A Filmmaker's Review: "Key Largo" (1948)

"Key Largo" is a brilliant film with Humphrey Bogart yet again portraying the amazing emotionally detached almost byronic hero who tries to save the hotel from being taken over from the villainous and machiavellian gangster that is portrayed by Edward G Robinson. Directed by the legendary John Huston, it creates the perfect atmosphere for the noir genre and breaks the entire genre wide open for future films in the same realm. Personally, I think that this is Edward G Robinson's greatest performances because the man, in this film, is genuinely scary. But then again, it is such a different role to say "The Woman in the Window" - so you can definitely see the range of acting talent he has.

Humphrey Bogart, as we all know, is one of my favourite actors so I am biased to thinking that he played the role perfectly. But then again, he is clearly also trying to perfect the role he has been playing in other films - the emotionless, socially detached byronic hero role. In difference to his roles in films such as "The Treasure of the Sierra Madre" though, he portrays the character who is in the position of power and honestly, I think that he does both in brilliantly and has perfected both of them almost perfectly. In "Key Largo" he definitely has a great script to work with and he really becomes immersed in the role so much that you can really believe in him during the points that he is confronting the gangster and even when he is calming Lauren Bacall.

Which brings me on to one of my favourite actresses of all time, Lauren Bacall. Lauren Bacall does not have your typical woman in distress needing the help of the hero role here. Instead, she portrays this woman who definitely has her own character and personality, she is at times even confrontational and strong. She does her best to hold herself together and Lauren Bacall acts this really well and even in the modern day - I have seen actresses try to copy this performance alongside Ingrid Bergman's character in "Gaslight" (which is my favourite female performance of all time). But Bacall had a great script, had some great lines and delivered them with so much talent that alongside Humphrey Bogart, you can really get involved with the story to the point you get lost in it. This is totally due to these three actors: Humphrey Bogart, Lauren Bacall and Edward G Robinson.

John Huston’s directing has always been a point of inspiration for me. I have seen every John Huston film more than once at this point because every time you watch his films you can definitely learn something about how the atmosphere has been purposefully placed in order to illicit a certain response from the audience. I think that one thing that is very important about this film is the way in which the weather is used. The thunder, the lightning, the hotel near the water. The fact that there are even boats involved and seriously, there is a sense of danger put forward by all of this so much that you would not even think that anyone was going to get out of there alive if you were watching it for the first time. I feel like thanks to his directing, there is a brilliant sense of atmosphere put alongside the script as well. In terms of the script, there are lots of confrontational scenes in which one character is basically about to fight another character. The entire atmosphere that leads up to this is brilliant that when it happens, you would feel like you cannot take your eyes off the screen.

In conclusion, I can honestly say that this is one of the best films that I have seen in a long time because there is a certain way of the story that we are familiar with, told in an unfamiliar style and complete with characters that are away from the normal tropes of character. However, we also have a brilliant director, some incredible acting and even a script that has been written especially to show us the way in which atmosphere and confrontation can have a massive impact on the viewer response.