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Film Review - Gaslight (1940)
6 years ago
I should note, this film is freely available on YouTube at time of writing, so if you're interested you can watch it yourself.
The word Gaslight has 2 meanings. The first is the old meaning. After candles, but before electric lights, homes used to be lit with gas. Basically small hobs on the wall that were used for light. You can see these in the old Disney's Robin Hood animated film.
The second, modern use is to describe a form of abuse where the abuser makes the victim doubt their own sanity.
The modern use of the term comes from this story.
The film opens with an old woman being murdered. The killer then spends all night searching the house, ignoring valuables like jewelry. Eventually, the killer flees.
Some time later, a man and his wife (who recently had some kind of nervous breakdown) buy the house. As you might have guessed, the man is soon revealed to be an abusive jerk. Hiding things then blaming his wife. She is sent to her room to recover from these episodes, at which point the gas lights dim and she hears someone moving around in the loft.
The performances are fantastic. The guy that plays the abuser especially really sells the role. It's one of those performances that gets more impressive when you think about it, since he's not just acting as a villain, but a acting like a villain who is himself putting on an act. The rest of the cast are not bad either.
The film can be tough to watch in a single sitting, though for arguably the right reasons, as the scenes of abuse are uncomfortable to watch.
The film avoids most of the pitfalls from films of that time. For example, the locations feel like real places, not cheap sets or a sound stage as was common. The script is also lean and tight. I struggle to think of scenes you could cut and still have the film makes sense, something I attribute to this being adapted from a play.
That said, it still has some of the black and white film pacing with some scenes going on a little too long, and basic camera work for the most part. I think the end was a little too neat, but that's more of a nit-pick than a genuine complaint.
Overall, I liked Gaslight. I realise this review doesn't have any jokes in it, so here's a picture of a fox in a box.
http://www.furaffinity.net/view/34031730/
The word Gaslight has 2 meanings. The first is the old meaning. After candles, but before electric lights, homes used to be lit with gas. Basically small hobs on the wall that were used for light. You can see these in the old Disney's Robin Hood animated film.
The second, modern use is to describe a form of abuse where the abuser makes the victim doubt their own sanity.
The modern use of the term comes from this story.
The film opens with an old woman being murdered. The killer then spends all night searching the house, ignoring valuables like jewelry. Eventually, the killer flees.
Some time later, a man and his wife (who recently had some kind of nervous breakdown) buy the house. As you might have guessed, the man is soon revealed to be an abusive jerk. Hiding things then blaming his wife. She is sent to her room to recover from these episodes, at which point the gas lights dim and she hears someone moving around in the loft.
The performances are fantastic. The guy that plays the abuser especially really sells the role. It's one of those performances that gets more impressive when you think about it, since he's not just acting as a villain, but a acting like a villain who is himself putting on an act. The rest of the cast are not bad either.
The film can be tough to watch in a single sitting, though for arguably the right reasons, as the scenes of abuse are uncomfortable to watch.
The film avoids most of the pitfalls from films of that time. For example, the locations feel like real places, not cheap sets or a sound stage as was common. The script is also lean and tight. I struggle to think of scenes you could cut and still have the film makes sense, something I attribute to this being adapted from a play.
That said, it still has some of the black and white film pacing with some scenes going on a little too long, and basic camera work for the most part. I think the end was a little too neat, but that's more of a nit-pick than a genuine complaint.
Overall, I liked Gaslight. I realise this review doesn't have any jokes in it, so here's a picture of a fox in a box.
http://www.furaffinity.net/view/34031730/
