Blog Entry 2. Double Indemnity

Paul Shrader said that the qualities of film noir are nightmarish, weird, erotic, ambivalent, and cruel (Notes on Film Noir). Double Indemnity can definitely be categorized for many of the elements that are defined as film noir. Many things can be described as elements of film noir for double indemnity but the main ones that fit for double indemnity are weird, erotic, and cruel. One thing I noticed with double indemnity and the femme fatale which is Phyllis Nirdlinger is that the main character Walter Huff is very aware of the erotic effect she has on him from the beginning.  Huff said, "but she was walking around the room, and I saw something I didn't notice before. Under those blue pajamas was a shape to set a man nuts." (Page 6) He was very aware of her sexiness and he definitely liked it and at the same time it scared him. He again said on page 6 that "all of the sudden she looked at me, and I felt a chill creep straight up my back and into the roots of my hair." Huff  is very aware that Mrs. Nirdlinger seems like trouble but he can not stay away.

Double Indemnity is cruel in many ways in the fact that Mrs. Nirdlinger buys life insurance for her husband shortly before he is "killed" and even uses her way with Mr. Huff by getting him to fall for her. Mrs. Nirdlinger is very cruel and definitely fits into the category of a femme fatale. According to Huff, Mrs. Nirdlinger is "maybe thirty-one or -two, with a sweet face, light blue eyes, and dusty blonde hair". He portrays Mrs. Nirdlinger as the type of woman that would fit the character description of a femme fatale. Although that Huff is very aware of how cruel it is to kill somebody's husband for money and because he is as he puts it as loving her "like rabbit loves a rattlesnake" (Page 70).

Double Indemnity definitely has a very "weird" plot that can very much fit into the category of film noir. Walter Huff is a insurance salesman that randomly checks up on one of his customers and ends up falling for his wife, and ends up plotting and arranging the murder of the husband with the wife that he had never met until he checked up on the customers policy. It definitely in my opinion is not something that happens very often, but they both come off as very desperate and needy which also fits in the film noir category. Double Indemnity very much fits into the category of film noir. From the femme fatale, to the cruel and erotic ways of the book, it has a very weird plot and it makes you think twice of a lot of things. It can definitely be classified as a film noir.