The Mildred Pierce: Film Genre

Mildred Pierce” meets many on the list of criteria to be deemed Film Noir genre. For instance, the schematics of the film are the basic black and white, which suits the time period of 1934. There was a strong usage of shadow photography that was used prominent throughout the film. Crime and suspense are the subgenre, which is another defining characteristic. Flashbacks were used sporadically to give reference to transpiring events of the murder. The third person narration, contributed to an unbiased perspective of what and how the events occurred. The banter was expressed a great deal of times between Mildred and Veda, as well as Mildred and her husband. The banter ranged from short, calm and collected to complete physical contact. The Femme Fatale was represented by the character Veda. She was the innocent sweetheart initially, but had an alter ego as a murderer. Veda was misconceiving to both Mildred and Monte, and as she aged became an opportunist. During the investigation of the murder, she would rather use her mother as a scapegoat, instead of taking the responsibility for her actions. Her mother gave her everything she desired, but still she wanted more. A prime example is when she faked her pregnancy to scam money from her “husband”. Veda was merely concerned about money, and how to obtain more of it. Money was her sense of happiness, and contributed to power.

The outlook could be described as both positive and negative. The reason for the description of positive or negative is because it depended upon the interpretation and also the prospective from the characters. Also, there was an absence of fatalistic mood. These characteristics alone separated the genre from Film Noir. “Mildred Pierce” is unconventional and does not fall into just one genre; it can be placed into many dependent upon the criteria. Interpretation is the defining element of the films’ placement within