Episode 11: The Big Sleep and The Big Lebowski

11/15/05 • 80 min

Out of the Past: Investigating Film Noir

When "The Big Lebowski" was released in 1998, Ethan and Joel Coen claimed its "episodic" narrative structure found its source in the work of Raymond Chandler. In this super-sized double-feature podcast, Richard and Shannon examine "The Big Lebowski" against Howard Hawks's 1946 noir "The Big Sleep," and both films against Chandler's 1939 novel "The Big Sleep." Beyond their similar narrative structures, these works all present consummate dialogue, a panoply of memorable characters, and crimes and anxieties impossible to imagine outside Los Angeles--the city of angels, and noir. This podcast is brought to you by Clute and Edwards of www.noircast.net. To leave a comment on this episode, or make a donation to the podcast, please visit "Out of the Past: Investigating Film Noir" at outofthepast.libsyn.com/

Previous Episode

Episode 10: The Killers

While Robert Siodmak's noir triumph "Ernest Hemingway's 'The Killers'" flaunts its literary bloodlines, Hemingway's 1927 short story is little more than a pretext. The film actually investigates the fundamental post-WWII question: in a world where every man bears scars from the fight, how and why does he keep fighting? Siodmak's answer seems to be the very one given by Albert Camus in his famous essay "The Myth of Sisyphus." At the moment a man accepts the burden of his existence, bends to shoulder the stone of his being, he is greater than his destiny. Siodmak adds a caveat: if a man knowingly wrongs another he seals his own doom, and the killers descend on him like Fate itself. This podcast is brought to you by Clute and Edwards of www.noircast.net. To leave a comment on this episode, or make a donation to the podcast, please visit "Out of the Past: Investigating Film Noir" at outofthepast.libsyn.com/

Next Episode

Episode 12: Rififi

Hollywood began tearing itself apart with accusations of Communism in 1947, and in 1949 American director Jules Dassin was blacklisted. In order to pursue his craft he fled to France, where he cobbled together a small budget and a motley crew of B stars. Together they created the heist masterpiece Rififi, the tale of a ragtag international band of thieves who use inferior tools and superior know-how to pull off the job of a lifetime. They are in the clear until somebody rats and then one by one they are hunted down. The real crime is that Dassin had to fashion this allegorical gem while in exile. This podcast is brought to you by Clute and Edwards of www.noircast.net. To leave a comment on this episode, or make a donation to the podcast, please visit "Out of the Past: Investigating Film Noir" at outofthepast.libsyn.com.