Though both films demonstrate central themes associated with the blended genre of noir, their similarities also introduce key differences that parade the progression of cinematic acceptance. Double Indemnity, directed by Billy Wilder, is one such film that has seen its plot, themes, and sexual innuendos explored once again in the 1981 film Body Heat. Noir, a term coined by French movie critiques of the 1940s, has seen its heyday long ago, but that did not stop the infamous cynicism, erotica, and hard-boiled dialogue from giving birth to a multitude of films that have been produced in the past century.
With this new emancipation, the ways in which film noir was depicted forever changed and finally permitted directors to pave their newfound cinematic path that would both entice and frighten the world. This continued to be an uphill battle for storytelling until 1966, when the rating system of the Motion Picture Association of America emerged, recoiling the restriction on explicit acts of sex and violence from reaching the big screen. Faced with this dilemma and the appetite to bend the politically correct standards held in place, directors were forced to discover new ways to tell their stories and depict their envisionments without being disdained. With these restrictions held in place with an iron fist, themes of sexuality and violence were seen as suspicious and not openly accepted. Though eager to produce a new wave of storytelling through their work, directors were faced with government restrictions surrounding Blacklisting and Hays Code. In the final scene, Matty relaxes on a far-away beach.During the Golden Age of Hollywood, blooming writers-turned-directors were ecstatic to find new ways of depicting a character’s thoughts for their audience. Later, while in prison for Edmund’s murder, Ned pieces together that his lover had assumed the identity of another woman in order to fake her own death. When Matty arrives on the scene, she pleads that she loves him and volunteers to enter the boathouse herself as she does, it goes up in flames. On Matty’s instruction, Ned goes to the Walkers’ boathouse to retrieve a key piece of evidence but discovers, to his alarm, that the structure is rigged to explode when the door opens. Preston), a detective, start to suspect him of involvement in the crime. Ned’s friends Peter Lowenstein ( Ted Danson), an assistant district attorney, and Oscar Grace (J.A.
BODY HEAT MOVIE STYLE FULL
Soon afterward, however, Ned learns that Matty has forged his signature on an alteration of Edmund’s will that allows her to collect the full inheritance. After an initial murder attempt is thwarted, Ned kills Edmund in the Walkers’ home and then transports the body to an abandoned business, which he sets on fire. Through sexual magnetism, Matty coaxes Ned into believing he should kill her husband, Edmund ( Richard Crenna), so that they can be together and benefit from his money. Its plot bears a strong resemblance to that of one of the greatest noir films, Double Indemnity (1944).īody Heat, set in Florida, centres on an affair between Ned Racine (played by William Hurt), a disillusioned weary lawyer, and Matty Walker ( Kathleen Turner, in her movie debut), the attractive wife of a wealthy businessman.