:: Philadelphia City Paper :: Philadelphia Arts, Restaurants, Music, Movies, Jobs, Classifieds, Blogs
Bookmark and Share
ARCHIVES . Articles

April 20–27, 2000

movie shorts

Sunset Boulevard

image image
image
Billy Wilder’s greatest film is his most daring aesthetic tightrope-walk. Forever threatening to spill over into Teutonic melodrama, Sunset Boulevard’s operatic performances and expressionistic lighting raise drama to its highest pitch, resulting in a film exhilarating not only for its devastating anti-Hollywood commentary but for its sheer daring. As Norma Desmond, a silent-film siren turned delusionary shut-in, Gloria Swanson might as well be acting in a silent melodrama, so high-pitched is every movement, but her pairing with the superbly understated William Holden as well as the wistfully sardonic Erich von Stroheim takes the edge off her campy vamping. (Holden, like Fred MacMurray in Double Indemnity, does so much so quietly it’s easy to miss how accomplished his performance is). Though it’s undoubtedly tinged with misogyny — in the last shot, Swanson appears ready to devour the camera — Sunset Boulevard’s influences are more classical than political; Norma Desmond is an elemental power on a level with Medea. Luckily, Sunset Boulevard is one classic film that’s been kept in good shape over the years (maybe Cecil B. DeMille was fond of his performance), so this new print should sparkle as Wilder intended it to.

Sam Adams

Recent Comments
Web Exclusives
RJ Ernst
27, Newtown
Sergeant, Marine Corps
Deployed to Iraq Spring 2005, in Iraq currently
Tim Johnson
50, Port Richmond
Specialist, Army National Guard
Deployed to Iraq Winter 2004 and Spring 2008
Lilliam Bernal
27, Trenton
Second Lieutenant, Army National Guard
Deployed to Iraq Winter 2005
Japandroids
Tue., July 7, 8 p.m., $10, with Matt & Kim and Team Robespierre, First Unitarian Church, 2125 Chestnut St., 866-468-7619, r5productions.com.
Classifieds
Advertisements
 
Search Restaurants


search restaurants by name
search by neighborhood
Search
search by cuisine
Search Movies
title
theater

Search
Search Jobs
search for:
within:   of  
more jobs
(use zip or city, state)
Search
"Great vision without great people is irrelevant."
—Jim Collins, Author,
"Good to Great"
In Partnership with JobCircle
Search Events
Search For:
Category:
Search
Search DJ Nights
keyword:
category
locations
Search
Search Classifieds
Category:
Keywords: Search

Search Real Estate
Search Happy Hours

ALL | MON | TUE | WED | THU | FRI | SAT | SUN

or

LOCATION:

ADVERTISEMENT
- TODAY -
Go see Sheryl Crow perform at the Welcome America concert with the family-friendly masses. Or ... more »»

CCD Sips

Moveable Feast

Date My Text

DJ Nights

Primer



Dish 2008