Double Indemnity Phyllis Murder Scene

The penultimate scene begins with Walter entering the front door of the Dietrichson’s grand house. This comes from the agreement between the two main characters Phyllis (Dietrichson) and Walter Neff to rendezvous at the house in order to settle business. As Walter enters the door Wilder chooses a long shot that shows his shadow cast menacingly on the wall. We see this before he appears which could represent different motives to him coming; both good and bad but only the audience know that it is the latter.

As Walter moves into the living room the shot does not change but we are able to see him more clearly as the light shines on him through the shutters, however his faced remains in darkness. The light that is shed upon him is barred due to the shutters forming shadows and so looks like iron bars in a prison cell, this could symbolise that because Walter is now in Phyllis’ house she has control over him. In addition the fact that his face remains in darkness suggests that he has an ulterior reason for being there reiterating the entrance shot.

The next few shots Wilder chooses to place are mainly medium close-ups when Walter removes his hat and takes a seat on the armrest of the sofa. This decision of Wilder’s enables the audience to see how the couple are barely reacting to each other and it helps to create tension between the two characters. Additionally Wilder cunningly includes a shot of Walter picking up his hat at the end of the scene demonstrating how relaxed he remains during the meeting knowing that he is now in charge of the situation.

The fact that there is no contact between the characters and Phyllis remains in her chair when Walter enters indicates that they have been driven away from each other and perhaps do not trust each other which is very different from when they first met; the two were situated close to one another creating a warm and ‘personal’ atmosphere. Now, however, a metaphorical line is isolating both Walter and Phyllis from each other. On the subject of composition we notice that Walter is always filmed higher up than his partner, similarly to the position this is not the same as the beginning and continually throughout the film. This therefore signifies Walter’s dominance in the relationship that he seems to have gained perhaps now that he is wise of Phyllis’ conniving ways. 

Wilder chooses to nearly never place the two main characters in a single shot together which helps give the audience a sense of either Walter’s of Phyllis’ point of view. This result being that the metaphorical line between the two that is portrayed to the viewer is redefined. When we do see the characters in the same shot at the end of the scene, just before Phyllis is shot, Phyllis places her hands on Walter ‘s neck in a seemingly loving manner but this could be viewed as her being threatening towards him.