Double Indemnity - Cinematography

Perhaps one of the most quintessential examples of classic film noir is Billy Wilder's 1944 movie Double Indemnity. The story itself epitomizes the genre alone, following the dangerous affair between the desperately and lonely femme fatale, Phyllis Dietrichson, and a naive insurance agent, Walter Neff, who falls into her deadly plot to kill her husband. But story aside, every moment on the screen captures the audience with its brilliant use of black and white cinematography. Not only do these cinematic choices set the standard for the tone of the film, but they also reveal deeper meaning for the characters and situations.

The mere placement of characters in the frame is a consistent and non-accidental choice Wilder makes throughout the film. Every shot has meaning and purpose. For one, when Walter first laid eyes on Phyllis and immediately fell head over heels for her, he was standing at the foot of the steps looking up at her, while she was standing behind the railing on the balcony overlooking the foyer. Not only does the railing separate them physically, but the shot sets her up as being the dominant one in the relationship (almost as if set on a figurative pedestal) that continues to play out in the film. The shot also separates them by status: he works hard to get his money and lives in a one bedroom apartment, whereas she lives off her husband's wealth, lounging around her mansion all day. Another shot that's consistent throughout the film is the way in which they must meet. Since their affair must be kept secret to save their reputations, they meet in the grocery store and are at most times, separated by shelves of food. This could represent the fact that while they are in this plan together, they are not on the same page. We later find out the Phyllis was just using him to get to the money, and Wilder's choice to conceal the bottom half of her face in shots behind the shelves makes this more evident. And perhaps one of the most powerful shots of the film occurs near the end when Walter's boss, Barton Keyes, finally realizes what Walter has been up to and he goes to his apartment to confront him. The shot happens when Walter and Phyllis are leaving, but Barton appears. Phyllis hides behind the open door and Barton stands on the other side, with Walter in the middle. Not only does the shot create tension for the audience (i.e. will Barton find her hiding?), but it parallels what's going on inside Walter's character. Here, he's literally and figuratively torn between two opposites: living a life of crime with the woman he's fallen for, or returning back to the normal life and job he has with his boss.

Finally, Wilder makes a great deal of aesthetic choices that help correlate the characters with the actual lighting in the film. For instance, the use of shadows is extremely prominent in the film noir genre. This could be because it sets the tone for mystery and suspenseful drama. While that tone is apparent in this film, the use of shadows is also a way to convey character motivation, especially on the part of Phyllis. In the scene in which she is driving her husband around, the audience knows that Walter is hiding in the backseat, waiting to strangle him from behind. When he finally does the deed, the camera cuts away from the initial murderous action to show Phyllis' face, half hidden in the shadows and half illuminated from the streetlights. This shot is so powerful because it is so dark and jarring and we can sense that she's an evil person on the inside, but she smirks while it happens, which makes it even more impacting. And lastly, many of the shots in the film that make it so unique is the way Venetian blinds and moonlight/sunlight play off a character, particularly in the final scene in which Walter and Phyllis confront one another. The moonlight seeping through the Venetian blinds in the dark room not only shows us that something bad is about to happen, but that people never are who they say they are, especially Phyllis. The crisscrossing pattern formed on her character from the blinds exhibits her deeply rooted and disturbed psyche that one needs to unravel to discover and even understand.