The Killing (1956)

[moira finnie]

I recently saw Stanley Kubrick's The Killing (1956) again for the first time in years. Aside from being dazzled by the cinematography of Lucien Ballard and the acting of all the great types on hand, (I especially noticed James Edwards in a tiny, but significant role with ChiO's pal, Mr. Carey), it struck me.

Is this an existentialist comedy or what? Maybe it's the pointed dialogue by Jim Thompson from Lionel White's novel Clean Break, (I've read Thompson but not White's books and definitely see a jaundiced sense of humor in the former writer's words), but this movie is terribly funny, or at least it seems to be to me in this period of my life.

Does anyone else see the humor in this film? What the heck happened to Kubrick's capacity for sneaky humor as he grew older? After 2001, I can't say that I see much evidence of any mirth in the man's movies; except in Jack Nicholson's loopier moments in The Shining. Or is it just me?

[jdb1]

I'm always struck by the scene between Jay C. Flippen and Sterling Hayden, where Flippen shyly and wistfully suggests that they should take their money and go off together, that they'd be so happy, just the two of them. Nothing much is made of it in the movie, but it seems to me to be fraught with Brokeback Mountain subtext.

[moira finnie]

I LOVE Jay C. Flippen. And yes, there is often a bit of camp in his characters, which I suspect is from his vaudeville background. It's especially in evidence here, laced, as you point out, with a degree of wistfulness. As the oldest of the participants in the heist, he should seem the most exhausted of all the characters, but he's also the most nimble in presenting himself to the world. I think I even noticed in one scene that he was wearing spats or "spectator shoes", I'm not sure which.

Of course, Elisha Cook, Jr. and Marie Windsor have the most fun as the oddly matched "happy couple" of the piece. I love the way their every conversation is rooted in his anxiety and her exploitation of that feeling. No wonder the poor guy can't sleep.

[ChiO]

About THE KILLING, Time magazine wrote in 1955:

[Kubrick] has shown more imagination with dialogue and camera than Hollywood has seen since the obstreperous Orson Welles went riding out of town. ("Went riding"? Or, "was ridden"? Oh, well(es).)

I think it is fair to say that Kubrick, who showed a very dark -- but often hilarious -- sense of humor in THE KILLING, LOLITA, and DR. STRANGELOVE, turned optimistic with 2001 and, then, pessimistic. There are signs of humor in A CLOCKWORK ORANGE and THE SHINING and perhaps (it's been awhile) BARRY LYNDON, I don't find much to laugh about in FULL METAL JACKET and EYES WIDE SHUT. DR. STRANGELOVE consistently has me laughing at the end of the world, with an undercurrent that if we wake up it can be averted, but the post-2001 films give me the sense that Kubrick sees us as doomed.

Would we have a different sense if he had been able to make AI: ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE?

And, yes, THE KILLING has one of the greatest casts ever assembled, a veritable film noir hall-of-fame. If only Joan Bennett or Gloria Grahame could have been sneaked in! Eh, what's the difference.

[Dewey1960]

Moira asked: Is this an existentialist comedy or what? Maybe it's the pointed dialogue by Jim Thompson from Lionel White's novel Clean Break, (I've read Thompson but not White's books and definitely see a jaundiced sense of humor in the former writer's words), but this movie is terribly funny, or at least it seems to be to me in this period of my life.

It's a sad, human drama about crime and the people who commit it. The fact that it's also funny--mordantly so--is a result of the brilliant dialogue provided by JIM THOMPSON, arguably the finest and most searingly imaginative practitioner of the so-called "paperback original" back in the 50s and early 60s. Thompson adapted the material from Lionel White's novel, "Clean Break," but absolutely nothing in that book measures up to what Thompson created for Kubrick's film, transforming it from merely a technically startling jolt into a work of total genius, rife with unexpected pathos and bizarrely black humor. Read a handful of Thompson's bleak crime novels ("The Grifters," The Getaway," "The Killer Inside Me," etc) and you will notice an unsettlingly pattern emerge which is nothing short of a bitter, brutal and comically savage attack on the conventional notions of popular, contemporary fiction.

ChiO: That New York Times piece should have read: "Kubrick has shown more imagination with Jim Thompson's incendiary dialogue and camera..."
Thompson literally had to sue the ego-maniacal Kubrick after the film was released to get what ultimately amounted to the "Additional dialogue by Jim Thompson" credit which appeared in the later prints that were struck by United Artists. Ironically, Kubrick had aggressively sought out Thompson for this job in the first place after reading the author's remarkable novel, "The Killer Inside Me." In spite of this, Thompson worked for Kubrick on his very next film, providing the screenplay for PATHS OF GLORY.

Judith said: I'm always struck by the scene between Jay C. Flippen and Sterling Hayden, where Flippen shyly and wistfully suggests that they should take their money and go off together, that they'd be so happy, just the two of them. Nothing much is made of it in the movie, but it seems to me to be fraught with Brokeback Mountain subtext.

Interestingly enough, I used this film last semester in a course I taught on subversive American films from the Fifties. Of the ten films screened, it was probably the one that generated the most interesting class discussion. The first comment raised after the viewing related to that scene between Hayden and Flippen. The entire class instantly saw the suggestion of homosexual intimacy. The only thing that shocked them about it was how the film avoided calling overt attention to it. Much was also made of Timothy Carey's use of the "N" word. Incidentally, neither episode appeared in the original novel, they were inventions of Jim Thompson's.

[moira finnie]

Thompson's The Grifters and The Killer Inside Me both seemed to have a left handed humor that jumped out at me when I watched The Killing a few nights ago, so I'm not surprised to see that it was his handiwork, Dewey.

This is going to sound stupid, but does anyone think that the subversive scene between Flippen and Hayden might be our present day misinterpretation of the older Jay C. Flippen's intention as homosexual? I tend to think it may be an indication of that character's longing for a simpler buddy relationship that was much more common then between men (and women), at least on a conscious level.

In case you think I'm being hopelessly naive, it seems that in a more reticent (or repressed) age, there were many more chaste bonds between people (as well as more clandestine relationships). One of the ways that people who were not necessarily interested in being homosexual but preferred the company of their own sex was through these close friendships, fraternal and sororal organizations, and, oh, yeah, bars. Just wondering.

[jdb1]

I think there is plenty of subtext in that scene, and not necessarily man on man love. It could also be that Flippen saw Hayden as a son, and wanted to keep that mentor/student relationship up in his "retirement." Either way, it made for lots of pathos.

However, given the timeframe of the film, I imagine that back then a lot of people who felt there was more going on in that scene than met the eye might have thought that Flippen was making a pass at the big boy. Maybe it was written that way to provoke controversy and get people talking about the film? "What does he really mean?"

Certainly in previous times people were more apt to pick apart just about everything said in a movie, especially one like The Killing, to find something naughty. Nowadays it's all right in front of you, but back then it was not.

[Mr. Arkadin]

What the heck happened to Kubrick's capacity for sneaky humor as he grew older? After 2001, I can't say that I see much evidence of any mirth in the man's movies; except in Jack Nicholson's loopier moments in The Shining. Or is it just me?

I see humor in much of his work. Hal the computer in 2001 (1968) infuses humor with a humorless persona making his "character" funny and menacing at the same time. Clockwork Orange (1971) despite it's violence (or ultraviolence) is also full of comedic turns. Even Barry Lyndon (1975) is not immune to Kubrick's funny bone. What I think you might be seeing is his distance, or changing point of view in later films. Much of Kubrick's early output invests detail in the lives of his characters. Our perception coincides with the player. We feel we know these people, their habits and dreams. We see things through their eyes. In 2001 and later films, Kubrick seems to be more shallow in character development, trading subjectivity for objectivity. I personally prefer the earlier films.

[Mr. Arkadin]

I think there is plenty of subtext in that scene, and not necessarily man on man love. It could also be that Flippen saw Hayden as a son, and wanted to keep that mentor/student relationship up in his "retirement." Either way, it made for lots of pathos.

However, given the timeframe of the film, I imagine that back then a lot of people who felt there was more going on in that scene than met the eye might have thought that Flippen was making a pass at the big boy. Maybe it was written that way to provoke controversy and get people talking about the film? "What does he really mean?"

Certainly in previous times people were more apt to pick apart just about everything said in a movie, especially one like The Killing, to find something naughty. Nowadays it's all right in front of you, but back then it was not.

Very true. Many modern filmmakers think you have to show your entire hand when in fact, it's what you don't say or show that can create a deeper work of art.

[bryce]

I know I can't be the only one who finds Full Metal Jacket to be one large scathing satire on the entire military machine? He's lampooning the entire ridiculous affair from top to bottom or, as is more fitting, from the breaking down of the individual to the building up of the ultra-conformist inhuman soldier and back again. There are moments all too human, dark and intense as always to Kubrick, such as Private Pyle's breakdown and subsequent death, as well as the death of the sniper and the transformation of Joker from commentator to participant.

I, too, prefer the earlier films, but I admire Kubrick for pulling back the camera, distancing himself (and, thusly, us) from the 'action' and showing life to be the great big absurdest comedy that it is, only complete with moments of high drama and loss interspersed.

I would say he only lost his sense of humor close to death with Eyes Wide Shut, but that's only if I didn't think he was taking the piss out of all of us by casting the worst acting couple in the history of film.

[klondike]

I know I can't be the only one who finds Full Metal Jacket to be one large scathing satire on the entire military machine? He's lampooning the entire ridiculous affair from top to bottom or, as is more fitting, from the breaking down of the individual to the building up of the ultra-conformist inhuman soldier and back again. There are moments all too human, dark and intense as always to Kubrick, such as Private Pyle's breakdown and subsequent death, as well as the death of the sniper and the transformation of Joker from commentator to participant.

Bryce, whereas I would agree completely with your examination of the elements & plot themes of Full Metal Jacket, I have to disagree with your assessment of it as a lampoon or satire; having seen many of those events standing on the native soil of time & place, I'd much sooner label FMJ a brutally candid expose rather, or perhaps, arguably, even an outright condemnation.
By the close of the latrine execution scene, I knew that FMJ was likely going to be the first film I'd seen that really addressed the Nam experience (IMO, Apocalypse Now is an overblown Greenwich Village hashish dream, & Deer Hunter is a grimy little male-bonding melodrama); and by the time I met Adam Baldwin as The Animal, and listened to his nihilstic litany, I felt that peculiar catharsis that earmarks the kind of living nightmare you can't wake up from, or run away from, only endure & survive.
In a lampoon, or a satire, or even a pastiche, you need at least a little bit of light, or joy, or a small, fleeting sense of normalcy, if only as a point of contrast . . in FMJ, Kubrick gives you none . . and that's what makes it, admirably & regrettably, so unnervingly accurate!

[ChiO]

Dewey said:

Much was also made of Timothy Carey's use of the "N" word. Incidentally, neither episode appeared in the original novel, they were inventions of Jim Thompson's.

My research over the years -- and it would never be biased -- disclosed that Nikki Arcane's dialogue in that scene was largely improvised by Timothy Carey. If true (and, oh, how I want it to be so), then Mr. Carey should have received a credit, as well as for his ramble during the death march in PATHS OF GLORY and his rap to poor befuddled Seymour Cassel in MINNIE AND MOSKOWITZ.

I, too, prefer Kubrick's earlier movies. Speaking of which, KILLER'S KISS (1955), direction, writing & cinematography by Stanley Kubrick, is on TCM today. The word "gritty" comes to mind.

[Dewey1960]

ChiO sez: My research over the years -- and it would never be biased -- disclosed that Nikki Arcane's dialogue in that scene was largely improvised by Timothy Carey. If true (and, oh, how I want it to be so), then Mr. Carey should have received a credit, as well as for his ramble during the death march in PATHS OF GLORY and his rap to poor befuddled Seymour Cassel in MINNIE AND MOSKOWITZ.

Excellent, excellent point!

[bryce]

(sorry, my head's not all-together and this post isn't written very well, nor is it very concise or easy to make sense of, but it's the best I can do right now!)

Hey, klondike! You've highlighted one of the many things that I love about Full Metal Jacket, but I'll get to that in a second. First, though, I'm afraid I disagree that a satire need be even a tad comedic, lighthearted, joyful, or normal - in a parody, maybe, but not a satire. I'd even go so far as to say that your correct assertion that it is an outright condemnation - which as any Kubrick fan knows it is! - bolsters the idea that it's a satire. In my eyes, and in perhaps mine alone (though I cut my literary teeth on Wodehouse, Dickens and Wilde), a satire cuts deep in its brutality and goes to great lengths to undermine, challenge and ultimately destroy that which is in the crosshairs of the author's wit. Satire needn't be funny (especially in any traditional sense of humor), it certainly can be, but when wielded by the master of dry wit and irony (and don't tell me he's not! Dr. Strangelove is proof enough Kubrick was a Brit born in the wrong country), the ridiculous becomes nearly impossible to differentiate from the amusing. Whereas we both find Animal Mother's litany nightmarish - and it is - I find it to be so because it is a gross exaggeration. In fact, the entire scene is utterly ridiculous because of Animal Mother - pushed to the farthest reaches of reality, but just real enough that we've all known someone that's almost, though not quite, that insane. It's damned grim, so much so that like Joker's defensive false bravado, my only response to the only word AM's willing to die for is to laugh insecurely, because what else am I supposed to be feeling during this bizarrely surreal moment?

That's damn fine film-making - not many folks are subtle and smooth enough to crack us over the head with a sledgehammer without our knowing it, and that's exactly what he accomplished. Some moments are truly funny, and others are only funny because laughter is one hell of a defense mechanism. Therein lies the first point I wanted to discuss...

I wasn't in Vietnam, obviously. I went through boot camp and then my medical history caught up with me. There went my dreams of flying in a support wing, but I didn't go to Iraq, so I guess it was an even trade. I never saw the horrors of war, never saw anyone die, never saw a racist killing for the pure enjoyment of it and never saw anyone break down at what they saw. My views on Full Metal Jacket weren't colored by having actually been there, and this is one of those few, special, amazing pictures where that could drastically alter perceptions. In fact, Kubrick's integrity might be one of the main reasons this film isn't as well known or well regarded as it should be - it's harsh, biting criticism that doesn't make for that enjoyable of a film (past the riot that is the first 45 minutes, and I did experience boot camp, though of a different sort) unless you "get it" or are "taught" it in the right way (such is the reason that "Great Expectations" is so unfairly maligned, it's one hell of a book, but so misunderstood!).

I hope you don't think me insensitive for laughing at Joker's John Wayne impersonation or for pitying Pyle then growing increasingly annoyed with his personality to the point where I grow to laugh at Ermey's constant belittling to wanting to join in on the sock beating and finally being horrified when it happens or laughing heartily at most of Ermey's ranting and raving (I earned the nickname 'Chuckles' in boot because I had a hard time taking the instructors seriously during their more foul moments if that tells you anything). FMJ must be as accurate a film about Vietnam as it is accurate a film about the great human comedy we all participate in. We're irrational at best and completely off our rockers at worst and Kubrick captured (and expanded upon) that beautifully.

[klondike]

Bryce, muchacho, that was one fine review; and although we still differ on a half a dozen points of perception (like the functional anatomy of satire), I really enjoyed reading it, and ruminating on the aspects you turned your light on. In fact, about the only thing I feel less than good about is that we've conspired to somewhat derail the subject of the thread!
Ah well, c'est la vie du cinema.
And my apology as well to the screenplay of FMJ, as I'd forgotten that Animal was more specifically Animal Mother (and mother, what an animal!).
Now admittedly, my involvement in the Great Immorality Play gives me some unique insight, and it also serves to color my views enough to pearl the edge off my completeness of objectivity. I can extrapolate that while I was In Country, I actually met, mostly in passing, a dozen or so toters who were creepily like Animal Mother, and their bristly, count-down nihilism always put my nape-hairs at full mast . . especially if they were out "on walkie" (Hollis would grok what I mean); Command called the syndrome "back from far deep", and understanding them for the living time bombs they were, tried to rein them in for psyche-eval . . which resulted in getting about 2 out of every 20 out on forced med leave.
Hats off to you, Bryce, nice job of vivasection . . for although FMJ has a black & cratered heart, it's still one that beats very loudly.