filmghoul:Kiss Me Deadly (Robert Aldrich, 1955)Aldrich’s famously influential adaptation of Mickey S
filmghoul:Kiss Me Deadly (Robert Aldrich, 1955)Aldrich’s famously influential adaptation of Mickey Spillane’s 6th Mike Hammer novel is a textbook example of hard-boiled noir done right; a film, ironically enough, that finds meaning in shades of grey and blinding light. Aldrich thrusts Ralph Meeker’s Hammer into a world of shady dealings, impeccable grey-on-grey suits, shadows in brightly lit rooms, all of which culminate in a brilliant, explosive evocation of Cold War-era paranoia; a portrait of America seemingly caught in a bubble of distrust, angst and the imminent clashing of the “future,” hinted at in Hammer’s ludicrous answering machine and beautifully embodied by the film’s famous and unforgettable twist/“whatsit” – which would go on to be referenced in both Alex Cox's Repo Man (1984), Quentin Tarantino's Pulp Fiction (1994), as well as in the climactic sequence of Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981). -- source link