Sunset Boulevard (1950)
This was way better than The Artist and Babylon with a proper entertaining story, well written script and classic noir cinematography.
I love how it has two people both in a downturn of their career, Norma clearly more in the late stage of that than Joe, and how it used to tell a story about ambitions and not being able to live up to it. Everything that happens is rather absurd but still very believable, and while the various twists and reveals might not be earth shattering with modern standards, it is still cleverly and effectually written and delivered. Gloria Swanson is delightfully overly melodramatic, which would have been annoying in any other film, but here it works exactly as it should.
Somehow having a narrator in films is frowned upon today. While there are bad examples of voiceovers, it shouldn’t be ruled out completely and not be only a thing of the past. There is nothing wrong with also telling a story, even though it is within a visual medium.
Rating: 4.5