Devil in a Blue Dress

8 Pages 2109 Words

DEVIL IN A BLUE DRESS

Unveiling the new possibilities for black empowerment in the aftermath of the Second World War, director Carl Franklin’s Devil in A Blue Dress, adapted by him from Walter Mosley’s novel, reveals the post WWII, black world in Los Angeles, before the civil rights movement. Although L.A. in the 1940’s has been typically noted as the backdrop for Raymond Chandler’s idealized hard-boiled detective film noirs, this noir journey is one that is viewed through the black experience. By viewing an American city from the perspective of a black lead character, Devil in A Blue Dress, helps one become more conscious of how racial barriers have appeared in the eyes of African-Americans. Moving from the heart of Los Angeles, starting with Central Avenue, its smoky bars and soul food restaurants, and then out of the ghetto into the “white only” beaches and mansions of L.A.’s elite, part-time detective Easy Rawlins, played by Denzel Washington, tracks the whereabouts of a mystery lady, Daphne Monet, played by Jennifer Beals, who occasionally strays from the white world for the forbidden pleasures of soul food and jazz. True to the noir style Easy pursues the enigmatic Daphne Monet through a convoluted intrigue, coming across various shady characters and colorful social types.
It is apparent that Devil in a Blue Dress cannot be considered a typical classic Hollywood noir piece. The cars and fashions are dated perfectly, the music is right, and Wahington does play the part of Easy with a sense of dignified reserve, reflecting the social outlook and personal decorum of those black vets just returned from World War II, with high expectations of things changing in America, yet, what Franklin has achieved here is a funky neo-noir style revealing itself with subtle ironies and shadings of its detailed cultural gestures, its racial ironies, sketches, and impressions of the black world. For instance, instead of the ch...