Perspective counts as a foundation in the art of filmmaking, much like in any art in general. When you think of film noir, perspective is everything both in the visual and verbal aspects of the story. The Fallen Idol (1948) by Carol Reed is one of the best illustrations of the use of perspective in noir to define a character and its invisible bubble.
Based on Graham Greene’s short story “The Basement Room,” Reed’s The Fallen Idol shows the rather isolated life of young Philippe (Bobby Henrey), son of a European Ambassador to London, whose parents are notably absent from his life and he looks at the butler Mr. Baines (Ralph Richardson) as a father-figure and best friend. Soon the married Mr. Baines, who is having an affair with Julie (Michèle Morgan), runs into trouble when the hawkish Mrs. Baines (Sonia Dresdel) suspects he is cheating on her. And when she ends up dead, Philippe happens to be the eyewitness, one who saw it all, or at least thought he did.
While the movie employs Point of View (POV) shots since the beginning to introduce Philippe’s character as one relentless observer, the narrative-twisting moment starts around midway in the movie when Philippe sneaks out of the window and observes the altercation between Mr. and Mrs. Baines from various windows located at different levels of the building. In between his transition from window to window, the perspective changes and the child misses a key moment in the incident, leaving him convinced that Baines pushed the angry woman down the stairs to her death.
In any crime film, perspective is everything not only for the audience but for any character as well, especially for the protagonist who is also an eyewitness to a suspected crime. The lacuna in Philippe’s perspective locks him in a bubble of conviction that Baines is the killer so he must lie to protect him, his childish mind not realizing that he is actually making the incident suspicious by contradicting Baines. At the same time, the audience that has been shown the full accident sequence are locked out from the story and can only wait for the plot to catch up with them. It’s screenwriting at its finest!
The Fallen Idol is also notable for its great depiction of noir elements, notably the way Philippe remains out of place in an elegant house, the self-entrapping of the lead characters, and the darkness of the disturbing truth. Julie is hardly the femme fatale of a typical noir but functions as one whose charm lands Mr. Baines helplessly in hot water. Like The Third Man, also a Greene-Reed, The Fallen Idol delivers the due share of sighs and thrill to the noir lover.
