THE KILLING

Having heard virtually nothing much about The Killing (forgetting most of what was said in a biography on Kubrick I read a year ago), I didn't know what to expect. I think this was one of his first movies, and seeing that it was supposed to come from a person with little experience, I was surprised and excited that I was watching one of the best movies I have seen. While it certainly doesn't reach the heights of some of his other masterpieces, this work shows someone who understands cinematic medium and who is also a visionary. The way the story works is employed decades later by none other than Quentin Tarantino (though not with a voice over). But the film works on its own because it is so well put together. The suspense is built up very dramatically and tightly over the under 90 minute running time. The film also contains a great deal of humour because it is such a self aware noir film. In fact, in a time when noir was popular - it was light hearted enough to wink at convention, play at them with brilliance and maintain such an effective storyline and suspense. Only a great director could pull off such a picture. There's enough Noir convention in this film to make you realise how many he must've watched before the film. There are the traditional power angle shots (played out so craftily in the reverse angle relationship between I think Sherry and George), the instant rain (which I can't help but feel was a comic effect) and a femme fatale. But Kubrick's sense for the visual and some deft casting meant a strong cast with lots of room for exceptional performances. This transforms this rather standard heist flick onto another plane altogether. While Out of Sight was seen as a top notch film - it pales in comparison to this tightly written and executed piece - and the characters in this film were as interesting as those in Out of Sight. Another Noir feature is the presence of females within the action. Always lurking behind a noir film is the female - and Kubrick, always having been fond of Freud, or at least of psychology plays it up in this film (many of the humorous moments come from this). The motivation of many of these men are women. Whether it's the man who loves his wife and needs to buy her affection, or the man whose wife is sick. All in all, an excellent start to the retrospective. The next films Paths of Glory and Lolita I have yet to see, so I'm obviously looking forward to seeing them - but even the one's I have seen, I am also looking forward to. Another thing - some of the race track photography is outstanding, and this film gives a hint of Kubrick's long tracking style, low angles (part of noir genre, but used in this film significantly) and unique lighting patterns. It'll be interesting to see how they're built on as we watch the retrospective in chronological order.

90/100