Aleesia C.

The Merry Gentleman, directed by Micheal Keaton, is a film noir that follows the life of Kate Frasier, a women who escapes from her abusive husband with hopes of starting a new life for herself. She settles into Chicago, starts at a new job, and meets a couple new friends along the way. One day after work, she walks outside, admires the snowfall, and notices a man standing on the ledge of the building across from her. She had no idea that days later, that same man—known as Frank Logan—would assist her in bringing her Christmas tree into her apartment. After Kate spends her Christmas with Frank sick in the hospital, they start to form a close and tight-nit bond with each other. Little does Kate know, that her new friend has a dark secret criminal life as a professional killer. As Kate navigates her new life, she battles with healing from her tragic past, fending off unwanted men and curious detectives, and allowing herself to be vulnerable with Frank, whom she gradually comes to trust. Ultimately, the movie explores the themes of how secrets eventually come to light and how Kate and Frank must deal with the harsh realities of life and friendship.

Image of Frank from the film The Merry Gentleman (2008) via IMBD.com. This image highlights the violent side of Frank and how he has an alternate criminal life compared to the innocent one he shows to Kate. https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0967945/?ref_=tt_mv_close

One key iconography that creates the well known sense of moody and pessimistic tones seen within film noirs is the use of low-key lighting. This film utilizes high contrast with dark tones to create a sense of mystery, eeriness, and drama that helps enhance the films genre and overall story. Since Frank is a professional assassin, there’s multiple occasions where we see the use of low key lighting being used in frames where he’s the subject to showcase to the audience that his character isn’t fully the friendly man that he presents himself as to Kate. There’s also a wide range of various dark blue tones that help portray the gloomy and haunting past of the main characters, and the lasting affect it has on them. In addition, there’s multiple shots where Frank is seen in dark alley ways spying on Kate and detectives where the use of shadows and fog is added to the mise-en-scene of the frame to further enhance Franks criminal lifestyle. Furthermore, Frank and the detectives are frequently seen carrying guns, alluding to the violent and criminal aspects of the plot, as well as how film noirs frequently feature gun-related deaths and a confrontation between the killer and the detective.

In Kate’s life, a lot of things are changing for her. To further create the sense of things moving forward for her, and her trying to move on from her past life with her abusive husband, the film uses liminal spaces to enhance the transitions of her life. When she decides to move away to Chicago, we see her at an airport, which can serve as a liminal space that allows her to pass through an into a new stage in her life. There’s also the significant scene where Kate goes to see her abusive husbands dead body. We follow Kate into a long yellow brick hallway that gets narrower as she walks down, which can implicitly convey that the happy (color yellow) life she so desperately wants is being confined by the dark parts of life, which is mainly death and violence. This film also touches on the aspect of moral ambiguity and how Frank’s character is at a constant battle between choosing to kill more people or allow himself to be the good friendly guy that Kate sees him as. Viewers explicitly see Frank’s dark side, but they also see Frank’s peculiar and compassionate relationship with Kate, which raises the possibility that he is more than just a killer and has the capacity to be a good person.

As Micheal Keaton directorial debut film, there’s somewhat a lack of all the necessary elements and iconographies of a classic film noir, but his overall intention is still strong. Keaton focuses heavily on Kate and Frank having troubled pasts and their inner struggle is very evident. Through the use of common elements of film noir, it helps create the overall gloomy mood that the characters are feeling. Keaton displays two broken people, one struggling with a criminal part of his life that leaves him suicidal, and the other trying to find the strength within her self after being abused my someone close to her. These two opposite souls end up finding each other, and Franks bond with Kate becomes a chance for him to become a better person, and Kate finds a man who she finally feels safe with until Frank’s secrets are revealed. Although, in the end, Frank finds it hard to let go of his criminal past, and puts his hat back on, leaving Kate on her own, forcing her to finally learn to lean on herself rather than others around her. Keatons overall intention for his audience is to show how secrets always have a way of getting out, how haunting our past can truly be, the power of redemption and forgiveness, and how the most unlikely people can find their way to each other.

Featured image reference: Michael Keaton and Kelly Macdonald in The Merry Gentleman (2008), via IMdB

Film reference: The Merry Gentleman. (R) dir. Michael Keaton (2008); 110 mins.