Out of the Past seemed to be an exercise in masculine apathy. I absolutely loved the cool-guy indifference Mitchum's character Jeff displayed throughout the movie... It got me thinking about the concept of characters being 'hard-boiled', with the reflection that they are soft on the inside, but hard shells on the outside. While we have many more doomed Noir heroes to realize yet in the course, Mitchum seemed to be an egg boiled till oblivion- no runny yolks here. I personally enjoyed most of the movie, finding the dialogue to be only a little bit campy, (fewer 'babies' mentioned) and the ultimate fate of Jeff and Kathie was satisfying within the progression of plot.
It is interesting that the birth of the cool seems to be found in the hard-fighting-man attitude these Noir heroes possess, and I often wonder now if the character of Jeff is the most 'hard-boiled' of all the Noir men we have seen yet. Johnny Marr caved in at the sight of his beloved Dorothy, Walter Neff thought he was so damn crafty, and Frank Chambers was just a bum lookin' for a dame. But Jeff's character seemed to never turn off the joe-cool persona, couldn't get enough cigs, and also huge trench-coats are great for carrying around vast parcels of information, such as tax returns, briefcases, etc. If a trench-coat that huge isn't cool.... I really don't know what is then.
Right on - love the "no runny yolks" analogy. Robert Mitchum pulled off the role so (seemingly) effortlessly, and despite all the chaos he maintained the most aloof, hard-boiled attitude. It kind of seems like the more cigarettes you can smoke in a noir the more badass (if I may use that word) you are... Also, the ending made me wonder if Jeff knew that he was inevitably going to be killed in the confrontation with the police...and I guess the Kid told Ann that he was running off with Kathie in order to make his death more bearable, so she could go on with her life? It wasn't explicitly said, but that's the impression I got.
ReplyDeleteI agree with your description of him. Even when he seemed to know he was in trouble, he didn't let go of his cool and collected demeanor. Even the cab driver asked if he's in trouble because 'he looked like nothing was wrong' (or something along those lines). With a personality like that, it's hard to see into their emotional state of being through their outward demeanor, so I think thats why so many times I was really wondering what Jeff had up his sleeve and what he was thinking. Personally, my favorite character so far in the movies we've watched.
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