The Long Goodbye—A Comedy of Passivity
The Long Goodbye works solely off of the passivity of its portrayal of Phillip Marlowe. He's a character who aimlessly wanders through the narrative, encountering character after character, asking them question after question in an attempt to piece together the film's intentionally convoluted mystery. Throughout the film, Marlowe rarely affects the plot directly, as things merely happen to him, and he's left to figure out how they're all connected. Marlowe always seems to be in his own little world, muttering an internal monologue. It makes for a movie that's unlike most film noir, where the amusement comes less from watching the protagonist piece together an elaborate mystery and more from watching as a mystery unfolds around him and watching how he reacts. These responses often come in a hilariously passive stance and an ironic re-use of the phrase "It's all right with me. "
It helps that the people he interacts with are all enjoyably eccentric. There's the array of cops who antagonize Phillip Marlowe, to which he responds with hilariously passive-aggressive responses. There's the fast-talker Marty Augustine, who randomly strikes out into odd, sometimes shockingly violent behavior. And there's the polite Eileen Wade, contrasted with her alcoholic husband, who moves around each of his scenes, always looking and talking like a drunken sailor. Though eccentric, some, like Eileen and Roger, feel like real, flawed human beings. Watching the tragedy of their lives unfold around Phillip added an incredibly compelling dramatic edge to the narrative.
What holds the whole film together is Robert Altman's direction, which is as passive as its protagonist. The camera always lingers, following Marlowe and the people around him through long tracking shots or conversations captured in extended, unbroken sequences. Everything also seems to be captured through Marlowe's perspective, with the film framing integral dialogue sequences behind windows and foliage, obscuring them from the viewer just as they are for Marlowe. It adds this almost voyeuristic quality to the film as you watch Phillip Marlowe, sometimes from a distance, as he bumbles through each scene and interaction. The film's hazy, saturated visual style gives the film's LA setting this wonderfully lived-in quality.
The Long Goodbye is unlike any film I've seen. It plops its passive protagonist into a complex mystery and follows as he bumbles through it, forming relationships along the way. The characters and setting feel so real, so lived-in, that it kept me glued to the screen from beginning to end. It's a film noir that features a protagonist whose passivity gives it this dry, comedic edge that's incredibly entertaining.
*Currently streaming on Prime Video in the U.S.
