The Maltese Falcon
A classic Humphrey Bogart film. The first time I saw this movie was with my dad, so any subsequent viewings without him were automatically going to be less enjoyable. That said, I still enjoyed the film the second time around; there was enough time between viewings that I had forgotten half of the details, and after the work we've done in class I came into this viewing with a different lens.
From the perspective of a classic detective story, The Maltese Falcon breaks a few rules, one of the strongest being the honest search and reveal of information. Instead of following the logical order of crime, suspicions, evidence, and conclusions of a simple detective story, The Maltese Falcon has a second murder, many misleading pieces of information, a second mystery in the falcon, and on top of that, none of the characters are honest.
The story's main character, Bogart's character private investigator Sam Spade, is one of the biggest sources of misinformation. He brilliantly manipulates both the characters and audience by giving different versions of how the murders actually occurred, and allowing them to agree with his made up story. In most other detective stories, the main character is honestly searching for the truth, and revealing it as they piece together the events in question based on the available evidence.
The movie effectively strings viewers along by suspending the truth until the very end. Spade is unpredictable and shows at the end that his only loyalties are to his partner and justice, as he double and triple crosses everyone else he comes in contact with. He plays his alliances to his benefit so that in the end he can turn in the murderers to the law, tricking them the while into trusting he believes something else.
True to the mystery story, it ends with the murders being solved, but it opens a new mystery: Where is the real Maltese Falcon, if one even exists?
From the perspective of a classic detective story, The Maltese Falcon breaks a few rules, one of the strongest being the honest search and reveal of information. Instead of following the logical order of crime, suspicions, evidence, and conclusions of a simple detective story, The Maltese Falcon has a second murder, many misleading pieces of information, a second mystery in the falcon, and on top of that, none of the characters are honest.
The story's main character, Bogart's character private investigator Sam Spade, is one of the biggest sources of misinformation. He brilliantly manipulates both the characters and audience by giving different versions of how the murders actually occurred, and allowing them to agree with his made up story. In most other detective stories, the main character is honestly searching for the truth, and revealing it as they piece together the events in question based on the available evidence.
The movie effectively strings viewers along by suspending the truth until the very end. Spade is unpredictable and shows at the end that his only loyalties are to his partner and justice, as he double and triple crosses everyone else he comes in contact with. He plays his alliances to his benefit so that in the end he can turn in the murderers to the law, tricking them the while into trusting he believes something else.
True to the mystery story, it ends with the murders being solved, but it opens a new mystery: Where is the real Maltese Falcon, if one even exists?
I agree that The Maltese Falcon breaks a few rules as a classic detective story and I was also surprised that the detective would be so manipulative. I like how you mention that Spade was the biggest source of misinformation--I didn't really think about that. I also like how you question the very existence of the real Maltese Falcon--we've never actually seen the real one, so it is plausible that it may not even exist.
ReplyDeleteI like your analysis of how Spade manipulates the other characters and the audience. I honestly think that this is one of the most important aspects of the entire film since it allows for a more exciting reveal of the information at the end. I agree that this is different than most other mystery films since the audience usually finds things out along with the main character, but I like the suspense that this film has because it strays away from this norm. I also loved how the movie ended with such a huge cliffhanger although I hate that I don't know the answer to the question...
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