Double Indemnity Opening Scene Analysis

Using the director’s and prop managers’ choices of lighting, soundtrack, and certain camera angles, Double Indemnity manages to set a specific mood of dangerous and doomed attraction. This atmosphere is brilliantly conveyed through the strategic use of low-key lighting.
In black and white cinematography, an effect, called chiaroscuro, is implemented to give the film an air of mystery and crime. Based on a painting technique of the same name, cinematographers set the scene such that darkness dominates the shot composition. The juxtaposition of light and shadow is directly connected to the moral consciousness of Phyllis and Walter, who both waver from good to evil, loving to cunning. In the ending scene, Phyllis is seen turning off all the lights, creating the darker atmosphere for her and Walter’s final confrontation. Her action draws a connection to her being the driving part in committing the murder. Most of the light comes in thin, wavering streaks and splotches of uncertainty, reflecting the characters’ own feelings. In fact, these bars of darkness and light are like prison bars, trapping both Phyllis and Walter in the dark world of their deceit.
This was not true for the entire movie. In their first meeting, Phyllis was the dominant one, with her position at the top of a balcony and Walter below her. However, this switches during the ending scene. In the beginning of the scene, her location is exactly opposite when compared to the scene where she first meets Walter. The camera is at a high angle, looking down on Phyllis as she checks the door and turns off the lights. She lowers herself down into her armchair, perhaps giving up her appearance of dominating. Further on in the scene, Walter sits on top of the arm of the couch at a much higher elevation than Phyllis, who remains sunken into her armchair. The power balance had