The Psychological Film Noir With a Perfect Rotten Tomatoes Score

The Big Picture The Golden Age of Hollywood has no shortage of treasures held in high critical regard. No surprise, really, given the "Golden Age" designation, and especially true for the ominous, morally-wrought world of classic film noir. Even in this context, few contenders vying for the highest of cinematic honorifics — "perfection" — compare to 1944's Laura, a fact the film's enviably rare 100% Rotten Tomatoes score reflects.

Unlike traditional film noir, McPherson doesn't provide Laura's moody narration. That falls to Waldo Lydecker , Laura's mentor, a venomously witty newspaper columnist, and "the only one who really knew her." However, that's Lydecker's assertion, and we know objectivity is laughable in film noir's world of unreliable narrators and duplicitous figures who blur good-and-evil distinctions.

Male Obsession Is ‘Laura’s True Villain Close Lydecker's statement disregards his greatest passion: Laura. No obsession is healthy, but Lydecker's fixation with the much younger woman only reveals how poisonous it is with time. Toxic obsessions require an image, and a portrait of the titular heroine becomes one of Laura's recurring motifs. It captures her beauty in oils and sets her on display, idealized and silent, for the admirer.

Laura Hunt Is a Unique Film Noir Heroine Close As the woman at this mystery's center, the severely underrated Gene Tierney operates at the top of her game in her career-defining role. Laura navigates a consistently hostile world, and Tierney infuses her heroine's glances with layers of sympathetic humanity. Men desire her, women envy her, her friends adore her, and Laura orchestrates none of this by choice. She's a cipher reflecting others' desires.

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Christopher Nolan’s Favorite Psychological Thriller Is This 1920s FilmJordan Todoruk is a writer from Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. He studied Screenwriting at the Toronto Film School. In 2019, He wrote and produced his first short film, The Mechanics Of A Nightmare. He is a cinephile and lover of literature.
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