Douglas Monce
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- Nov 16, 2006
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- Douglas Monce
The problem that I have with the final narration that was used is that it's so badly written, and its obvious that Ford doesn't want to be there reading it. He talks in the documentary about doing that final narration, and how the guy who wrote it was someone he had never seen before and had no idea who he was. Ridley Scott was no where to be seen and he had no direction at all.
The narration tells you about the plot, and in a rather ham fisted way. It tells me that he had a wife and that she left him because he was cold. Well I don't need to know that he had a wife because it never comes up in the theatrical cut. In the final cut all we need is to see the photograph. And I don't need them to tell me that he is cold because I get that from Ford's performance.
The reason that the narration works so well in a film like Murder, My Sweet is because its a little slice of Chandler. It gives you a little bit of Marlowe's take on the world around him, and does it in an amusing way.
I think the first narration used in the out takes has more of that noir mood and works 100% better, but is still probably not needed.
Doug
The narration tells you about the plot, and in a rather ham fisted way. It tells me that he had a wife and that she left him because he was cold. Well I don't need to know that he had a wife because it never comes up in the theatrical cut. In the final cut all we need is to see the photograph. And I don't need them to tell me that he is cold because I get that from Ford's performance.
The reason that the narration works so well in a film like Murder, My Sweet is because its a little slice of Chandler. It gives you a little bit of Marlowe's take on the world around him, and does it in an amusing way.
I think the first narration used in the out takes has more of that noir mood and works 100% better, but is still probably not needed.
Doug