I watched the 1947 film noir version of "Nightmare Alley" starring Tyrone Power a few months ago in preparation for the Guillermo Del Toro version. I could see why he liked the story, which involves a seedy carnival and a mentalist scam. There is also clearly a monster, the troubled protagonist Stanton Carlisle, whose ambitions eventually lead to a grotesque downfall. I found the film entertaining, but also limited by being very much a product of its time.
The 2021 version is significantly better, though it has its flaws. For one thing, Del Toro's version is forty minutes longer, and runs into significant pacing issues. For another, the disjointed storytelling makes it more obvious that "Nightmare Alley" is based on a novel, and runs into trouble getting some of its narrative conceits work onscreen. However, Del Toro does succeed in adding some depth to the characters. Stanton Carlisle, played by Bradley Cooper, is a far more fascinating, disturbing lead. The movie opens on him dragging a dead body through an empty house, which he proceeds to set on fire and abandon. The specter of this act haunts him throughout the rest of the film.
The story is split into two distinct parts. In the first, Stan joins a carnie outfit during the Great Depression, run by Clem (Willem Dafoe). He picks up tricks from the clairvoyant act of Zeena (Toni Collette) and Pete (David Strathairn), and falls in love with Molly (Rooney Mara), a girl with an electrocution act. The second half involves Stan working as a mentalist a few years later, attracting the attention of a psychologist, Dr. Lilith Ritter (Cate Blanchett), who helps him swindle more upper class clientele, including the reclusive Ezra Grindle (Richard Jenkins). With a cast this strong and Del Toro's usual lavish visuals, "Nightmare Alley" had no trouble keeping my attention throughout.
Del Toro fans should keep in mind, however, that this is a film that abides by the parameters of a traditional classic noir film. While we get some of Del Toro's usual genre flair, with the carnie characters and Stan's mentalist act, he plays the melodrama totally straight. There's nothing supernatural at work going on here, except in Stan's illusions. The imagery is heightened and reflects Stan's psychological turmoil - in the second half it always seems to be snowing - but stays firmly grounded in reality. The horror comes from very lurid, but very human sources, namely the disturbing figure of the carnival geek and Stan's own complicated nature as a con-man and killer. I was expecting Del Toro to be more subversive and more revisionist, the way he was with "The Shape of Water," but this is a pretty faithful adaptation of the original novel and film.
I haven't been the biggest fan of Bradley Cooper in the past, but I think the reason "Nightmare Alley" works as well as it does is because I could sympathize with and occasionally root for this version of Stanton Carlisle in a way that I couldn't with the Tyrone Power version. Those extra forty minutes largely go toward fleshing out Stan and some of the other characters like Molly and Dr. Ritter. Modern touches are few, but the language and the women are both noticeably stronger. I like that Stan ambles more reluctantly down the road toward his own predestined doom, and his downfall is generally sadder and subtler. It genuinely feels like a tragedy when he transgresses, rather than a set-up for the deserved comeuppance.
There aren't many directors who can get a passion project like this made, even though the reported budget wasn't outrageous. I certainly enjoyed this more than something like "Mank," but at the same time I prefer Del Toro's more full throated genre pictures. Noir is simply not my genre - though it's always a pleasure to see one executed by someone who clearly cares so much about getting it right.
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