Saturday, July 08, 2006:

Sunset Blvd. (1950)

Sunset Blvd.
Sunset Blvd., dir: Billy Wilder
Comments:
The canonical shot (off the DVD cover) actually isn't in the film; when she makes her final descent the stairs are crowded with people (and the stairs don't curve how they do on the cover; they go up counter-clockwise in a continuous single curve). There is no S-shape to it.
 
 
What a great idea for a blog! Some of my favorite movie staircases are in Godard, especially Alphaville (http://www.geocities.com/annakarinawebpage/Alphaville6.html )and Contempt (http://www.hipatia.no.sapo.pt/mepris16.jpg). I seem to remember a really interesting rickety wooden staircase in Welle's version of The Trial, too, though I may be mistaken. There's a great one in Metropolis, too (http://www.leninimports.com/metropolis_42big1.jpg).
 
 
Ah, I need to catch up with Godard. I've had much the same feeling about his work as Bergman in that snippet of interview that Girish posted: I feel like I just don't "get" the films, though I keep trying them.

Thanks for the recommendations.

There are also countless good shots of stairs in Hitchcock: Rebecca, Shadow of a Doubt, Notorious.... I'll be posting those sooner or later.
 
 
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