Saturday, March 5, 2011

His Girl Friday (1940)


When compared to many modern comedies, the representation of gender in His girl Friday can be argued to be less stereotypical than the majority of films produced in Hollywood today. The film portrays the messy relationship of two newspaper men, Hildy and Walter. They are a divorced couple. Hildy goes to Walter’s office to tell him about her plans to remarry. She wants to live a “woman’s life”, being the traditional housewife. Her prospective husband is a boring insurance type.Walter still loves her, and he knows that is not the life for her. Soon enough, we realize that Hildy is still in love with Walter, too, and that she is not ready to give up her career for making Christmas cookies. In this film, love and work are not seen as two conflicting areas. Walter loves Hildy for what she is, including her work. The depiction of work is not romanticized. Walter is depicted as an amoral person who happens to pursue a good cause. The newspaper business is all about writing the exclusive story and selling more papers. Stylistically, His girl Friday is in its own league. The pacing is hectic and there is always at least three synchronic conversations fighting to get your attention. With that much going on, watching the film is an exhausting – yet funny – experience. The performances in the film are all great, keeping up the black humor of the film.  

No comments:

Post a Comment