Sunset Boulevard

1950 Directed by Billy Wilder

Although this film came out in 1950 it still has an unsettling and timeless core that so many other Hollywood productions want to revisit. Sunset Boulevard comments on the films of Old Hollywood Silent era starlets - of the coming of "talkies" and the degrading of star power. Modern day films like Maxxxine and Babylon can try to mimic the ache for stardom, but this fills exudes it.

It stars William Holden as Joe- a screenwriter who can't pay his bills and is hiding from his debtors. None of his ideas are taken in by his old go to's, and he finds himself hiding out in what seems to be an abandoned mansion on Sunset Boulevard. The gothic scale of the set pieces of the place gives an eerie quality- of the best days behind it. Joe soon finds that there indeed is an inhabitant- Norma Desmond. Norma is a reclusive star from the silent film era who has filled her world with all of the extravagance of a star of that era, without being able to really understand that her life is crumbling around her. Norma is played by Gloria Swanson- herself a star in the 20s Silent Era, and her performance is expressively physical and overwrought.

Joe is hired to edit a script that Norma has written, and so is enticed to stay at the mansion. The more he's there, the more that he's constrained by the world that Norma has set up. They soon are stuck together in some toxic style romance, but more of him becoming a hired gigolo. Because Norma is seen as being so old by Hollywood standards she's going to have to have work done- so this creeping anxiety around death and being forgotten pushes Norma into deranged characteristics like continual rewatching of her old films and putting herself through surgery as she anticipates her new role. Joe however is really inspired by this other woman screenwriter and sneaks out to go work on his scripts.

There's a tragedy within each of these characters- how they simply want to make it big for themselves- and push their sense of self to obtain it. Norma's break with reality becomes fully exposed by the end and the charismatic magnetism of Gloria Swanson's performance pulls the viewer in. I love that her fingertips become a focal point for the eyes- lending a different kind of theatrical style acting that could benefit more modern approaches.

Several moments throughout the film you get to see how artificial the Hollywood backlots are- characters wandering these spaces seem to have their motivation for fame be like the paper thin walls too. For all that much is spoken of great films on most top lists this one doesn't seem to make it into the top 10. that's unfortunate as so many other films start to pull from the cinematic themes present in this movie. By the time the credits are rolling you really feel that the Hollywood system itself is a devasting place to be- a place that decays the soul. X Factor and loyalty have a time limit. The rest is a cruel business.