250 films, 250 reviews. This is a pretty crazy idea, but who doesn’t love a challenge? Here at Cultured Vultures we’ll be counting down the IMDb Top 250 with a review for each from one of our dedicated film writers. Everything from Goodfellas to Casablanca will be covered over the next year or so for you film lovers to enjoy. You can’t say we don’t spoil you, you lovely lot. – Ashley, Project Lead
***
In a long forgotten time, before Nickolaj met Julie, before The Girl got her Dragon Tattoo and long before Wall Landed (GET IT!?), The Killing was a name that bore no relation to Nordic noir. In fact it didn’t even bear relation to the regular kind. In factier, it was a little-known but much lauded 1956 crime caper, directed and written by a 27-year-old Stanley Kubrick.
Paths of Glory (1957) tends to be recognised as Kubrick’s first breakout hit, guiding him to larger critical acclaim. His first major box-office smash was Spartacus 3 years later, but with all of those focus often angled towards his later success in the late 60s to 80s, it’s easy to forget that Kubrick started making feature films when he was 25. That’s one year older than me and I struggle to make ham sandwiches (I always overdo it with the mustard). The Killing is kind of an early blueprint for the heist movies that would become such a cultural phenomenon in later years in the hands of people like Peter Collinson and Michael Mann. Kurbrick’s films are all virtually incomparable to one another and this one is no exception.
It follows a career criminal on the cusp of retirement. Minded to go out with a bang, he plans a massive, elaborate plan to steal all the betting money from a horse race, enlisting all his most trusted, talented criminal associates. It might not seem like anything earth-shattering now, but such films were still something of a rarity at this time. In fact, they were still considered fairly controversial, being that they could be construed as glorified perspectives on crime (provided they get away with it in the end). As the film progresses we’re offered tragic insights into the damaged, frayed lives of the people involved in the heist, adding a dark layer of pathos to the tension.
A narrative voice over keeps you inescapably aware of how much time they have, where they are and what needs to happen for them to succeed. It’s a cold, but undeniably effective way of maintaining the film’s pace and clarity. It’s almost like some nihilistic sports commentary and in fact, the entire film plays out like a game. As is often the way with these things though, it’s the things you don’t see, the things that you’re invited to ignore, that become the most pivotal by film’s end. The Killing certainly falls into the school of films that you get more out of on second viewing.
There are about half a dozen other films hidden within the inner workings of The Killing, ranging from a doomed story of unrequited love between a closeted homosexual and an oblivious friend to an adulterous wife muscling into the scam by way of her nasty, violent boyfriend. It’s the kind of thing Kubrick came to excel at in later films, giving us only the smallest insight into a relatively minor character, but saying a lot with a little. The cinematography and editing are also light years ahead of 1956, and you can see their DNA in heist iconic heist sequences like the one from Ocean’s 11.
As fondly-recalled as Hollywood’s golden age was, the vast bulk of the output was formulaic and saccharine. Crime films were largely no different, if you assembled all the necessary parts to create something appropriately thrilling and daring, that was that. Typically, even at such a young age, Kubrick gave us so much more. The Killing takes a pathway from planing to execution to aftermath and draws out a series of interlocking fascinating detours along the way, elevating it from a simple story of greed, danger and daring to a starkly pessimistic exploration of human nature. The kind of thing Hollywood wouldn’t have touched with a ten-foot pole at the time if it had been displaying these characteristics on its sleeves.
Note: the IMDb Top 250 Cultured Vultures are using is based on the standings from the 16th of November. Inconsistencies may apply.
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