"For a long time I wanted to do a comedy about Hollywood. ... Instead it became a tragedy of a silent-picture actress, still rich, but fallen down into the abyss after talkies. 'I am big. It’s the pictures that got small.' I had that line early on. Someplace else I had the idea for a writer who is down on his luck. It didn’t quite fall into place until we got Gloria Swanson."
- Billy WilderSunset Boulevard has its comical elements but it truly is a dark tragedy about the fall of a once famous silent movie star. And not just a regular star, one of the most famous of all, Gloria Swanson. She was once in command of an entire studio and was the queen of silver screen. Wilder mentions that Sunset Boulevard did not quite fall into place until Swanson agreed to join the cast. Her exact words were "I must do this". Her enthusiasm exemplifies what the film is poking fun at: the Hollywood system and the people in it. I feel as though this must of been Swanson's easiest role to play in her life, herself in every shape and unstable reminiscent form.
The aesthetic of being in black and white works in the films favor since all of Swanson's silent pictures were in black and white. Sunset Boulevard looks like a noir crime film despite only two scenes involving the police, the opening scene and the last. The combination of the use of lighting and the gaudiness of the house make up the feel of the film. Even the pacing is similar to a crime film where there seems to be a pause at the end of each key sentence where the characters just stare and contemplate the horrors that will inevitably occur but they cannot pin point what they will be. Joe Gillis knows from the start of entering that house that something bad is going to happen to him, but he waits it out anyway. He even lowers himself to emptying ashtrays at a bridge game filled with forgotten silent movie stars. The entire film is shot and cut to give the sense like something is about to happen without building too much suspense on purpose.
Now Wilder initially wanted to make a comedy about Hollywood but any comedic elements of Sunset Boulevard warranted a mere chuckle which was quickly followed by a bit of pity for both Swanson's character and Holden's. They were both desperate and lost in a changing world. There is a scene when they visit the studio that illustrates this. Swanson is recognized by the older workers and actors but is not by the new. Even her car is older and stands out in this new time. I enjoyed the film for its historical weight. I feel it is a film all film majors and enthusiasts should see but does not come close to my top film list. Wilder's line "I am big. It is the pictures that got small" sums up the tragedy of the film.
References:
-http://www.theparisreview.org/interviews/1432/the-art-of-screenwriting-no-1-billy-wilder
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