Red Rock West :: essays research papers

Red Rock West is a hood example of a new-age film noir. It has all the elements that are needed to make a film noir such as light and dark contrast, symbolic environment, the femme fatal, corruption, treachery, and deception. The film is unlike classic noir because of its use of color, irony, and humor in the movie.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In the opening scene we get a sense of what Michael is like. He is driving a boat of a car across the barren desert, like he is scavenging for something. Strapped for money he stops at a somewhat abandoned gas station where he finds a bundle of twenty dollar bills out in plain view. We get the sense that he tries to be honest because he doesn’t take the money and he buys gas with the last five dollars that were in his wallet, just enough to get him to Red Rock and not any further. He then gets turned down from his job because he told the truth about his leg being injured. When he goes into the Red Rock Bar we can see the change in his life coming. He walks in from the bright daylight into the darkness of the dimly lit bar. This lighting hints to the audience that from that point on Michael is fated for disaster.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  From there on the story’s most important scenes take place at night. For example when Michael hits the person in the middle of the road at night when it is pouring rain. He still shows some what of a conscience to bring him back to the hospital. There is some comic relief because every time he leaves and enters the town they show a sign of either entering or leaving Red Rock. No matter how hard that he tries to leave the town he just can’t do it, something always comes up. The most symbolic settings would have to be at the end when they are in the graveyard digging up the money that Wayne had buried. It was dark with fog coating the ground and they are driving up in a completely black car. The audience can see that this will be the climax of the movie because all of these elements are coming together.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Suzanne’s character is the one with the most twists and turns in her personality. We learn that she is very flawed from the begging when she is seen committing adultery with another man.