Rating of
4/4
The Big Sleep, My Favorite movie
Lenny Manzo - wrote on 01/06/10
Today, I want to share with you my favorite film of all time, The Big Sleep with Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall, in her second round with my childhood idle. This is a masterpiece by director Howard Hawks. The mood is so compelling it pulls you right back into 1946.
A few years back I watched this film every night for over 3 weeks straight. I would turn the lights off in my living room and hit the video tape; this was back in the old days, years ago, waaaaaay before DVD. We still had remotes then, they weighed about four pounds. The movie would kick in wherever it left off. If the movie had only 20 minutes left, I would watch it to the end, start over and watch it again.
I immersed myself in the film. Every night after the wife and kids went to bed I headed into Bogie Land. I lived and breathed this movie for 23 nights in a row. I felt like I was inside it. A unique way to experience a film.
I started this crazy relationship with The Big Sleep because I couldn’t figure out the plot. I would get so caught up in the film by the end I would say, “Did I miss something?” Eventually, I figured it out. The plot is unclear. The beauty is it doesn’t matter. The work is so artful that you are swept away by the mystique and ambience.
Besides having this unparalleled movie experience, it is the best Film Noir ever. This film looks brilliant. It is one of the most beautiful black and white movies made. And if there ever was a man made for black and white, it was Humphrey Bogart.
