Fear, Anxiety, and Paranoia in D.O.A.

This movie was truly littered with these themes. The concept alone is a model of them. What’s more frightening and anxiety inducing than suddenly finding out death is near? But, through various techniques, D.O.A. actually amplifies and ratchets up those feelings. From the outset, we’re presented with a flash forward. Of course, you could also look at everything coming after that scene as being a flashback instead. Regardless, I love the device and find it to be enormously effective. It gives every scene this ominous, foreboding feel. Those otherwise mundane scenes preceding his drink being poisoned are allowed to take on more meaning. So it not only sets the tone but puts a bit of a jolt into everything. And as Schrader mentions in the reading, this is one of the elements noir films are known for. The how and why take precedence over the what. Most of the intrigue lies in the journey of Frank ending up at point B, walking into the police station seemingly drained of life reporting his own murder, from point A, preparing to go on vacation and relatively happy.

When he finds out about the poisoning, at first he’s obviously very distraught but it doesn’t take long for him to come to terms and refocus. Discovering who did it and why is really all he has left and because there’s a limited time to do so, he becomes a man on a mission and the movie reflects that well. Just the pacing of everything from this point gives off paranoia and anxiety. We’re taken nonstop from place to place and person to person in an effort to realize the connection between them all and get the truth. It actually reminded me quite a bit of the first half or so of a “Law and Order” episode.

And then there’s Frank’s demeanor. He’s about as paranoid as a sane person can get and who can blame him? Everyone’s a suspect to him and he doesn’t attempt to hide that. When trying to get information from Mr. Halliday, Frank snaps at him after he apologizes that he had to make the trip for no reason. He wants to know how Halliday knows he made a trip. And when he speaks to the secretary, she says something that makes him think she’s being informed about conversations between him and Eugene’s brother. He even questions how Eugene’s wife knows something about what he’s doing.

Getting back to fear and anxiety, the scenes with the gangsters evoked that pretty well also. It wasn’t so much the fact that he was ordered to be killed but the fact that Chester, the lead henchman, was insane. He had a pretty convincing psychotic look in his eye in that car with Frank. And then there’s the scene where their car is tailing the bus he boarded.

Finally, as he concludes his journey, it becomes clear that he really does love Paula and will miss her. “Paula” was his last word. So, increasingly, there’s a fear of losing love as well. This probably could’ve been brought out better than it was but I do think the element is there nonetheless.

6 thoughts on “Fear, Anxiety, and Paranoia in D.O.A.

  1. It is evident that fear, crime, death, anxiety, etc. are the dominating themes of film noir. But something we haven’t mentioned that I noticed, was the many instances of humor or sarcasm that appeared in the movies. For example in “DOA” when the main character goes on his long awaited vacation away from his girlfriend we hear the whistling noise every time he spots a voluptuous lady. In “The Lady from Shanghai” my favorite character was Mr. Bannister. He made the whole courtroom as well as myself laugh when he questioned himself as his own witness. And I sure got a good laugh every time he addressed his wife as “Lovaa” so much like my favorite oldie from SNL with Will Farrel and Rachel Dratch.
    Absolutely no disagreements with your post, just wanted to put a “blanc” point on film noir.

  2. Greetings everyone! I thought the music playing throughout D.O.A. added to the suspense and anxiety factors. I think the music was played by a combination of string instruments that produced tones of stress and tension. Also, upon hearing the music, I imagined the strings being taut and under high amounts of pressure so the audience, I think it was highly effective in involving me in the mystery/action of the plot. This music was being played while Frank was running through the streets away from threats and criminals. Would you guys say that this movie would not have been the same without this particular music accompaniment?

  3. I feel that this was a very informative and insightful piece Nick. I just felt obligated to emphasize how glad I was that you mentioned the display of a flash-forward in the film. I believe that this story technique is way ahead of it’s time and something more along the lines that we would see today in movies but in particular television shows, especially ‘Lost’ and of course, the FX thriller we have come to love, ‘Damages.’ Like the film noir of ‘D.O.A.’ both of these shows have a feel of something looming and menace in the shadows as I am sure you know. Great post though.

  4. Great posts guys. I just wanted to add that Frank’s frantic mindset and behavior upon discovering his imminent death were extremely convincing. I think a lot of credit must go to the camera work in that particular scene and the great noir element of using real city streets. The people displayed genuine surprise and Frank ran everywhere, despite being in a more unfamiliar city. The music, as mentioned above, also adds a wonderful element and completes the vivid picture.

  5. Nice post, Nick. You make a great point about Frank and Paula. Since Frank isn’t a really well developed character (we learn very little about him), his relationship with Paula is crucial as it is one of the few things we know Frank has to live for. We can sympathize with him on that basis.

    I’m not entirely clear on what you mean by this: “From the outset, we’re presented with a flash forward. Of course, you could also look at everything coming after that scene as being a flashback instead.” Could you say more about what you mean by flash forward?

    The the movie begins with Frank walking in to the police station just a short while before the end of the story. We get a flashback to previous events as Frank begins to tell us about himself and what happened to him. We see a very similar (and very common) narrative structure in Double Indemnity. Memento, which we’ll see next week palys with this structure in an interesting way, as Miriam suggests here: http://blogs.baruch.cuny.edu/eng3940h/2010/02/10/the-timelessness-of-a-classic/

    A flash forward is when we get a glimpse into the future. The last episode of Six Feet Under, for example, ends with a sequence of flash-forwards showing us how each of the characters dies. We often see flash-forwards in movies and TV shows when characters imagine themselves in the future. I’m not really familiar with Lost or Damages, but maybe I should be.

  6. I guess I completely forgot that he also began recounting what happened to him. So everything after that really could only be considered a flashback and the flash forward term definitely wouldn’t fit here.

    Now that I actually take some time to think about it though, I’m questioning if any first scene could be looked at as a flash forward. I hate to get too off topic but wondering this does mostly come from watching and reading about the show Damages. The pilot, for example, begins with one of the main characters emerging from the elevator of an apartment building spattered with blood before finding her way to a police station and being interrogated. That only lasts for a couple of minutes and then we go back six months. Most of the episode and season take place in that six months earlier time frame with the rest being filled in by short, sporadic glimpses of what happens in the future. As the season goes on, both time frames advance until they meet up and everything is resolved.

    From seeing what critics had to say about it, most actually seemed to refer to that time frame we initially see as a flash forward. Even the creators/writers do. I assume that’s because what we see much more of is the six months earlier time frame and therefore, to them, that should be considered the present. But since we see the other one first, shouldn’t that one, in fact, probably be considered the present instead and everything else a flashback? I suppose these critics and creators got it wrong here?

    And so, getting back to D.O.A., that he began recounting his story is really irrelevant? Just the fact that it was the first scene makes everything else a flashback?

    I’ve probably described this way too confusingly. In any case, whatever you want to call it, the effects they have are the same.

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