THE BIG SLEEP—NO CLARITY IN THE DARKNESS.

THE BIG SLEEP—NO CLARITY IN THE DARKNESS. How can a movie of a detective story be successful without making clear who did it? Great acting, vivid scenes, a problematic love story—but still….I think the movie gains power from going against the audience expectation of a clear solution to the mystery. The movie is full of innuendo and hints about forbidden topics, especially topics that were forbidden in 1940’s Hollywood. All kinds of things are below the surface: drugs, pornography, homosexuality, promiscuity, criminal gangs, blackmail. There are hints about who killed the chauffeur, but that killing is also a forbidden topic. We may think we know what happened, but it is somehow satisfying that in this dark world, we can’t be sure.