Vivian: A lot depends on who's in the saddle.
The Big Sleep, in reference to death, is appealing mainly because of the way Howard Hawks captures moments in the film to unexpectedly scare his audience, his unpredictable cinematic techniques create an electric atmosphere where anything is possible. The use of false leads, complex dialogue, witticism, confusing storyline, chauvinistic gender roles, violence and corruption complete the story but what ties the knot is that this film uses the technique where the audience point of view is Marlowe's, instead of being guided by a voice over they must think for them selves, a convention of film noir. All in all, this is one of the classics that is truly out of its era.
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