to their yoga. The women are generally soft and caught in their own world, not at all the vicious femme fatal that we might have expected.
Both Marlowes are similar with their smart remarks. Both are smart, careful, and dedicated. On the other hand, The Long Goodbye Marlowe uses his remarks to irritate others. While Big Sleep Marlowe uses his wits to climb up a social ladder of women. The settings greatly contrast, from dark bars and night scenes, to sunny beaches and lots of greenery and light. The Women are objects in The Big Sleep, while the women in The Long Goodbye are more fleshed out.
ReplyDeleteThe Marlowe presented in The Long Goodbye and the Marlowe in The Big Sleep is highly similar, although there are small differences. Marlow in the Long Goodbye and Marlowe in the Big Sleep are both very dedicated private investigators that are curious on finding out the truth. Marlowe in the Long Goodbye seems a bit more like a blank sheet of paper. Starting off with the first scene in the movie you can tell he’s extremely bored with his life, especially since the first ten minutes of the film is Marlowe figuring out what to give his cat for dinner. The Marlowe in the Big Sleep seemed more like the typical mysterious guy hiding a gun in his pocket. I think that the biggest similarity between these two characters is the fact that they are driven by finding the truth, which seems to be a common theme in a lot of the films we’ve seen.
ReplyDeleteL.A in The Long Goodbye seems livelier. Although the film is in color compared to black and white, I have gotten the vivid, beach feel that L.A should give in the Long Goodbye. However, there were few scenes where you could actually tell it was L.A. There were a few shots of a beach in the background at times, but other than that, I probably wouldn’t have been able to tell.
The role of women is strange in this film. They seem very distant compared to the men in the film, especially the women that do yoga on their porch. Overall the women seem to be the stereotypical figures for the men to look at. However, Eileen seems to be a bit different. She seems to be more powerful and stand up for herself, even considering she has to take care of her alcoholic husband.
While this Marlowe and the Marlowe we've seen in the past are very different and are in different time periods (and therefore circumstance), they have many similarities. They are both amazing at staying calm and being resourceful. They both work very hard for their goals. I would say that the Marlowe we saw in the Big Sleep may have been a bit more rugged and violent, as there were more scenes where we just saw straight up violence. In this L.A. we saw more basic pretty scenery, as in the Big Sleep a lot of our scenes were held in darker places, like indoors. On top of this, since it was set in more recent times we saw more recent things like newer models of cars. The women in this movie are kind of funny, dolly, and are almost useless and just there as some eye candy.
ReplyDeleteThis Marlowe is definitely not the same as the one int he Big Sleep. This Marlowe is way more subtle and doesn't end up taking so many guns. This Marlowe seems almost imune to feminin wiles. His very "liberated" neighbors make passes at him repeatedly but he just ignores him. I think this L.A is different because of ,obviously, the color but I also feel more scenes were shot outside. I found the scenery as more beachside L.A than tough, gritty, dark L.A. Women are protrayed as comic relief really. They don't drive the plot much at all.
ReplyDeleteI think that this Marlowe has some slight differences from the 1930s Marlowe, however their motives are very similar. I do not think that the Marlowe from The Big Sleep would go out of his way to get revenge on someone for simply making his life difficult, like the Marlowe in the The Long Goodbye. Despite this, they are both driven by curiosity throughout both films, and money does not seem to be a top priority for either.
ReplyDeleteI think that this LA is certainly different from the one in The Big Sleep, but mainly because of the people, not the physical appearance. It is obvious that the times, ones in which drugs were prominent, have had a major effect on the population of Los Angeles. The girls who live next door to Marlowe are the best example of this.
The women in this film are definitely femme fatal characters. This is made clear when Eileen Wade constantly turns to Marlowe when she is distressed. Instead of being able to comfort herself, she seems to always need someone like Marlowe to comfort her.
The Marlowe of this film is a very different character than the Marlowe of the Big Sleep. The new Marlowe had similar motivations, but his methods and reactions to the problems he faced were much different than those of the Big Sleep's Marlowe. He also seems much less interested in the women around him than his predecessor, as evidenced by his lack of interest in his neighbors' constant lack of clothes. I thought the new Marlowe seemed to either lack or not use the detective skills that the first Marlowe demonstrated. He was motivated by emotion, rather than the desire to find the truth that drove the first marlowe.
ReplyDeleteThe two depictions of L.A. were also very different. The second movie focused on two colonies, little establishments that were separated from the rest of L.A. by large fences and a security guard that seemed to let anyone in without any questions. The Big Sleep had several scenes set in the actual city, lending it the gritty, urban feel that characterized other Noir Films.
Women in the two films played surprisingly similar roles. The coke-bottle-to-the-face woman struck me as being remarkably similar to the younger sister in Big Sleep as damsels in distress. Eileen played the role of femme fatale, minus the fatale, paralleling Carmen, though she was much more covert in the way she played Marlowe.
I think the past and present Marlowe differ mainly in their characteristics. In The Big Sleep, Marlowe is more rugged, suave, and serious. Here, Marlowe is more laid back and witty than anything else. I like the Long Goodbye Marlowe a lot more--there's something easy about him, the way he's never worried about the repercussions of his actions or what others think of him. He's a likeable character.
ReplyDeleteThis LA is a lot more jaded it seems like--and since it's fresh off a Vietnam War and Watergate, that comes as no surprise. The LA in Long Goodbye is more corrupt, it seems. While the difference is worth noting, the difference in the respective protagonists' attutides to the city they live in differ. In The Long Goodbye, Marlowe is almost disgusted with the values of his society.This is a contrast to the attitudes of other characters we've observed.
The portrayal of women is somewhat sexist. On one hand, you have the secretive and therefore harmful Eileen; while knowledgeable and somewhat likeable, she is detrimental to Marlowe finding the truth. On the flip side, you have the drug addicts who live next door to Marlowe, who don't add a whole lot of substance to the movie. I understand what Altman was trying to do, and it worked--but in doing so, women aren't portrayed positively.
No it is not the same Marlowe as in the big sleep. 70s Marlowe seemed more vulnerable and less of a ladies-man. He still knew how to talk to women , for example Ilene. 40s Marlowe seemed more focused on business and solving the crime until he fell in love. 70s Marlowe seemed focused on his emotional connections to the Lennox's and solving the crime. The only differences in the 40s and 70s LA to me were the 40s LA seemed busier. The 70s LA was in color which made a big difference too. Women are not really present in big roles, which is very different from The Big Sleep. There was no femme fatale, but there were some strange women. Ilene was not a memorable character.
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