For his first feature film since The Shape of Water, which earned him a triumph at the Oscars three years ago, Guillermo del Toro plunges into the mysteries of film noir by bringing to the screen the most famous novel by William Lindsay Gresham, published in 1946. A first film adaptation, featuring featured Tyrone Power, was also offered the following year.
The incursion of the director of Pan’s Labyrinth in a carnival and fantastic universe will surprise no one. In this regard, the filmmaker gives his heart’s content by depicting the fairground world of the very end of the 1930s, when the climate of the Great Depression, still very heavy, gradually gives way to another dark chapter. of world history.
Nightmare alley (Nightmare alley in French version) is divided into two distinct parts. One, the first, without Cate Blanchett; the other, with Cate Blanchett. Guess which one is the most interesting? This new opus from Guillermo del Toro really comes to life when the actress, who can also be seen in Don’t Look Up, by Adam McKay, makes his entry into history, after a first act that is far too long.
Cate Blanchett, who would have been a perfect muse in 1940s noir cinema, this time lends her features to a poisonous psychiatrist who, attending a show that Stan (Bradley Cooper) now offers to members of high society of a great city to entertain them, challenges the latter. The psychological battle which then begins between these two “mental specialists” is magnificently evoked, both in terms of moods and (fabulous) artistic direction.
Unfortunately, the power of this second part makes everything that leads us there seem superfluous and almost useless. Especially since, despite the excellent actors who are involved (Toni Collette, Rooney Mara, Willem Dafoe and David Strathairn in particular), we only have here for the duo Cate Blanchett – Bradley Cooper. The latter also offers one of his best compositions, facing an actress who, decidedly, evolves in a class of its own.
Indoors
Thriller
Nightmare alley
Guillermo del Toro
With Bradley Cooper, Cate Blanchett, Rooney Mara
2 h 19