"I am big! It's the pictures that got small!"

Masterfully snappy dialogue like only Billy Wilder and the golden age of 40's and 50's film-noir can deliver. A comeback performance from Gloria Swanson to redefine the very notion of a comeback (I still can't get over how expressive her face is). Incisive commentary on the process of filmmaking which extends to the real lives of its cast and crew (Gloria Swanson returning to film as Norma Desmond returning to film; Erich von Stroheim, the director of Gloria Swanson's early films, as Max von Mayerling, the director of Norma Desmond's early films). Prescient awareness of the critical lack of genuinely new stories two decades before anyone would use the term "postmodern" to describe literature. A truly one of a kind film.

Top 10 Film Noir | Metacinema
List of Shame | The Rewatch List

I watched this back in September and toootally forgot to log it. I guess...that says something about the film? Was consistently entertained and invested throughout but never found myself extremely blown away by anything. Maybe I wasn’t in the right mood that day?? Perhaps I’ll give it a rewatch. 

SORRY

A re-watch to prepare to be a guest on an upcoming podcast episode. But watching this once again reminded me of just how well crafted it is. I love the insider film references, (like Erich von Stroheim playing the film he actually directed starring Gloria Swanson.) Plus the way it’s both a product of the time in which it was made (you can see how the studio system was starting to falter) and how it shows the way many silent film stars were pushed to the side when they couldn’t make the transition to sound. There’s also plenty to dig into around ageism, sexism, the price of fame and mental health. This is a film I get more from every time I watch it.

100

A final image can be ambiguous or illuminating, ill-defined or razor-sharp, but Billy Wilder takes a moment of supreme clarity and showcases it through gradual opacity; a star slowly succumbing to an out-of-focus recreation of the glory days, one which is, in actuality, confined to a homicidal reality. Ah, showbiz.

**Part of the Best Picture Project**

What a difference several years makes after having last seen a film!

As a younger still growing lover of film, when I first watched this, I merely watched it from a superficial standpoint. I enjoyed the "behind the scenes" aspect of the film, as well as the deteriorating mental state of Swanson's Norma Desmond.

But many years later, I am able to understand who Max was played by and why it was significant, as well as the many cameos (Shit, Buster Keaton!) and references.

Then there's Wilder's direction, which comes to employ silent film technique more and more as the film goes on and Norma Desmond's mental state begins to collapse, which serves as a contrast to how much more grounded William Holden's subplot is.

This is why revisiting films is important.

A re-watch to prepare to be a guest on an upcoming podcast episode. But watching this once again reminded me of just how well crafted it is. I love the insider film references, (like Erich von Stroheim playing the film he actually directed starring Gloria Swanson.) Plus the way it’s both a product of the time in which it was made (you can see how the studio system was starting to falter) and how it shows the way many silent film stars were pushed to the side when they couldn’t make the transition to sound. There’s also plenty to dig into around ageism, sexism, the price of fame and mental health. This is a film I get more from every time I watch it.

Whoa, Norma was completely batshit crazy by the end there. There’s so many quotable lines and I’m glad to finally hear them in context. 

Also, poor Betty.

I've seen this before but didn't realize Gloria Swanson was basically playing a super desperate version of herself. That made it a little more interesting, and she's great, but...welp that's all I got.

Resolvi assistir sem pretensão nenhuma e acabou sendo um dos melhores filmes que eu já vi.
Uma aula de roteiro e fotografia que fazem com que o filme flua perfeitamente e não se torne cansativo nunca.

A good ole classic black and white movie because I’m trying to be ~artsy~
A good movie, ya know, context wise! Corny (but not corny for 1950) narration from a writer and an interesting main character. 
I’m sure the Academy nutted when they read this script because it’s all about Hollywood and the struggle with reality
Love plot.............I always ask.....do we need it.....does it make sense....anyway the female characters are relatively well written (despite there being 2 [✌️]) and the plot is interesting and not what I expected!

Che angoscia.

Completely delirious.

"Let's make it gay!"
"It was all very queer. But queerer things were yet to come."

i know that's just how they talked back then but it's still funny

Flickchart ranking: 244