THE KILLING is a story about several guys who work together to pull a major heist. The group is led by the laconic Sterling Hayden and each step along the way towards the robbery is shown--often in non-linear fashion. For example, after showing what one character does up until the robbery, the film then backs up a bit and shows what another is doing just before this. While unusual, this style works just fine and was later adopted in other films. After pulling the seemingly perfect crime, it's interesting to see how things work out--a really clever way to show that at least in this case, you can't possibly work out every detail to perfection.
THE KILLING is among the best Film Noir pictures and also among the best films of director Stanley Kubrick. It tells the story of a group who set out to rob a race track, but unlike many crime films of the era, this one is very minimalistic--straight and to the point, which gives it a heightened sense of realism. Much of this was due to the types of actors chosen for the film--Sterling Hayden and the rest looked more like real folks and played the parts simply and exactly. Much of it was due to the no nonsense direction by Kubrick, whose style was very different with this film than with his later projects. His later trademark was perfectionism--with scenes filmed and re-filmed innumerable times. Here, however, the entire picture was completed in about three weeks--showing that Kubrick probably should have trusted himself more with later projects since he COULD get it perfect the first time. The only negative at all about the film is the irrelevant and unnecessary narration--something that IMDb said that the director did NOT want and was added by the studio. It didn't help the film and actually served to distract.
By the way, if you liked this film, also try watching the equally good ASPHALT JUNGLE--which also stars Sterling Hayden. It's a very similar film and just as enjoyable--though its reputation isn't nearly as good as THE KILLING's.
THE KILLING is among the best Film Noir pictures and also among the best films of director Stanley Kubrick. It tells the story of a group who set out to rob a race track, but unlike many crime films of the era, this one is very minimalistic--straight and to the point, which gives it a heightened sense of realism. Much of this was due to the types of actors chosen for the film--Sterling Hayden and the rest looked more like real folks and played the parts simply and exactly. Much of it was due to the no nonsense direction by Kubrick, whose style was very different with this film than with his later projects. His later trademark was perfectionism--with scenes filmed and re-filmed innumerable times. Here, however, the entire picture was completed in about three weeks--showing that Kubrick probably should have trusted himself more with later projects since he COULD get it perfect the first time. The only negative at all about the film is the irrelevant and unnecessary narration--something that IMDb said that the director did NOT want and was added by the studio. It didn't help the film and actually served to distract.
By the way, if you liked this film, also try watching the equally good ASPHALT JUNGLE--which also stars Sterling Hayden. It's a very similar film and just as enjoyable--though its reputation isn't nearly as good as THE KILLING's.