Film Breakdowns - The Big Sleep (1946)

Film Breakdowns - The Big Sleep

To become the best, we have to learn from the best. 

The Big Sleep is about a private eye, who after taking a job from an old man in a wheelchair, finds himself mixed up in a murder and a love affair with the old man's daughter.

Let's begin breaking down my favourite frames from the film that encapsulate what I think are some of the pivotal points of importance in the story. 

Let's get started!

Lovely framing on a shot of the butler bringing the soon to be revealed private eye to the general. The shut doors look like bars on a cage to imprison him. The doors give a sense of foreshadowing as he is soon to feel quite trapped in this upcoming murder mystery.

The frame of the bed within the frame is like a small box of security and safety. The white room contrasts with the detectives black clothes to show a dynamic between purity and darkness. It also presents how we should see the drunken woman as a sort of innocent victim.

The woman plays a submissive role within this frame with the detective looming over her. She seems very comfortable in this frame so it says to me that she is letting him think that he is in control because she wants him to do something for her or not suspect her of something. Just from the composition, I distrust her.

Foggy set with strong key lights make a beautiful and well composed shot. The shadows of windows on the walls add texture and the frame within the frame creates an almost separate area to where the detective is.This is the first time our hero has been truly vulnerable, this is a dark time for the detective.

The woman slumps into the chair making her a submissive character by size. She is also slightly in shadow while the detective is completely lit. I think this is fitting as she is keeping secrets so she is almost hiding from the situation. Her body language screams "get me out of this mess."

As the poor young man is about to be killed by this hit man, he is shown in this very closed off frame through the door as a POV of the detective. Not only that but he is being towered over by the hit man. In this pic, he is completely and utterly in a state of surrender.

 Here the detective looks over the body of the young man who was killed. The realisation sets in that he stood idly by while someone else was killed just to save himself potential death and to get more information. He is irrelevant at this point. It matters that the detective knows he is dead. Even in death, he is less than important.

In one of the last and most memorable scenes, we see the detective tied up and betrayed by the woman he was beginning to love. Imminent death awaits him when the men get back. He is shrinking in the frame under the backstabbing women and yet he is calm and cool. This shows us that despite all this, he has a plan and he knows what he is doing.

This is one of my top five film noir easily, the character of the detective is such a great one that I named the detective in my film noir short film "The Big Game" after him. A man of unparalleled greatness on the boss scale. No one messed with this man and stays concious to tell the tale. The story itself is one that was in places predictable but what story isn't? A must watch for anyone, film noir fan or not.