Director John Bailey was quoted in the New York Times last February as saying, "Younger film makers... are attracted to the style and imagery of noir, and maybe do not understand or choose to explore the psychological dimensions as much as the stylistic conventions."
But what about the cases where the visual stylistic definitions of noir, such as shadows stretching on indefinitely, notably oblique camera angles, or a majority of characters wearing trenchcoats, as the article suggests, are the noir aspects which are shadowed (pun not necessarily intended) by the psychological dimensions which lay at the core of the genre?
Bailey (The Search For Signs of Intelligent Life in the Universe) finally gets a chance to practice what he preaches with the release of China Moon, a romantic mystery which quite satisfyingly breathes with the same existential futility as noir classics Lady From Shanghai and The Maltese Falcon.
Ed Harris (Glengarry Glen Ross) plays Kyle Bodean, a bachelor Floridian police detective with an incredible eye for detail. In a bar one night after solving a homicide case with his partner Lamar Dickey (Benicio Del Toro), Kyle meets Rachel Munro, played by Madeleine Stowe (Blink). Rachel retreats from the obvious mutual attraction, but Kyle tracks her down and the two begin a love affair.
Rachel's bank owner husband, Rupert, played by Charles Dance (Alien 3), is an adulterous, condescending jerk who Kyle and Lamar have the pleasure of meeting when they are called to investigate an incident of spousal abuse.
Kyle and Rachel plan to run away together, but Rupert surprises a hurriedly packing Rachel and she is forced to fall back on her pre-Kyle plan 1: shooting Rupert with her illegally bought gun. When Kyle arrives to drive Rachel into the sunset, he discovers instead an unlikely murderer and Rupert's dead body. Unwilling to give up romantic happiness, Kyle uses all the tricks he knows to cover up the crime.
But the next day, Kyle and Lamar find themselves assigned to the Munro case, and Lamar, tired of playing second fiddle to seasoned pro Kyle, is determined to solve the juicy murder case. Kyle has a hard enough time pretending he doesn't know Rachel and slowing down the investigation, but when clues start popping up that don't match the events he covered up at the crime scene, Kyle wonders if a double-cross hasn't taken place. Soon, Kyle finds himself as the prime suspect as the film races towards its unpredictable and satisfyingly un-Hollywood ending.
Undoubtedly, China Moon's greatest asset is writer Roy Carlson, who delivers one of the most thought-out, intelligent mysteries since 1991's Dead Again. The film has moments which are so intricate and well written that the wait to see what happens next is unbearable, predominantly because the "big picture" final puzzle is virtually unguessable.
But even more importantly, true to film noir's origins, is the mood that Bailey and Harris manage to create once the mystery begins. There is a very tangible feeling of having nowhere to go but down, and the audience can tell, simply from the mood of the film, that the murder conspirators, sympathetic protagonists or not, are going to get nailed in the end.
Plus, by the conclusion, Harris's Kyle Bodean has been transformed into a great Sam Spade-esque anti-hero. He's a loner P.I. who knows that by solving the crime that he's been woven into, he loses the happiness he's managed to attain. But as much as it hurts him, he's got to do the right thing, ultimately hurting himself more than the villains.
Unfortunately, Carlson's script, until the mystery shifts into gear, is more than a little awkward. A sample of the small talk between Kyle and Rachel when they first meet-Rachel: "Are you an orphan?" Kyle: "Yeah, I'm an orphan of destiny." Huh? Granted, it's more original than "What's your sign," but please...
Also, Bailey would like us to think of the couple as a Great Romance, the only sane thing in an insane world, but it feels more awkward than romantic. The love affair is supposed to be the one thing standing in the way of the perfect crime, but it never surpasses plot convenience.
On their second or third date, Kyle takes Rachel out on a lake under the moonlight. When Rachel gets the idea to go swimming, she proceeds to stand up, shed her clothes, and dive in. But rather than thinking, "Wow, these two are hot!" as the film would like you to, I ended up thinking, "Geez Madeleine, how... forward." Their love is the only truth in a plot based on lies and deceit, but it simply isn't strong enough to be anything but out of place.
Nonetheless, the minor flaws China Moon suffers from aren't nearly enough to drag down an incredibly strong story and solid performances in the film noir tradition which is very much alive.
Brad Barton is a graduating senior at Ithaca College and produces "The Screening Room," ICTV's movie review show.