After leading actresses turn 30 or so, Hollywood usually relegates them to motherly roles, villainesses or banal character parts. There are scattered exceptions to the film industry’s treatment of older women as second class citizens — actresses like Meryl Streep, Helen Mirren and Isabelle Huppert still appear in complex, engrossing roles. However, Hollywood has marginalized older women for decades, abandoning once-famous stars as soon as their youthful charm and sexuality dissipates. Never has any filmmaker better captured the calamitous impacts of faded stardom than Billy Wilder in his sardonic, cynical 1950 film noir, “Sunset Boulevard.”
“Sunset Boulevard” stars William Holden as Joe Gillis, a lackluster screenwriter who stumbles upon the dilapidated mansion of a has-been silent film star, Norma Desmond (Gloria Swanson). Norma’s career has become obsolete, but she nonetheless indulges in her former artificial celebrity image and believes the public is anxiously yearning for her career resurgence. Norma lives as a recluse with her butler — Max von Mayerling (Erich von Stroheim) — who devotes his life to feeding her illusions. She hires Joe to ghost-write for her triumphant return to the film, but he soon becomes her submissive gigolo and ego-stroker. The simple set-up develops into a thought-provoking meditation on narcissism, unrequited love and delusion.
As one of the most captivating femme fatales in cinematic history, Norma entertains and disturbs audiences in equal parts. With her grandiose mannerisms and dramatic gestures, there is an ineffable allure to her character. It’s easy to become mesmerized — or at least charmed — by her theatrical diatribes on the demise of contemporary film, her sophisticated outfits or determination to entertain an apathetic Joe via impressions of Mack Sennett's Bathing Beauties or Charlie Chaplin’s The Tramp.
At the same time, Norma is a repulsive, raging narcissist who exerts unfair control over Joe and Max — the only people who exhibit care for her. Norma’s former massive stardom was constructed around her youthful beauty, and she was abandoned by the film industry once this image waned as she aged.
Celebrity adoration is an ephemeral phenomenon — a merciless cycle of Hollywood and audiences disenfranchising older women in favor for youthful sex appeal. As a victim of the cruel movie industry, Norma cannot grasp her own value and purpose without her superficial, decades-old image. To maintain her fame, she stuffs her rotting estate with hundreds of old photographs from her heyday, routinely screens her silent films and endures rigorous beauty treatments in preparation for her comeback. When Joe finally attempts to shock Norma out of her illusions, it’s much too late — her perception of reality has become inseparable from her fantasy world, rendering tragic, albeit inevitable, endings for both herself and Joe.
In spite of the bleak tone of “Sunset Boulevard,” Wilder infuses the film with acerbic wit and firm romanticism. Most scenes are not laugh-out-loud funny, yet witnessing Joe’s uneasiness toward his own subservience and an elaborate, somber funeral for Norma’s dead monkey provide uncomfortable chuckles and a much-needed interruption from macabre depictions of narcissism and a sinister film industry. The film additionally interweaves several romantic storylines, affirming that the often unsympathetic characters are worthy of love.
“Sunset Boulevard” is one of the most beloved American films ever made, and it has notably saturated pop culture — from homages of the iconic opening scene to influencing renowned filmmaker David Lynch’s work. The film’s sharp script, stylized cinematography and spectacular performances each contribute to its abiding legacy. Most importantly, its scathing criticism of Hollywood and the celebrity image remains disturbingly pertinent today. While Wilder took a risk in producing a film of unrelenting honesty and immense depth, it certainly paid off, as evidenced by the film’s persistent reverence by filmmakers, movie fanatics and beyond.
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