Nightmare Alley
Guillermo del Toro creates atmosphere and mood as well as any filmmaker currently working. Whether it’s WWII in Franco’s Spain in “Pan’s Labyrinth” or “The Devil’s Backbone,” Gothic romance in “Crimson Peak” or even a monster movie like “Mimic,” del Toro’s vision is always detailed, evocative and thrilling to watch. “Nightmare Alley” affords him the opportunity to develop a film noir world with dark horror at its center. Even when the film’s 2 1/2 hours seems to drag, this is a positively gorgeous film to look at.
One can see right away why del Toro would want to adapt the book by William Lindsay Gresham, which had been turned into a classic film noir in 1947. After a haunting, silent opening scene of Bradley Cooper’s Stan Carlisle in a house, putting a body underneath it, and setting it on fire, we follow him to a travelling carnival to lay low. He ends up getting himself a job as a stage hand, and as we get in deeper with the cast of characters at the carnival, I couldn’t help but think del Toro has probably been itching to show off his love of Todd Browning’s “Freaks,” and while none of the carnies are so grotesque as in that masterpiece, you can see in the dark lighting by Dan Laustsen and production design by Tamara Deverell that he’s been thinking about these images for a while. At the carnival, Stan meets a young woman (Rooney Mara) who has tremendous presence while conducting electricity, as well as a pair of “magicians” (Toni Collette and David Strathairn) whom he learns quite a bit from. He wants to run off for the big time with Molly (Mara’s character), but the reality isn’t quite as certain when a psychiatrist (Cate Blanchett) catches wind of their act. It leads Stan to a place not unlike where he was in that opening scene on a moral level.
“Nightmare Alley” has a crucial scene between Stan and the head of the carnival (Willem Dafoe) where Dafoe’s character tells him about what he does to lure people to be the freak of a carnival. The rest of the film hinges on moments that put Stan in situations like this as he gets more and more ambitious in his rouse. Film noir hinges on shady behavior, and just about everyone is involved, at some point in time. Del Toro relishes in making a crime film that hinges on his interests in makeup and set design and atmosphere, and that keeps us watching as the film lags through the middle of its 2 1/2 hour running time. The cast also keeps us watching- Cooper is electric with Blanchett, and has a sweet chemistry with Mara and Collette when he requires them for his life. Blanchett is the femme fatale in this film, and she is wonderful every step of the way, in probably the film’s best performance. We also get Ron Perlman as the second-in-command of Dafoe’s carnival who first gives Stan a job, as well as Richard Jenkins as a judge who is lured into Stan’s “abilities,” but might just signal his downfall.
The screenplay by del Toro and Kim Morgan gives us strong voices and personalities for all of these characters, but the film also feels like two movies- the carnival and the city- wrapped into one. That’s not quite as successful, but I still thoroughly enjoyed watching del Toro work through it to one of my favorite narrative punchlines of the year. More film noir in the future from the filmmaker would be welcomed by me with open arms.
