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| DIRECTED BY |
| Billy Wilder |
| STARRING |
| William Holden |
| Gloria Swanson |
| Erich von Stroheim |
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When someone goes through a phase of deeply contemplative self-examination, they may find themselves drifting over into the darker realm of their being; a sordid environment that holds nothing but pitiful memories. Billy Wilder and his sensational cast managed to do this with 'Sunset Boulevard,' the quintessential example of Hollywood being flipped over onto its back and dissected piece-by-piece.
As a guy who wasn�t born until about 25 years after this film was made, the prospect of watching a film about a neurotic, aged silent film star who�s been forgotten by time didn�t exactly appeal to me. However, the opening sequence of this film struck me as one of the most original I�ve ever seen. We initially hear a standard voice over, telling us about a dead body that we see floating in a swimming pool; I certainly wasn�t expecting the revelation that the body actually belonged to the narrator.
Gloria Swanson�s portrayal of Norma Desmond is one of the most acclaimed in film history, and she serves as the catalyst for Wilder�s attack on the myth of Hollywood celebrity � we�re convincingly shown the irreparable side-effects of not being able to �just let go� of the fame. William Holden is definitely cool as the chain-smoking would-be screenwriter Joe Gilles, who takes advantage of Desmond to make some �quick� cash that turns out to be anything but quick. Practically everything within the storyline works well; the love story subplot falls together surprisingly nicely in the end, even if it does leave the audience feeling a little depressed.
The only substantial complaint that I have with this film is the fact that Joe manages to posthumously narrate the whole story with such a stoic nonchalance, as if everything had worked out well in the end. Personally, after getting shot in the back three times, I�d be too ticked off to be able to do anything but swear a lot.
