International Cinema Festival of India

Sunset Blvd is a classic American film noir filmed in 1950 and a lesson in what refusing to grow old gracefully can result in.

Its director, Billy Wilder, directed other iconic films and Sunset Blvd was awarded three oscars. The setting for the film, as the title may suggest, is the classic boulevard running through Beverley Hills in Los Angeles. For many this is associated with money, opulence and fame.

The movie stars William Holden as screenplay and down on his luck bum and Gloria Swanson is the faded, glamorous Norma Desmond who used to be a big star in the silent movie industry.

Holden’s character, Joe Gillis is a young writer and when we first meet him he is virtually bankrupt. His car is getting towed away and everyone is hankering after him for debts they want to collect. His encounter with Desmond gives him financial options as she ask him to write a screenplay that will return her to the screen.

Desmond is deluded. She is much older now and the silent movie industry is long gone. Gillis exploits this to his advantage though and moves in to her mansion and her heart. She is in love with him and when she feels him slipping away then she tries to take her life.

Desmond believes that her career will flourish again, but she is more mature in years now and the film company has no interest in her script.

In secret Joe works on a script with a younger writer Betty and the two of them fall in love. He is determined to leave Norma, but she fires a shot and he falls dead into the swimming pool at her lavish mansion.

The famous line arrives at the end with Desmond weaving down the steps and saying; “I’m ready for my close up” sealing her fate and showing how mentally unstable she has become.

The movie is pretty tragic and its themes of aging, greed and fame are still very significant today. The film has a timeless quality and has relevant themes that many people will relate to.

Norma’s character is pitiful and self deluded and it is hard not to feel sympathy for her. The film industry has made her into a star, but now she is forgotten by many and lives a reclusive life in her mansion on Sunset Boulevard.

Desmond has several maids and each are gentle with her and try to hide the fact that she has aged and grown out of touch with reality.

The film Sunset Blvd provides an insightful look at the film industry and shows how wealth, fortune and fame can corrupt and destroy. Desmond’s mental illness culminating at the end with Gillis’ death shows how power has corrupted and then destroyed each character in different ways.

Joe, her lover’s untimely death, is sad and wasteful, but he represents the exploitative force behind Desmond’s demise.

Automakers, whom have factory ready satellite receivers in new 2006 models supported the applications. Movie Game Rental There is usually a song or two that I just cant force myself to get through. There are two things to keep in mind when you call for a deal:1) The equipment isnt making any money sitting there unrented.