Maltese Falcon Analysis

Maltese Falcon Film:

The film Maltese Falcon was released in the year 1941. The film uses traditional black and white and has low key lighting which follow the conventions of a Film Noir. The traditional black and white effect shows the audience that the film is a film noir as at this time in the film industry colour film was popular.  

The film features a detective called Sam Spade who is visited at his office By Mrs Wonderly. She claims that she is looking for her sister who appears to be with a man called Floyd Thursby. There are rumours that this man is supposed to be dangerous. When Mrs Wonderly says that she is supposed to go and meet Thursby, another detective, Miles Archer, says that he will shadow them so that he can find the missing girl.

Film noirs were very popular in the 1900s because audiences enjoyed this genre. They were interested and enjoyed it because they all follow the same story line which is what most people like to watch. It was simple and the film studios knew that the audience would pay to watch them, so the studios would make a profit. It allowed people to escape the war and depression that was going around at the time.

 It is obvious that this is a film noir because of the certain features it has that will be discussed throughout. One of these features is the spider and the fly theory. This is when the main male actor is infatuated by the femme fatal who draws the male character into her web of lies. This emphasises that the female character is these films is quite a dangerous and very manipulative character. The manipulation is shown through the opening scene of the film, where the female character explains what she needs help with. The two detectives involve themselves so much to the point where they are leaning towards her, which proves that they are interested in what she has to say. However, it also shows that they are trying to get close to her because they find her attractive. This results in them both being drawn into her web of lies.

The narration of the film is very restricted. As the audience, we only see and know as much as the detective does because we are seeing and hearing the film from his point of view. We end up finding things out throughout the film along with the detective. This keeps the audience hooked.

In any film noir, there is an enigma, also known as a hook. In this film, the hook is when Miles, the partner detective, gets shot when he goes out to shadow Thursby. This is what draws the audience in because they want to know who shot the detective and what happens with the case itself.

There is gender equality in the film which is shown in the opening scene. There are two different opinions on how the femme fatal is represented. In any traditional film noir, the femme fatal gets herself into trouble with the detective and either dies at the end or has some other negative ending. This shows how women can be negatively represented in films. On the other hand, she can be represented as powerful, which is a positive representation of women. It is usually up to the audience to determine which opinion they want to have on the femme fatal.

Within the opening scene of this film, few camera shots are used. One of these being an establishing shot. This is also used when the audience sees where the film is set, which is in San Francisco. This is a very typical location for film noirs, as most are set in an American city. Within this, there is an office which is where the film will be set first. By setting the scene, the audience can relate to the setting the scenes. Another shot that was used is a medium shot. This was used when the femme fatal was explaining her problem to the detective. It showed the facial expressions of the woman which meant that the audience could see how she felt whilst she was speaking. The audience could then sympathise with the character since they knew how she was feeling. Another shot that was used in the opening was a three shot. Within this shot, the camera focused on the two detectives and the femme fatal. This allowed the audience to see what the characters were wearing to get a sense of what they wore in the 1900s. This also showed how the detectives were leaning into the woman due to her attractiveness. This meant that the audience understand why the men were attracted to her which foreshadows tragedy at a later point in the film. We know this by the way the detective is acting, he should be acting professional however he expresses his attraction to his client which is unprofessional.

Sound was used at the beginning of the scene. The music was used when the establishing shot is shown. The soundtrack is incidental music because it fits the scene when it is being played. The music playing portrays a pleasant atmosphere as there are clips being shown of San Francisco.  . The instruments used within the music are strings, mainly trumpets and xylophones. Furthermore when you put these instruments together they create an upbeat soundtrack which represents the city as a joyful place to be. The backing track can only be heard when there is no dialogue because it is so quiet which also creates a positive atmosphere for the audience. Because of this, the audience do not expect the tragic events that happen later when the detective’s partner gets shot. The music doesn’t foreshadow what happens later in the film.

In any film editing has to be used to ensure that the film flows properly between the scenes. At the beginning of this film, the scene fades as it is showing pictures of the city. These fades make the film go a lot more seamlessly even though they are noticeable in the film. For the rest of the opening scene, the editing has continuity put in. This is when there are cuts between shots that are barely noticeable unless you edited it yourself. This means that the audience continue to be interested in the film as it flows from scene to scene.

Mise-en-scene is important in any film like this one because it keeps the audience interested. In the opening scene of this film, the costumes of the characters are extremely important. As with any typical film noir, the detective wears a suit which is always neat looking. As well as this, when the detective is outside, he wears a coat and a hat which adds to the smartness of the outfit. In the opening scene, the detective wears this outfit. This lets the audience know that it is a film noir because of the custom of the characters. It also tells the audience that the detective is tidy person who likes to present himself well. The femme fatal wears a very specific kind of audience which is usually a flattering dress. This gives the impression that she is dangerous. In a colour film, the dress would be red which symbolises the ‘Scarlett Women’. This woman is known for having little to no morals and reveals that she is a wild person. In the opening of the film, the femme fatal wears an expensive looking outfit.  This is because she wore fur which usually symbolises wealth due to the fact that real fur is an expensive type of material due to the way is made into clothing items. There is also a prop that is used in the opening scene of the film. This prop is a cigarette. The detective was seen rolling a cigarette in the beginning of the film. This represents danger which could foreshadow an event later in the film. Another prop that was used was the Falcon at the start of the film. This shows many things. It tells the audience where the location of the film is before they find out with the establishing shot. It shows that the film is set in America because the Falcon is considered to be connected to high authority within America. It also foreshadows treasure. This is because at the start of the film, the falcon is described and it is said that it is valuable. This could foreshadow Mrs Wonderly wanting to use the detective in order to find this falcon. This gives the audience a feeling of suspense and mystery.