Hammett

Hammett is a 1982 American neo-noir mystery film directed by Wim Wenders, based on the imaginative novel by Joe Gores. The film boasts a talented ensemble cast which includes Frederic Forrest, Peter Boyle, and Marilu Henner. The movie provides an imagined glimpse into the life of famed American detective novelist Dashiell Hammett and how his experiences contributed to his success as a writer.

The film’s title character, Samuel Dashiell Hammett, well-portrayed by Frederic Forrest, is a former Pinkerton detective turned struggling writer residing in San Francisco during the 1920s. The story is a fictional account that plays cleverly with historical facts; it speculates on the influences that may have inspired Hammett's works and presents a unique investigatory adventure reminiscent of the traditional hard-boiled detective stories Hammett is known for. Hammett is portrayed as a man striving to leave behind his days as a detective, keen to immerse himself entirely in his writing.

However, his past stubbornly refuses to leave him. This is when Jimmy Ryan, played by Peter Boyle, enters the scene. Ryan is an intriguing character, a former mentor turned troublemaker who recruited Hammett during his Pinkerton days. He resurfaces in Hammett's life and pulls him back into the murky world of crime, initiating a sequence of events that become the basis of the movie's plot.

The plot weaves further intrigue and the stakes rise when Hammett is obliged to help Jimmy Ryan with a mysterious case involving a beautiful Asian woman named Crystal Ling, played by Lydia Lei. As Hammett gets tangled in the murky conducts he had long strived to escape, he finds himself slipping into his old detective role, traversing through the underbelly of 1920s Chinatown. The plot's various elements echo the motifs of classic noir – a dashing detective, a damsel in distress, a dangerous, cluttered cityscape, and a quarry that always seems to be one step ahead.

Marilu Henner plays Hammett's enthusiastic girlfriend, Kit Conger, who is drawn into this web of intrigue and deception as well. Her character brings lightness to the film's languid rhythm and provides an interesting contrast to the grim backdrops of late-night Chinatown and its shrouded mysteries.

The cinematography of Hammett strives to rekindle the nostalgia of noir cinema from yesteryears. The movie is drenched in colors reflecting the dark and dingy side of the city while balancing it with an eerie yet intriguing foreground of dim-lit bars, gloomy alleys, and vintage automobiles. The forties-style ambiance is further heightened by its jazz-infused soundtrack, which wistfully transports the audience to a bygone era.

On the whole, Hammett delves deep into the psyche of its title character, a man caught between his old life on the gritty streets and his new one at the typewriter. Frederic Forrest delivers an intriguing performance as a burgeoning writer grappling with his past while striving to build his future, giving the character life and personality. Peter Boyle provides an eerily good supporting act as the charismatic and somewhat shading Jimmy Ryan, while Marilu Henner adds a touch of romance and softness to the otherwise dark and hardboiled world of the 1920s.

The subtle interplay of illusion and reality that director Wim Wenders masterfully establishes throughout the film adds an additional dimension to its appeal. The film's narrative structure frequently shifts between Hammett's experiences as a detective and his writing process, creating an engrossing balance between literary fiction and pulp-action drama.

Hammett offers an engaging blend of biographical fiction, noir mystery, and period drama. While its take on Dashiell Hammett's life might be more fictional than factual, it isn't any less gripping or captivating. The film presents an exciting what-if scenario that dives into the sources of Hammett's inspiration, deftly intertwining reality with fiction and delivering a complex, nuanced narrative that keeps viewers engrossed till the end. After watching Hammett, one can possibly not read a Dashiell Hammett novel in the same light again.