The Night of the Hunter (1955)

There's no denying that this is a strange movie. It is part horror, part drama, with a tinge of comedy. I mean, there's nothing funny about a serial killer pursuing helpless little orphans but it has its awkwardly funny moments. These kids are kind of creepy, not as creepy as the preacher (Robert Mitchum looks really sinister), but almost to the level of little not-very-kid-like Pearl from The Scarlet Letter. The spookiest thing about this movie is the song that the preacher sings. It is an omen of sorts. He leaves "Jesus" out of his lyrics the same way his life (as a preacher) is devoid of God. And playing up the weird factor, the opening sequence uses floating heads in outer space which then cuts to a shaky helicopter shot.

The movie is full of symbolism, both religious and secular. The message about religion is kind of interesting. There are two ways to see it. Though these people in the countryside find solace in The Bible, it does a lot of harm. It has a blinding effect on the mother and on the Spoons, who should've minded their own business and then these poor kids wouldn't be in this living nightmare.

There are some really great shots. It is shot in the style of German Expressionism with diagonal angles and lots of shadow work. My favorite shot is of the kids in the canoe floating down the river. We see the quiet natural surroundings. And then there is an aerial shot of the kids sleeping in the boat that reminded me of Life of Pi when they were all alone finally able to stop and breathe. I wonder if Ang Lee had that in mind...

Out of the Past (1947)

This is a very confusing movie and I had a hard time following. There was a flashback that lasted so long I forgot that it was a flashback. But I was at least able to follow the first flashback, what happened in the present though...I'm simply not sure. After reading the Wikipedia synopsis, they definitely left out a bunch of parts from the movie. I was unsure about Jeff's motivations in the movie. He obviously fell for Kathie the first time in Mexico, but once it is revealed how dangerous she is, does he fall for it the second time? And when he knows that he is being set up, why does he just let himself be set up? He literally just goes with it and verbalizes that he knows he is being set up, but he does exactly what they want him to do. Is this the fatalism that has resigned him to his destiny?

Despite the convoluted story, the cinematography is quite something. They play a lot with shadows and spotlights. The movie has a bit of a horror feel because it is so dark. We watch carefully constructed silhouettes for much of the movie, though unlike the other noir films we watched, the film opens on day out in nature without rain. When do things start to take a turn for the dark? When he goes back to her cabin in the jungle at night in the rain. It is not the concrete jungle, but an actual wild, uncouth jungle in Mexico. There's not turning back now because she has him.

And then I definitely missed something at the end. The Wikipedia synopsis is pretty clear about the ending. And maybe I was just being oblivious, but I think the cues were too subtle for me to able to read all of that from the movie.