In Cold Blood

In Cold Blood
Brooks, 1967



In Cold Blood is the chilling yet strangely human story of two killers who murdered an entire family in the rural American mid-west for just $40. However, instead of condemning the two characters, In Cold Blood instead sheds light on their lives and their dark pasts and shows how what has happened to us before affects how our personalities turn out later.
As In Cold Blood unfolds, it slowly reveals how two drifters, Perry and Richard, come together to form a deadly “third personality.” They decide to go to a secluded home where they heard there was a safe with $10,000 in it, but when they get there they find that there is no safe, and end up killing the four family members who were unlucky enough to have been there. However, instead of showing this event and then following a linear path forward through the plot, In Cold Blood does a very good job at cutting everything up.

The film is composed of showcasing what the drifters turned murders are doing while on the run, but they don’t show the actual night where they committed their horrible crimes right away. Instead, we are allowed to get to know them better, and through their interactions with each other and with others around them, we begin to see them not as being just the staple ‘murdering scum’ that most would have to believe they were. Also, through the use of extremely well done flashbacks, we get to know Perry, who eventually is fleshed out as the main character, particularly well and gain some insight into why he is who he is. It isn’t into two thirds of the film are over that the actually murders are shown, and because of this, the scene is so much powerful than it would be if it were shown at the beginning.

Now that we have an intimate understanding of Richard and Perry, their acts of crime are much more horrifying because we know Richard and Perry, and we know they aren’t murderers at heart, which makes the cold blooded killings all the more effective and haunting. The two drifters are no longer faceless killers as they would have been at the beginning of the movie - now they are something much more human and at the same time much more scary. They aren't absolved of their crimes, but it does allow us to get to know Richard and Perry for who they were, without the stigma of the murders following them around. Yes, we knew they were murders from the start, but because we didn’t witness the murders at the beginning it was not really a 'reality' until later on when we were much more aquanited with them.

So I really liked the way In Cold Blood was structured because it meant that we had a chance to actually get to know the characters and learn who they are, and then when that fateful night is finally shown, it is all the more brutal and powerful . Ultimately, the film is about allowing us to get to know two murders, understand why they were driven to do what they did, and realize that they are not evil men, they are simply shaped by their pasts, like everyone is. Again, it in no way absolves them, but it does show you that you shouldn’t call someone a monster without first getting to know them, which In Cold Blood does a brilliant job at doing.

Technically, In Cold Blood is equally brilliant. The cinematography is done in excellent black and white with amazing locals for the outdoors, on the road scenes, and incredible plays on light and shadow while in doors, particularly during the intense and horrific murder sequence. There is also some genius editing, both in terms of pacing and transitions, as the movie is constantly moving and compelling, and there are a lot of excellently placed flashbacks. Most flashbacks are just a flash of light and then you are in dreamland, but In Cold Blood actually seamlessly integrates the flashbacks so that you remain in the room, for example, that Perry is in, yet it is as if he is hallucinating and we see his past play out in front of us. So the flashbacks aren’t actually flashing back at all – they are remaining in the present time and place, but there is a flawless integration between the past and present and they sort of melt together, as if we are crawling around Perry’s mind and actually experiencing his emotions.

So all in all, In Cold Blood is a masterful movie for so many different movies. It has an excellent narrative structure and carefully chooses the time and place to reveal major plot points or character revelations, even using a bit of a disjointed timeline. The film does an excellent job at humanizing the two murders and allowing us to gain a deep understanding of their personalities and motivations – all without actually absolving them of their sins. There is also the incredible murder sequence which is the pinnacle of emotion, terror and dread in the film, and is a scene that I think shall stand out in my mind as one of the most chilling I’ve ever seen. Of course, there is also the outstanding cinematography and editing to thank as well, and In Cold Blood is without a doubt one of the best looking films of the 60s. I think the best scene to really describe how well done this movie is, would be the one where Perry is by a window when it is raining. He describes his tragic youth, but he does it with no real emotion. No tears, no real sadness – but as the rain falls down the window it casts an eerie resemblance of tears on his face, and they slowly roll down his cheek. It was both touching and unsettling, much like the rest of In Cold Blood was.