Gilda- Spectacle of Emotions

Gilda (1946) has been defined as a film noir due to disturbing narrative themes of ambiguity and violent death, the portrayal of isolated feel of modern cities, the use of conflicted anti-heroes and of beautiful and dangerous female character.  Film noir is seen as the opposition between the light and shadow, between power and seduction and it is distinct in the unsettled sense of claustrophobia and distortion in the story. It seems to reject society's dominant ideology and the importance of shared values, experimenting with alternative formulas against American culture's view of the family. In addition, femmes fatales, one of the most significant aspects of film noir, as described by Swanson (1993) “mark a trajectory in film theory which looks beyond dichotomies that offer a given category of ‘women’ a unitary place in relation to representation (…).”

The main character in the film is constructed as the ultimate femme fatale, idea reinforced by the slogan on the film’s poster "There NEVER was a woman like Gilda.” The character will be analysed in this essay through the dynamic of interaction between her and the male protagonists with regard to the emotions that are resulted, in order to establish the role of the femme fatale in film noir. 

Although viewers might be blinded by her beauty, her character, which is constructed in a complex way, hides various problems in the society and between the relationship of women and men, between the desire of beauty and power. However, feminists have had controversial reactions in accessing the validity of Gilda’s role in portraying women’s personality and their aspirations. For example, Doane (1991, p.2) says that “it would be a mistake to see her as some kind of heroine of modernity.”

First of all, being the source of conflict and the reason of different emerging feelings, the story of the film is build around Gilda. Hayward (2005) suggests  that main characteristic of the fame fatale, apart from her seductiveness, may be her uncontrollability. 

Her uncontrollability, in relation to the patriarchal myth, explains the interpretation of the femme fatale as embodying male fears of female sexuality.  The femme fatale is an attack to the culture we live in, that has been promoting the idea that men have to be in power.  Patriarchal ideologies are therefore threatened by the fatale’s power of cheating the system, daring to combine “feminine beauty and intelligence with sexual assertiveness and (so-called) masculine agency.” (Walker, 2007) However, the inflated uncontrollable female sexuality, which Gilda uses to manipulate the men she is interacting with in the movie, interpreted as female duplicity, both triggers, from the male protagonists, feeling of jealousy and obsession in assessing the fatale’s honesty.  Walker (2007) talks about the fact that “Truth and knowledge are concealed and replaced by the enigma of the femme as multiplication of appearances, a multitude of faces, each one of the apparently false, each progressively shattered.” In the case of Gilda, she is presented as having a past that she is covering with lies, a different personality that she is denying. 

                          (First scene Gilda appears in the movie) 

In addition, numerous close-up frames of Gilda’s face might be seen as an attempt to see behind the image she is portraying, trying to get inside her mind, where the truth may be found. For example, in the first scene Gilda appears, although we are not familiar with the character yet, the use of the mirror emphasizes her desirability and confidence, while the facial expression of Johnny reveals Gilda’s disguise. This suggests that from the beginning of the movie, both the spectator and Ballin are encouraged to question the femme fatale’s honesty, which will be accentuated during the action, a fundamental, intended issue in film noir. 

Furthermore, fatale’s varieties of personality as well as her narcissism are a major source of tension arising from the male protagonists’ doubt regarding her emotional and sexual loyalties.  Doane (1991, p.2) states that “The power accorded to the femme fatale is a function of fears linked to the notions of uncontrollable drives, the fading of subjectivity, and the loss of the conscious agency- all themes of the emergent theories of psychoanalysis.”  The film presents several scenes in which Ballin and Johnny are questioning the loyalty of Gilda, moments that result in images of obsessive need and search of faithfulness. The film conceals whether these emotions are driven by his love for Gilda or because of his manhood. 

Moreover, the relationship between Ballin and Gilda generate other feelings like desire and greed, as well as it shows the correlation between desirability and unpredictability. Both of them have power, for Gilda is the sexual power that can attract any man, while for Ballin is the financial power that can buy any object of desire. For example, in one of the scenes, Ballin tells Gilda “You’re a child, Gilda, a beautiful greedy child. And it amuses me to feed you beautiful things because you eat with so good an appetite.” Their relationship raises the question of who has the power over whom.  

 Nevertheless, Johnny is a major factor in considering that. The idea of power is closely linked to concept of owning and, Martin (1998, p.212) mentions that “Her attraction for them becomes ‘fatale’, not because of anything she does, but because they make the mistake of thinking they can own her…” Moreover, the interaction between the characters shows that danger- the danger of loosing Gilda or the danger of having her real identity discovered- is an exciting feeling, which shakes the mundane boredom. In addition, this feeling is expressed metaphorically thru the location of the event, a casino, and underlined by different representative moments in the film. 

Another aspect that constructs the fatale’s personality is her ambition, the desire of love overlapping with the much stronger attraction to money. This idea implies that the femme fatale may be judged as lacking in moral scruples; she wants everything and not willing to give up on any of those aspects, nonetheless loosing her freedom of playing with her sexuality. The film noir frames the femme fatale both as a monster and as the most desirable woman.

Quart and Auster (2011) suggest that in film noir, "the narrative, no matter how much the camera focused on the predatory sexuality or psychological strength of the female, male dominance was always restored by the film's climax.” Gilda, by the end of the film, is punished for male-female-male triangulation that she instigated and her continuous display of availability, by being trapped in an unbearable relationship, a prison. Furthermore, Doane  (1991, p.2) mentions that this is a common characteristic in the progree of the femme fatale, “the femme fatale is studied as evil and is frequently punished or killed.” 

    (Famous scene when Gilda performs an allusion to a striptease dance)

The renowned moment in which she performs an allusion to a striptease number has been interpreted as an attempt in trying to escape this situation. The last part of the movie shows the character in a very different light. However, feelings of judging her not feelings of compassion are being encouraged by the images presented.

To conclude, Gilda is a representative of the femme fatale, possessing the qualities to create a “psychological obsession” (Duncan, 2000) over the male protagonists she interacts with in the film. Not only that the character herself is a spectacle, but her personality and the way she acts, move the interpretation to the generation of a spectacle of emotions. All in all, the most important aspect of the femme fatale is this ability in awakening deep feelings of jealousy, obsession, ambiguity, allure, uncontrollability, manipulation, desire, greed, and others. To this moment, femme fatale is the most complex female character in film.

Reference list

Doane, M. A.. (1991). Femmes Fatales-Feminism, Film Theory, Psychoanalysis. London: Routledge.

Duncan, P. (2000) Film Noir:  Films of trust and betrayal.  Pocket Essentials

Hayward, S. (2005) Closing Remarks. Cherchez la femme: the Cinematic Femme Fatale, Her History and Transmissions. University of Exeter.

Martin, A.. (1998). “Gilda didn’t do any of those things you’ve been losing sleep over!”: The Central Women of the 40s Film Noirs. Women in Film Noir. London: BFI Pub., 202-228.

Swanson. (1993). Reviews. Screen. 34(2).

Quart, L. and Auster, A.. (2011). American film and society since 1945. Santa Barbara:Praeger.

Walker, D.. (2007). Re-reading the Femme Fatale in Film Noir: an evolutionary perspective.  Journal of Moving Image Studies, 4, pp 25.