Devil in a Blue Dress (1995)

September 16, 1995 (Toronto Film Festival), September 28, 1995 (United States) release date

Directed by Carl Franklin

Screenplay by Carl Franklin

Based on the novel Devil in a Blue Dress by Walter Moseley

Music by Elmer Bernstein

Edited by Carole Kravetz

Cinematography by Tak Fujimoto

Denzel Washington as Ezekiel "Easy" Rawlins

Tom Sizemore as DeWitt Albright

Jennifer Beals as Daphne Monet

Don Cheadle as Mouse Alexander

Maury Chaykin as Matthew Terell

Terry Kinney as Todd Carter

Mel Winkler as Joppy

Albert Hall as Degan Odell

Lisa Nicole Carson as Coretta James

Jernard Burks as Dupree Brouchard

David Wolos-Fonteno as Junior Fornay

John Roselius as Detective Mason, LAPD

Beau Starr as Detective Jack Mille, LAPD

Steven Randazzo as Benny Giacomo

Scott Lincoln as Richard McGee

L. Scott Caldwell as Hattie May Parsons

Barry Shabaka Henley as the would-be tree cutter

Distributed by TriStar Pictures

The cinematography in Devil in a Blue Dress (released a little over twenty years ago) made an impression on me, and so I want to focus on it for my discussion of the film in this blog post. It’s certainly not the only factor that added to my enjoyment of the film, nor is it the only factor that makes Devil in a Blue Dress a neo-noir, but I believe the cinematography is worth a close look.

The film opens with a painting by Works Progress Administration (WPA) artist Archibald Motley called Bronzeville at Night (see above), which depicts a Chicago street scene. In the commentary provided on the DVD of the film, the director Carl Franklin discusses why he chose this opening and that he thought the painting could easily stand in for Los Angeles. (T-Bone Walker is singing “Westside Baby” on the soundtrack, which emphasizes the mood created in the opening.) The camera pans the painting as the credits roll, then zooms out to show the entire painting, lingering on it for a few seconds to set the mood and the time period for the film to come.

It is summer 1948 in Los Angeles, and the painting, the music, and the cinematography bring the time and the setting to life. Even though the film is shot in color, it’s easy to see why it is called neo-noir: Many of the shots are reminiscent of film noir techniques. In fact, Franklin points out many references to film noir during his commentary on the DVD, and it is well worth the time to listen to his directorial choices for this film.

The following still shows how effective the cinematography is at conveying the postwar period.

This shot occurs at a point in the film when Easy and his friends Mouse and Joppy are looking for Daphne Monet. Even though I can see a little bit of blue, it’s easy to forget that the film is shot in color. It looks like a film noir from the postwar period shot in black and white.

The following shot shows Easy and Mouse standing over someone they have been looking for at a pivotal point in the film. The car is faintly blue, and the ground has brown earth tones, but it’s another great example of lighting that makes me forget I’m watching a modern film and not period postwar film noir.

And did I mention that Devil in a Blue Dress is a great movie? I am still thinking about it, and that’s always a plus. The title is intriguing because it led me to expect a femme fatal par excellence, but instead I saw a much more complicated female character, which added yet another layer to a wonderful film.