Strangers on a Train (Film Noir)

This week for the Film Noir category I decided to watch Strangers on a Train because I have always heard of the main plot of the movie, the idea of two strangers committing each others murders, and wanted to see how the idea was first portrayed. I was not sure what to expect from the movie since I had never seen a noir film before, but I was not disappointed. I thought that the film might be boring since it was made in the 1940's and in black and white, but most of it was highly entertaining. I liked how the beginning scene only showed the shoes of the main characters, as it contrasted the differences between Guy and Bruno which would come into play later on in the movie. I found the whole idea of Bruno's to have two people do each others muddlers intriguing and kind of genius even though it is psychotic. When the first murder took place within the beginning of the movie, I was disappointed because I thought that was the main part of the movie. However, the plot was so much more than simply two strangers committing each others murders. I enjoyed how the movie was suspenseful in that I never knew what would happen next and the final outcome was unpredictable at points. Even though the film was made in the 1940's the cinematography was pretty good. One of the best scenes was when Guy was playing tennis and he looked into the crowd. Everyone's heads were going back and forth watching the game except for one person, who was Bruno stalking Guy. This created an eerie feeling that was present throughout the whole movie, also illustrated through long shadows and extreme close ups. I also enjoyed how similar the beginning and ending scenes were.`The character development throughout the course of the movie was great as by the end of the movie I found myself clearly rooting for one character over the other while at the beginning I was indifferent towards each character's outcome. The music playing in the background of intense scenes helped to set the differing moods of eerie to dangerous to anticipation. The common theme in the movie is man v. man as the two main characters have to fight over who will take the blame for the murder. Overall, I found Strangers on a Train to be very intriguing, as it was able to hold my attention throughout the whole movie, and kept me guessing what would come next. I would give it an 8 out of 10.