Reframing Noir

Good morning Consumers, This is Please Consume, the newsletter that loves movies more than Harrison Ford loves crashing planes. 

Honestly, I can’t believe it’s taken us this long to do an A24 week.

And with the release of Priscilla, it’s the perfect time to take a look at the films we love from this studio.

With so many hits to choose from this was a harder task than expected, but we’re stoked about the ones we chose.

So without further ado here are our selections for A24 Week!

 Under The Silver Lake (2018)

Written by Tom Fortner

In A24’s long list of acclaimed films, Under The Silver Lake remains a rather obscure entry.

It’s easy to see why. The film is a labyrinth, a story that takes a robust amount of investment and attention to detail. It’s also one that maybe doesn’t really pay off.

I say maybe because I actually really like this movie, but I feel like it doesn’t achieve what it’s trying to go for.

I know that doesn’t sound very encouraging for the rest of the email, but if I can say anything about Silver Lake with any amount of certainty, it’s that this movie is fascinating and deserves to be watched and, dare I say it, studied closely.

So let’s dive into that.

Reframing Noir

The first thing to note about Silver Lake is that it is a noir. It follows a young man, Sam, (Andrew Garfield) who, after discovering that his pretty neighbor has gone missing, embarks on a conspiracy inspired journey to find her through the underbelly of L.A..

Now, this might not sound like a noir to you and I understand that. This isn’t the type of hard boiled dramas we get with Humphrey Bogart or Fred MacMurray. It’s very modern in its approach and actually, despite its fantastical, far-reaching, conspiracy riddled plot, takes a realistic approach to the genre.

It does this mainly through Sam, who is, to use a rather broad term, a loser. He is! The film has no interest in twisting this aimless, out of work, lazy guy looking for a pretty girl into anything but what he is: a creep.

You don’t get this with the classic 40s and 50s American noirs. In these films, the guy is a private eye, or an insurance man, and he’s tough. He’s a man’s  man. Think of lower class men from the 1950s who are sexy in a gruff way. Throw in some post-World War Two despair and cynicism and you’ve got a classic noir protagonist. 

No, instead we get Sam, who came to L.A. in search of fame and fortune. Now he’s got no job, is about to be evicted from his apartment, is obsessed with finding conspiracies in everyday life, and a very bad dancer. His search for his neighbor is his attempt at being a hero for once, to find meaning in a life that he feels should have turned out much differently. In this way, much as the early noirs were a response to the uncertainty of post-WWII society, Silver Lake taps into the Millenial/Gen-Z feeling of dissatisfaction with the world.

But What If It’s True?

We’ve all had that moment when faced with a conspiracy theory when we allow our minds to consider, for just a millisecond, that it could be true. What if? It’s a daunting, often terrifying question. 

That’s exactly what Sam realizes as he pursues his theories through Los Angeles. “What if?” can lead to dark and dangerous places, both mentally and physically. Except, for Sam, it’s not a question anymore. It’s reality. And I’m not saying it’s reality for just Sam. No, Sam has actually uncovered something he wasn’t meant to find.

I don’t know about you, but conspiracy theories intrigue and frighten me, and so that’s what I felt watching this movie. I’m here to tell you that it does a really great job of making the mystery at the center of the film very interesting and ambiguous to follow. Not only that, but there are a few reveals along the way that are absolutely fascinating to say the least. 

But beyond the entertainment aspect of the film, it actually contains a puzzle in itself that the audience can solve.

This is the type of film in which everything is important. Honestly, this film should be studied in film school for mise en scéne. What is contained within each frame is not only information to further the main story and character of Sam, but also to provide a puzzle for the viewers to unravel. There are literal codes and ciphers and references and name combinations and meanings behind t-shirts and so much more. 

This is a prime example of a film that would benefit from multiple rewatches. It just serves to make the film richer and more rewarding. The fact that the director, David Robert Mitchell, was so meticulous with his planning really raises the engageability of the film. I, for one, can’t wait to rewatch it.

Today’s Scene

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