'The Big Sleep' (Hawks 1946) comparing with 'Brick' (Johnson 2006)

Both of these films are a murder mystery's and have complicated plot lines that can be hard to follow at times, with detailed dialogue that can cause a problem for knowing what is going on in the films. In The Big Sleep there are a lot of contrasts of light and dark, but also in Brick when there is a dark scene they have only added in a small amount of light which gives a Noir feel to the film.

In Brick the main character has a few flash backs that show us where the dead female character was, like in The Big Sleep people that have been killed are known by the main characters, but unlike The big sleep in Brick you find out who had killed the young girl, and you never find out in The Big Sleep who killed the chauffeur.

In The Big Sleep the detective has his happy ending with ending up with the main women in the film, where as in Brick the main character doesn't end up with anyone and so there isn't a happy ending. Both of the films are quite abstract in the way that they have been filmed and how people have been located in the shot, there are many different angles that are shown in Brick.

Directed by Frank Miller, Robert Rodriguez and guest director Quentin Tarateno

This film is quite good with the use of black and white footage and bold blocks of colour being shown, which enhances and gives the film a very unique feel to it. The acting with in the film is very exaggerated, with an over voice going through the film telling you what the characters are thinking and what they could do next. There is a lot of Tarateno styled blood and killing action that is quite hard to understand why they are killing people in this way. There is 3 main story lines in the film and all of them are centered around love stories that turn out horribly wrong but get sorted by lots of killing and brutal beatings. The first watch is hard to get into the film and you don't really understand some of the things that are going on through the film, but it you saw it a second time it may seem much more understandable and the story lines ill make more sense.

Nicola Taylor