The Maltese Falcon

NICOLE CLEWLEY

THE MALTESE FALCON

NOIR

1941

DIRECTED BY JOHN HUSTON

In this analysis of The Maltese Falcon, I will be looking at the good and the bad of the film. This film was released in 1941. Just two months after the release of the film there was an attack on Pearl Harbor. Soon after the attack The United States entered the 2nd world war. I call the movie release the calm before the storm.

The film opens with shots of the bridge in San Francisco to indicate that San Francisco is the backdrop of our movie. This is a crime movie that showcases many instances of intense music.

I wasn’t thrilled at all by the cinematography. The scope was not wide enough for me to enjoy the details of each scene.

It is understandable what the screenwriter is trying to portray but most of the story seems to get lost in the dialog. The acting was wonderful, but the characters spoke so fast at times that I couldn’t understand everything they were saying.

There were multiple aspects of this film that made you feel emersed into the film such as the relationship between the characters. Our main characters are Sam Spade and Ruth Wonderly. Their relationship begins as a contract for hire when Ruth asks Sam and Sam’s partner Miles Archer to investigate the disappearance of her sister.

Tragedy strikes early in the film, and Miles is murdered. With the murder comes many unanswered questions. As this noir moves deeper and deeper we see the truth start to unfold. There are many twists in the film. Everyone is lying. I was kept on the edge of my seat at some of the movie as the intense music played while the camera panned.

I like that the timeline of the film was straight forward and there were no flashbacks. I believe the lightning could have been better. I had a hard time with this movie. Though the

story was great I couldn't understand a lot of what was said as most of the characters spoke

too fast. The special effects could have been better. I wish the cinematographer used a wider

angel camera as it was hard to see the blurry back images when the camera was focused on

the front actors. I must admit that the actual acting made this film great. All in all I rate it high,

though there were a few places it fell short.

I will say that I was pleasantly surprised at the twisted end to the film. I honestly didn’t see it coming. Yes the falcon was a statue but to me the movie wasn’t at all about the object. It was about everyone around it. I like how foolish some of the characters are. There was a particular scene of the movie that made me laugh out loud. A man proceeded to rob our detective and was knocked out in defense. When he came to, our detective gave the man his things back. The funniest part was the man asked for his gun back and got it. Once he got it he proceeded again to rob the detective. It is something small but stupid. It got my attention long enough to actually enjoy the movie more than I believe I would have.

I try to watch films with a critical eye but also keep an open mind. I find that I like films that make me feel immersed Into the characters world. Though this was a good story, I did not feel attached to any of the actors. I didn’t feel like this was a real world story.

I can compare this film to todays women. Unfortunately, some people still have ulterior motives and take advantage of the fact that men are creatures of habit. They tend to sexualize themselves to con and scheme to get what they want. What they don’t realize is that men can easily fall in love but so can they.

Men are not dumb. There are many men who scheme woman as well. This film proves that. I believe I will rewatch this movie to try and connect more with it as I feel it has a lot of potential to learn from it.