One of the first things I noticed was the variations of the song "The Last Goodbye" played throughout the film. While the reason is up for debate, as we mentioned in class many believe it is the main character, Marlowe, saying goodbye to his friend after all the trouble he put him through.
The opening credits of a man alone with his cat contrast that of 50s detective films. Yet another genre of film began to change. Smug detectives, always working, saving the damsel in distress now had little work and cared only for his cat. Eileen turned what usually is the helpless woman into a fem fatale by fooling Marlowe.
Marlowe is very similar to Bobby of Five Easy Pieces, he sees people as all the same, takes what he needs from them, and moves on. Very early in the film Marlowe is established as a loner. His carefree attitude is shown by four words he says often "It's okay with me." In fact the only thing he cares about is finding out what happened to his friend.
- The camera is always moving, there are no static shots in the movie.
- Elliott Gould lights a cigarette in every single scene he appears in in the movie, except the last where he visits Terry Lennox in Mexico.
Sources:
IMDB
IMP Awards
IMDB
IMP Awards
Interesting comments, Leslie. Great trivia note about the smoking. While I think there are similarities between Marlowe and Bobby, I think Marlowe cares a lot. He cares so much about his cat that he gets up in the middle of the night, goes to the store, and creates this elaborate ruse to fool him into eating. And perhaps there's something more at stake than wanting to find out what happened to his friend (although he is a P.I. and that comes with the territory.) Any thoughts, anyone?
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