Murder (film, 1956)

At the beginning of the film, the viewer is presented with several people who at first glance are not connected with each other and who are united by one thing - they all desperately need money. Voice-over reports that these are “pieces of a single puzzle .” Gradually, it becomes clear that these people - an impotent cashier, a corrupt police officer , an elderly homosexual, a Russian hero - are participating in a robbery plan for a racetrack that Johnny Clay, recently released from prison, carefully thought through. Accomplices hope to break an unheard-of jackpot of 2 million .

The sniper’s reckless racist remark, the cashier’s excessive frankness with his wife — such minor missteps are enough to make Clay’s perfect, at first glance, go awry with the inexorability of the Greek tragedy ...

“Murder” - the first film by Kubrick, shot on a relatively respectable budget ^[2] . The film was financed by James Harris , who provided the young director with complete creative freedom. Kubrick was determined to demonstrate that films successful at the box office can be shot not only cheaply, but also efficiently. After entering the screens of the robbery films Asphalt Jungle and Men's Showdown , this young genre was considered the key to good box office. Although Kubrick and Harris, it seemed to them, calculated all the components of a successful film, and even took on the main role of Sterling Hayden from “Asphalt Jungle”, “Murder” did not become a magnet for the American public. The film did not bring the creators profit, but Kubrick managed to confirm his reputation as one of America's most promising directors.

Among the late noirs, “Murder” is distinguished by the fact that instead of a shaky atmosphere, the emphasis is on documented accurate reproduction of the crime, which is presented to the viewer in the smallest technical details. Scrupulously developed plans that break at the last moment due to human weaknesses - this topic will come up more than once in Kubrick’s films ^[3] . Jonathan Rosenbaum believes that of all Kubrick’s films this is “the most perfectly thought out and fulfilled” ^[4] .

Kubrick's narrative experiments - intersecting flashbacks , a synchronized image of crime from the perspectives of various characters - turned out to be in demand half a century later as directors of a new generation (“ Elephant ” G. Van Santa ^[5] , “ Reservoir Dogs ”, “ Pulp Fiction ” by Quentin Tarantino ^[6] ) and by veterans ( Sidney Lumet 's Devil’s Games ). Orson Welles ^[4] and Bernardo Bertolucci ^[7] gave the highest marks to “Murder”, and the image of Johnny Clay, going to work in a hat and carrying a briefcase in his hands, was parodied by E. Ryazanov in the comedy “ Watch Out for the Car ”.

• Official movie website
• Murder at the Internet Movie Database
• Murder on the allmovie website