I eventually became an author myself, and during the course of writing my third novel i referenced the long goodbye by way of the gin and roses lime juice cocktail. Altmans the long goodbye sheds entirely new light on the genre, dancing between paying respect to film noir and its clear subversion. Two aimless, brooklyn transplants both trying to find meaning in their lives. Read this music and movies research paper and over 89,000 other research documents. I first read this book as a paperback back in my teens, and it stuck with me ever since. It follows the private detector phillip marlowe who had had. Robert merrill of the ten films based on raymond chandlers novels, robert altmans the long goodbye 1973 is almost surely the most notorious. Robert altmans the long goodbye 1973 attacks film noir with three of his most cherished tools. Is the long goodbye long because it is saying goodbye to the strictures of the mystery genre and venturing into more mainstream areas of social criticism and psychological analysis. Avery and matthew, too deep in their delusion to talk to one another, they both. Raymond chandlers sentimental foolishness is the takingoff place for robert altmans heady, whirling sideshow of a movie, set in the earlyseventies l. In fact, the majority of the songs played through the film involve various renditions of the theme song, whether its played by a jazz piano or a capella. The long goodbye the greatest literature of all time.
The film stars elliott gould as philip marlowe, and features sterling hayden, nina van pallandt, jim bouton and mark rydell. The catandmouse antics play out with no sense of escalation or invention. When robert altman made a movie of the novel chandler considered his best, the long goodbye, marlowe, played by elliott gould, seemed. The film the long goodbye has been described as a study of a moral and decent man cast adrift in a selfish, selfobsessed society where lives can be thrown away without a backward glance and any notions of friendship and loyalty are eaningless.
Private investigator philip marlowe helps a friend out of a jam then gets implicated in his wifes murder. For 1973s the long goodbye, altman made a washedout, sundappled version of film noir, adapting raymond chandlers 1953 novel about. The long goodbye is a 1973 american neonoir thriller film directed by robert altman and. It starred elliott gould as the iconic private detective philip marlowe. Revisiting altmans the long goodbye the new york times. Most of its effect comes from the way it pushes against the genre, and the way altman undermines the premise of all private eye movies, which is that the hero can walk down mean streets, see clearly, and tell right from wrong. It makes no serious effort to reproduce the raymond chandler detective novel its based on. Superbly photographed by vilmos zsigmond in a desaturated colour that echoes a bygone age, the long goodbye is an elegant, chilly, deliberately heartless movie.
With lyricism and unswerving candor, the long goodbye conveys the fleeting moments of joy that make up a life, and the way memory can lead us out of the jagged darkness of loss. Set in the 1970s, robert altmans masterly take on raymond chandlers novel exposes the eras decadence, writes philip french. These papers were written primarily by students and provide critical analysis of the long goodbye by raymond chandler. The lyrics use the theme of the long goodbye to tell a story of unrequited love which at first seems at odds with the narrative of the film. Like there is no trap so deadly as the trap you set for yourself.
He is always the most youthful of directors, and here he gives us the youngest of philip marlowes, the private eye as a hardy boy. However, it seems as if the similarities between chandlers marlowe and altmans marlowe ends here. If you want to start a analysis thelonggoodbye page, just click the edit button above. In the 1970s there was a film noire revival in hollywood. This month, we look at the last marlowe film to be released in theaters. Like many a film before it, we summon the darkness spends such a long time trying to subvert a concept that it neglects everything that might have been appealing even in a straightforward take on its premise. A film by christopher vernale long goodbye is the story of avery and matthew. Robert altmans the long goodbye attempts to do a very interesting thing. This onepage guide includes a plot summary and brief analysis of. The long goodbye literary analysis raymond chandler. Robert altmans the long goodbye as a genre revisionist film. It is that loyalty which makes philip grant the request of his long time friend terry lennox when terry shows up on his doorstep late one evening. Some critics consider it inferior to the big sleep or farewell, my lovely, but others rank it as the best of his work. That resulted in movies like chinatown and the long goodbye.
They begin finding comfort in a fantasy relationship with one another that doesnt really exist. Robert altman borrowed the title of raymond chandlers the long goodbye for both his 1973 film, but it could just have easily been called. Its ok with me applying his deconstructive eye to the film noir tradition, robert altman updated raymond chandler in his 1973 version of. The long goodbye was the last great novel by raymond chandler featuring his sardonic, occasionally knightly detective philip marlowe. The long goodbye ignores movie history, and makes marlowe a schlemiel, rather than a hardboiled saint. Robert altmans the long goodbye is popular again the. The long goodbye is a 1973 american neonoir thriller film directed by robert altman and based on raymond chandler s 1953 novel of the same title. The marlowe files is a monthly series looking at chandlers novels and film adaptations starring his famous detective philip marlowe. Robert altmans the long goodbye and roman polanskis chinatown are both good examples of neonoir. The movie was directed by robert altman and based upon a raymond chandler mystery. However, the lyrics could be referring to a number of possible relationships. But yet, in the long goodbye, gould is just so much fun to watch, especially when hes being interrogated by the police or just muttering lines like, hes got a girl, i got a cat or a melon convention when he gives up trying to get his topless nextdoor neighbors attention. The long goodbye is a 1953 detective novel by raymond chandler, his sixth featuring the private detective philip marlowe marlowes drinking buddy terry lennox flees to mexico, leaving behind a dead wife and a lot of questions. Further evidence of altmans satirical take of the film noir conventions is in the musical number of the eponymous song, the long goodbye.
This is a fairly good approximation of the quotation, but isnt completely accurate. Even people who like the film see it as a deliberate departure from chandlers literary intentions, and chandlers fans regard the film with what one critic calls ontological loathing. But i do have a strict some would say rigid moral sense. The most prominent is an analysis of crime and corruption in america. They both carry elements of classical film noir with them, such as the hard boiled detective archetype, the femme fatale archetype, and they both deal with the gritty side of human nature. Like marlowe in the long goodbye, its okay with me until it isnt. The long goodbye r 1h 52min comedy, crime, drama 8 march 1973 usa private investigator philip marlowe helps a friend out of a jam, but in doing so gets implicated in his wifes murder. The following film notes were prepared for the new york state writers institute by kevin jack hagopian, senior lecturer in media studies at pennsylvania state university. Robert altmans the long goodbye isnt only in my mind his greatest achievment, it is one of the ten greatest film ive seen to date.
Robert altmans film of raymond chandlers novel the long goodbye, produced by jerry bick from a screenplay by leigh brackett, is as witty. Supersummary, a modern alternative to sparknotes and cliffsnotes, offers highquality study guides that feature detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, quotes, and essay topics. The long goodbye is a novel by raymond chandler, published in 1953, his sixth novel featuring the private investigator philip marlowe. This arrangement is a good starting point for the analysis as it seems to be the most fully formed version of the song. The long goodbye 110 movie clip interrogation 1973 hd. Another theme is the socioeconomic divide between the rich and poor.
The long goodbye literary analysis the long goodbye, raymond chandlers sixth novel, has been acclaimed as a significant mainstream novel. Hollywood goodbyes, from casablanca to the long goodbye, may be fitting analogies for blairs departure, but i think a classic bible picture like the king of. Bogarts philip marlowe was a man of a high moral code, dressed in black and white suits, dryly delivering witty remarks and jokes as he strolls around a dark world of crime and viciousness. Many years before, chandler himself had proposed cary grant for the role, but had loved bogarts turn as marlowe in the big sleep. Effortlessly blending research and reflection, the personal and the universal, it is not only an exceptional memoir, but a. The film stars elliott gould as philip marlowe and features sterling hayden, nina van. The long goodbye study guide contains a biography of raymond chandler, literature essays, quiz questions, major themes, characters, and a full summary and analysis. It tries to be all genre and no story, and it almost works. The long goodbye essays are academic essays for citation. Marlowe attempts to answer the questions, even though nobody wants him to and despite news coming from mexico that anything he finds will be too late to help terry. Robert altmans the long goodbye 1973 based on a novel of the same name by raymond chandler belongs to a genre called the hardboiled detective story, which may be regarded as a subcategory under noir and includes films like hustons the maltese falcon 1941 and polanskis chinatown 1974. The long goodbye the long goodbye is the sixth novel in chandlers philip marlowe universe, written some years after chandlers other marlowe novels and at a time when chandler was going through a rough patch.
The long goodbye 1973 rotten tomatoes movie trailers. The long goodbye should not be anybodys first film noir, nor their first altman movie. The screenplay was written by leigh brackett, who cowrote the screenplay for chandlers the big sleep in 1946. Summary of the long goodbye and roman polanskis chinatown. The main character, philip marlowe played by elliot gould in the film adaptation, is a struggling private investigator with a quick quip for any occasion. Americanbritish writer raymond chandlers crime fiction, the long goodbye 1953, is the sixth novel to feature his fictional detective hero philip marlowe.
In noir master raymond chandlers the long goodbye, philip marlowe befriends a down on his luck war veteran with the scars to prove it. Then he finds out that terry lennox has a very wealthy nymphomaniac wife, whom he divorced. It transcended the hardboiled detective fiction genre because it was more than a mystery story. Some see it as the pinnacle of chandlers career as a mystery author, while others see it as less powerful than the big sleep and farewell, my lovely, two early novels whatever its power, it may be the most personal of chandlers novels, or at least we get a more. The long goodbye has been described as a study of a moral and decent man cast adrift in a selfish, selfobsessed society where lives can be thrown away without a backward glance. Taipei a documentary concerned with elderly people in various stages of mental and physical decline, the long goodbye makes one feel the agony of slowly losing ones grip on reality. Chandlerthat is to say, sleuth philip marlowe in the bookcertainly seems. The genre has been accorded recognition as serious literature because of writers. On march 7, 1973, robert altman unveiled his twohour, rrated noir adaptation of the long goodbye in theaters. The long goodbye is no different in following this convention.
Altmans long goodbye, a fresh print of which was to begin a weeklong run at film forum here on friday, is neither a homage nor a deconstruction, though it contains elements of both. The novel was a commentary on the problems within society, in particular the evil power of money. The long goodbye is cheeky and often cheerily meta, but i certainly wouldnt call it a lark. Who said, i am as empty as the space between the stars. The long goodbye is a large departure in some measures from the other marlowe novels and has a different feel and rhythm to it. Be careful, though, the only things that go in the main namespace are tropes and should be created through the ykttw system. The long goodbye, raymond chandlers sixth novel, has been acclaimed as a significant mainstream novel. Me, generally enjoying a film but feeling vaguely as if i dont fully grasp whatever subtext or characterizations altman has woven into it as i know both he and raymond chandler are generally more thoughtful than to make something to be viewed on a purely surface level, but also having nothing more to say about it besides recognizing how strongly it influenced under the silver lake and. A brief look at raymond chandlers classic private detective character, philip marlowe, throughout tv and film history.
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