Assignment Two

While reading The Big Sleep, I was reminded of the movie “The Black Dahlia” as far as setting is concerned. The movie is set around the same time as the novel, both are based around solving a mystery, and while the novel is much better than the movie, I couldn’t help but picture the same sort of scenes featured in “The Black Dahlia” while reading the novel. Some of the plot was the same, such as the porn ring that is uncovered in both. They are both from the same genre (film noir is the term, I think). The costumes and color schemes used in the film are what I pictured the book to look like. There aren’t really any bright colors most of the time, everything is pretty basic, and when things are really going down, it’s almost as though everything is sepia toned. Also, there is a crazy girl in each one. Carmen is most definitely off of her rocker, and in the film, the girl who was murdered, Elizabeth Short, is just weird. She gives off a very odd vibe in the film. The Big Sleep and “The Black Dahlia” both take place in Los Angeles. “Bucky” and Marlowe are somewhat alike as well. They both get very caught up in their work and become obsessed with solving their cases. They way that they speak is similar as well, as far as how they view women. It has been a while since I’ve seen the movie, but the whole time that I was reading this book, I pictured everything happening as if it were set in “The Black Dahlia.” The way Marlowe describes himself is quite similar to the character that Josh Hartnett portrays in the film. The costumes worn, the cars used, the landscape and setting of the film all sound exactly like what Chandler writes about in his novel. While some of that may just have to deal with the fact that both are set in the same time, I couldn’t have helped these similarities jumping out at me.

Assignment One

My favorite crime or mystery novel is The Godfather. To me, the book shows how a family defends honor and traditions. Respect is what the characters thrive on. The drive for power, money, and honor is the fuel for each of the character's fire. Victor Pugo does a phenomenal job depicting what I would consider an up-dated version of some sort of Roman historical account of betrayal, corruption, and supremacy. Another important aspect of the novel is the importance of family, which I think is one of the things that makes the novel so popular. At the end of the day, all that is left is the family. It is where one's legacy lies and also where one's reputation begins. The movie is really good too, even though a lot of the novel is excluded from the movie. Not to mention, a young Al Pacino is my most favorite thing to watch!