Detour

Detour

Detour is particularly good for highlighting how the Femme fatale manipulates the protagonist and is subsequently the reason for his downfall
1. The plot involves someone picking up Al, a hitchhiker. The man takes a few tablets at one point in the film and dies in the car. Al is driving by this point and goes round to the passenger side to check if he's ok. As he opens the door, he falls out and hits his head on a rock. Al then decides to dump the body and run, but, changes his identity to the man who died. Al then picks up the Femme Fatale who has some connection with the man who died. Al then gets blackmailed by her into doing things for her or she'll snitch on him. He then kills her accidentally. He realizes he could get put in prison for a double murder case so he flees and carries on driving away knowing he's going to be living the rest of his life looking behind him.
2. At the start of the film, the audience see how isolated the protagonist - Al - is. He's sat alone in a diner drinking and this highlight s his alienation from society. This is a common convention of Film Noir.
3. When Al kills the Femme Fatale there is a mirror shot where she is lying on the bed. This is a common camera shot in Film Noir
4. The original script was much longer but they cut a lot of the dialogue out and shortened the film.
5. In the scene where Vera threatens to call the police, we see the Femme Fatale's actual power over Al. She is a serious threat towards him and is always blackmailing him into doing things or she'll call the police. Vera uses this as ammunition and always is in control instead of Al dominating the decision making.
6. The Femme Fatale Vera often comes across as blunt and short tempered but she seduces Al a lot to get him to give into her and go along with her decisions.
The setting in this film is that of which you would expect to find in calssic Film Noir films from this era.
1. The setting upholds many conventions such as an urban setting, bars and a flat/apartment.
  1. The music was written by Leo Erdody with ambient sound effects.
2. Detour only had a small budget between $20,000 and $100,000, which on ly meant they used minimal set and filmed on location instead.
Conventions used in Detour are: Flashbacks, Rain, Obscurity of vision, Smoking, Chiaroscuro lighting, Alcoholism, Darkness.
1. The Hollywood Production Code did not allow murderers to get away with their crimes so at the end they had to re-model the movie and have Al being picked up by a police car which could foreshadow his arrest , but yet, it still shows a potential punishment which then allowed he film to be publish.
2. There is frequent use of Chiaroscuro lighting in Detour. A particular example of this is when the Femme Fatale gets drunk and threatens to call the police. This high contrast in lighting helps to create more of an atmospheric effect in such an important scene in the film.
The film was based on Martin Goldsmith's novel 'Detour'

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	Created by Alex Underwood about 11 years ago