Concept for My Film

Ok, here's my plan for this film opening. The general idea is a sort of 1940s crime film based around a collection of characters with problems. The protagonist, for example, has fallen out of a long relationship and is heartbroken in that respect. He has been betrayed, stood up, burned by the law, and now his partner has been killed. A typical theme of Film Noir is to focus on the criminals themselves rather than society's molding of criminals. Another is to have characters plagued by existential bitterness and broken promises of love.

Title: Maria
Genre: Film Noir
Opening Synopsis: Four gang members play poker at a table. A woman is there flirting with the boss of the men. She leaves, and finds another man has broken in and is snooping around in the house. This man is actually a detective, who has found a priceless heirloom and is attempting to take it back from the mob boss who stole it. The woman seduces and kills this detective, then calls the police to inform them of the location of the notorious mob boss. The poker game gets rough, as it's revealed one of them is actually another detective, working with the one who got killed. As the cops arrive, bent on killing or arresting everyone in the building, the woman escapes, the boss is killed, and the detective left to take the blame for what has happened here.

Full Plot Synopsis: Bill is a Pinkerton agent (the Pinkerton Detective Agency was an American organisation of private investigators who could be hired like freelance workers for detective and security purposes. It is speculated that at its height, the organisation employed more people than the US military, and was a danger of becoming a potentially unstoppable militia force. Riots broke out, the Pinkertons were involved, and as a result, the act of hiring a member of the agency (and the agency itself) was outlawed by the government.) Bill has been asked to recover the medallion of Marie Antoinette (a french consort who was beheaded by the people during the French revolution - famous for the saying "Let them eat cake"). He has taken this case in part because of the money he'd make for completing it, but also because he has learnt of Maria's involvement with the gang leader "Big Ed", whom he knows is behind the robbery and other crimes. Bill and Maria had been in love at one point - due to be married, until one of his undercover investigations fell through, and the gang (himself included) was arrested and deported. He and Maria have never seen each other since. When Bill arrives at Ed's house, Maria is unsettled. She has been a criminal for several years and is secretly the reason behind Bill's previous failiure. She kills Bill's partner Jonesy, and steals the medallion for herself. When Maria leaves at the end of the opening, Bill leaves hastily in order to stop Ed getting to her before he can. The rest of the film would have featured Bill tracking down Maria in order to recover the medallion, but also to convince her to settle down and stop committing crimes. The plot would’ve taken him to Germany, where Maria has escaped to and begun a new life under a false identity. The plot would eventually reveal Maria’s involvement in Bill’s espionage accident (which lead to the entire gang being arrested and deported) and her involvement in the murder of Ms Dawson, the lady who had commissioned the search for her missing heirloom. Bill would have to confront the reality that he could not have a life with Maria, and that she would have to be brought in to justice, though he is reluctant to do so. As the film climaxes, the surviving gang members that used to be under Ed’s control will rise to a violent peak, causing riots in the streets and the deaths of countless law enforcement officials and pinkerton agents. The film ends with Maria’s capture (sentenced to execution during an uprising, just like Marie Antoinette) and the permanent house arrest/parole of Bill for allegedly starting the gang war and indirectly getting all of the detectives and policemen killed. Ideally, this would be a very nihilistic film – it is meant to be depressing, with elements of sex, heartbrake, and violence throughout.

Emotions To Envoke: Anxiety, Excitement, Moodiness/Depression (?)
Principal Ideas: Depression, Double-crossing/Distrust, Danger, Danger of women. (A lot of D's...)
Impact: The audience needs to feel some of the above ideas in this opening. The intro is meant to be fairly bleak, the way Bill narrates with the chime-like music in the background creates a sort of self-reflective atmosphere. The following scene with the poker game bring in the anxiety, as things take a turn for the worse for Bill. The concepts of corruption and death are brought about in the speech, but also when Maria shoots Bill's partner. Maria's seductiveness followed by Jonesy's elimination shows the danger of women - being sexually alluring but also intelligent, scheming, and (to an extent) heartless and manipulating. This again shows the heartbrake and distrust that plays a strong part in Film Noir.