Human Desire

A psychologically dense tale of lust, rage, jealousy, domestic abuse, sexual violence... and murder. Crawford and Grahame expertly weave a relationship fraught with misery. Grahame is especially wonderful, bringing a rich emotional complexity to a character that could easily be played as one-note. The film packs a number of surprises and subverts some noir conventions. Add on a good score and some stark photography, and you've got a thoughtful, bleak portrait of frustration and desperation.

Story of passion and murder. Great use of train tracks as a metaphor for determinism, and a superb performance by Gloria Graham.

I don't find Gloria Grahame attractive in the least. So, clearly, human desires are diverse indeed. 'The Big Heat' is my favorite noir from Lang but this is a pretty great late entry to the canon.

While Glen Ford is ostensibly the lead, it's Grahame and Crawford who take center stage in a dark story about a stormy jealous marriage. I would have liked a little more fleshing out of some parts, but it's a very nice noir story.

Glenn Ford is good and the photography is mostly great but everything else is average.

I kept thinking throughout that I had already seen this; really, I had seen La Bête humaine (1938) several years ago. This version has some great atmosphere, but it felt like a pretty thin story with a lot of extra bits lumped on without much coherence. Grahame does make a good femme fatale, though. Weirdest moment: Vicki shows Jeff her bruises; he then kisses her by attempting to pull out all her hair.

It’s noteworthy how the movie addressed domestic abuse during this era. Prior to the women’s rights movements, women were still viewed as property in the 1950s. The movie poster effectively conveys a sense of misogyny, and we can’t help but feel sympathetic for our female protagonist, even though she’s a negative and manipulative character. Despite her difficult relationship and dire situation, she endures (but ultimately falls victim to the Hayes code)

Lang, Ford, Grahame, and Crawford combine for a solid but unspectacular noir in Lang's catalogue. The Ford role was initially meant for Peter Lorre, but he was replaced with Ford and Grahame was added after the successful The Big Heat the year before. This was for the better casting wise. Grahame is treated more sympathetically than most femme fatales (until the end), but the whole thing feels very familiar and the character is inconsistently written. Crawford isn't as interesting as usual.

"Human Desire" has good visuals and a great script, but its two female leads are miscast. The femme fatale played by Gloria Grahame and the ending both hold this film back.

Viewed June 22, 2020.

Roll that beautiful train footage!

Feels quite flat, especially the acting.

Crawford and Grahame are the clear stars here. Crawford in particular. One of the better Lang "noir" movies. Nothing but doomed characters with no escape because of class and social issues. Great stuff.

Lang show in some scenes how much of a mise-en-scène master he was (there are a handful of greatly directed scenes); with time Ellen becomes a character that is kinda lost in the story; the second half of the movie isn't able to keep the high level of the first part.

"That's the end of every biography online, 'He was in Contempt, and then he died.'" http://illusionpodcast.blogspot.com/2015/07/episode-64-films-noir-of-fritz-lang.html

watched: 2012, 2019

It warrants comparisons to Renoir's version. The French tendency is to find romanticism and poetry in the most carnal desires, but this is classic Lang: doomed characters trapped by the cold machinations of a fatalistic industrial landscape. The railroad setting is exploited appropriately, with compartmentalized spaces and predetermined tracks. A sexually charged Gloria Grahame is channeling Barbara Stanwyck. There are a few details watered down by censorship, but generally it's extremely bleak.

great soundtrack

Another fine Fritz Lang production brought down by some lousy casting [Gloria Grahame is no Stanwyck] and a botched ending.

Overall, it's better than Renoir's 'La Bête Humaine', except for the ending.