"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

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.

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.

Gloria Swanson, the actress, was macrobiotic (basically vegan+) and her character, Norma Desmond, gives a funeral for a monkey. 

What was perceived as eccentric in the 1950s could now literally be conceived of as sympathetic.

**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.

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

DeMille directing Samson and Delilah in the background + DeMille is a leo <3

Great way to start Noirvember. This is one of the few Billy Wilder films I had yet to see and boy was it a goodie. Norma Desmond is one of the most iconic golden age characters I've ever come across.

I'm not the biggest fan of Narration as I feel like it can be a scapegoat, but William Holden's narration is seminal in the telling of this movie. He certainly brought flare and charisma to his performance. And the ending actually had me shouting at the screen for not choosing Betty. I selfishly wanted him to win the girl as they say and ultimately his decision is what cost him in the end. Great, timeless flick and I should also mention that Nancy Olsen earned that academy award nomination, she very much felt like the moral compass of the film.
8.8/10

Eeehhhh, da, ali i ne, ali i šta?

- you would have turned down ''gone with the wind''
- no that was me... I said ''who wants to see a civil war picture"

wow the power of this movie!!

Joe is literally the definition of a film bro!!!! Crazy!!!

Woof. What a ride. Loved this a lot. And despite the fact you may know what’s coming early on, it doesn’t take away from that ending. Perfect film really.

Talented, brilliant, incredible, amazing, show stopping, spectacular, never the same, totally unique, completely not ever been done before, unafraid to reference or not reference, put it in a blender, shit on it, vomit on it, eat it, give birth to it.

Yeah I really loved this film and experience, cannot wait to see how I feel in a week, a month, a year from now.

The G-rated screenplay from a 1950s film shouldn't hold up this well

I knew what was going to happen at the end of the movie within the first 10 minutes. I thought maybe the journey on how we got to that point was supposed to be the good part, or that it was going to subvert my expectations. I was excited for an unpredictable ending I couldn’t predict. Instead the movie is almost 2 hours of waiting for an ending you predicted at the beginning. Very disappointing.