A Synopsis Of Sunset Blvd
Sunset Blvd was produced in 1950 and tells the tale of an aging Hollywood star and her lost youth and career.
It was directed by Billy Wilder who made many other classic movies and its name provides the basis for its setting. The title is the famous Boulevard in Los Angeles and the playground of the rich and famous movie stars.
Leading actor William Holden plays the hack movie writer and Gloria Swanson stars as Norma Desmond, the aging actress that refuses to give up right until the fatal end.
The plot centers around Holden in character as Joe Gillis, a young screenplay writer who is down on his luck. He owes money and has dreams of grandeur, which his pay check can not compete with. He meets Norma Desmond, a now aging star of the silent screen, and given his limited options he agrees to write a screenplay for her to relaunch her career.
Desmond falls in love, but Joe is only using the relationship as a stopgap until the big time. He eventually gets tired of being a kept man and tried to leave, but Norma’s suicide attempt has him returning out of guilt.
She thinks that she can be a successful actress again, but the years have not been kind and she is trying to rise in an industry that rewards youth and beauty over everything else.
In secret Joe works on a script with a younger writer Betty and the two of them fall in love. He is determined to leave Norma, but she fires a shot and he falls dead into the swimming pool at her lavish mansion.
The famous line arrives at the end with Desmond weaving down the steps and saying; “I’m ready for my close up” sealing her fate and showing how mentally unstable she has become.
The film is tragic, timeless and unique and presents the challenges of growing old gracefully in the movie industry.
The character of Norma is treated with pity and pathos and although she does ultimately murder Joe, she is shown to be a product of the industry that she inhabits. An industry that eats her up and spits her out.
Her servants reinforce how important her look are to her and are always complimentary. They have learned to be this way. Youth and beauty are given priority over age and experience and they are a sad reminder of the values of our time. This gives the film a timeless perspective that will appeal to all.
The film Sunset Blvd provides an insightful look at the film industry and shows how wealth, fortune and fame can corrupt and destroy. Desmond’s mental illness culminating at the end with Gillis’ death shows how power has corrupted and then destroyed each character in different ways.
Gillis is greedy and heartless and shows how people can exploit others to get what they want. The film, Sunset Blvd, is well worth watching and ultimately evokes sympathy for the characters.
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