Noir genius
Great plot, great acting, great lighting technique.
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MovieChat Forums > The Big Combo (1955) Discussion > Noir genius
Mr brown is the most realistic portrayal of a psychopathic gangster ive ever seen on film.
shareThe Big Combo is very atmospheric with the usual noir style lighting and the cinematography was great within certain scenes in terms of engaging the audience into the world in which the characters habitate.
What struck me about The Big Combo besides from its noir aspects was the portrayal of masculinity. Brown's Henchmen Fante and Mingo were supposively intended to be a homosexual couple whilst Brown himself was once a lowerly prision guard whose Wife limited his masculinity until he became a crime boss. I found it quite unusual to reveal the antagonist's masculinity in such raw fashion.
"I'd rather be hated for who I am, than loved for who I am not".
I thought all of the aforementioned aspects made the film all the more interesting. A former prison guard turned crime boss. The former boss becoming the flunky. The good girl obviously attracted to a man of power, even if he was a crook. The burlesque queen with a thing for the police detective. The gay henchmen. It was ahead of its time and got away with quite a lot. In many ways I'm surprised it passed the film board of review.
Watta ya lookn here for?
Between this and The Big Heat for me, and I love them both in their own ways. This is less violent but a more pure noir. The way it is lit is just something else. We'll never see its like again, which is a shame but there you go.
shareThe film seems to have all of the noir elements: the jazz score that few noirs really had, the superb cinematography, an ensemble of B-movie actors, good vs evil characters each of whom were a mix of the two and concepts that were usually concealed.
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