HOT SPOT

US, 1990, 130 minutes, Colour.
Don Johnson, Virginia Madsen, Jennifer Connelly.
Directed by Dennis Hopper.

Hot Spot was directed by Dennis Hopper (whose range of films directed include Easy Rider, Out of the Past, Colours). This is a film noir, a sultry thriller with shady characters, devious dealings and bleak endings. It is based on a novel by Charles Williams (Finally Sunday, Dead Calm) and is set in dusty, hot Landers, Texas.

Don Johnson is a neatly dressed wanderer up to no good. Virginia Madsen is the local blonde vamp who is up to less good. Jennifer Connelly is the ambiguous good girl. There are emotional tangles, arson and bank robberies and, of course, some steamy sex. The difficulty with the film noir is that most of the characters are unlikeable. But this is an offbeat drama with touches of betrayal and intrigue which will entertain fans of the genre. It is very long, sometimes languid, but is an interesting look at the dark side of human nature.

1.The popularity of the film noir of the '40s, tributes and imitations in later decades? The work of Dennis Hopper and his Hollywood background, interest in the genre?

2.The original novel was `Hell Hath No Fury'. The appropriateness of this title? The actual film title?

3.The authentic atmosphere of Texas, the town and its atmosphere, the salesrooms, the bank, the warehouse, homes, the countryside outside the town? The hot summer? The musical score and songs?

4.The conventions of the film noir, the black and white films, the colour films of the '50s and later? The mood, ambiguous characters, ambiguous morality, moral codes? Good and evil, intrigue and betrayal, violence and sex, characters trapped in their environment?

5.Harry Maddox as the neat drifter, first seeing him outside the town, his encounters and interaction with people, his arrival, estimation of his character, selling the car instead of Lon? The forcefulness of his personality? Persuading Harshaw to employ him? His lingering in the salesrooms, the windows and the ability to see into the other rooms? Gloria? Accompanying her for the payment? The mystery about Gloria and Sutton? Attracted to her?

6.The outbreak of the fire, the jobs from Dolly at the warehouse, his idea about robbing the bank, the plan and its execution, tying up the manager, blind Uncle Mort and his sensing him? The trapped man, Harry rescuing him and becoming a hero, using this as his alibi?

7.The meeting with Harry and Dolly, the vamp, blonde, seductive? His resisting her, her teasing him, eventually succumbing, the uneasy relationship, steamy sex, the effect on him? Her hold over him? The lies, the traps, the affair?

8.Harry and Gloria, the puzzle about the money? The jealousy of Dolly? The police and their investigations, Harshaw and his suspicions and lurking? Sutton and the blackmail? The revelation of the truth about Gloria and the blackmail? The dead friend? Harry and his suspicions of Sutton, going to his house, his being in bed with the woman, Harry assuming it was Gloria and killing him? Faking the evidence? Dolly's being in the house, her hold over him, letters, her threat to betray him? Her murdering her husband and her hold on Harry?

9.Dolly as the vamp, life in the small town, her husband sexual relationships? Flirting and teasing? Jealousy of Gloria? The affair, at home? Her lies? The relationship with Sutton? The blackmail and her hold over Harry after killing her husband?

10.The contrast with Gloria, the young woman, attractive, helping Sutton with his payments, embezzling the money? The tension in the salesrooms as characters watched each other? Her attraction towards Harry, going out with him? The swim? Sutton and the truth? Dolly ousting her from the town?

11.Harshaw, the salesrooms, his techniques as a salesman, reliance on Lon, suspicions of Harry, hiring him? His reactions, lurking, his interactions with Dolly? The credibility of her murdering him?

12.Sutton, his hold over Gloria, the car payments, the blackmail, the clashes with Harry and taunting him? The relationship with Dolly? His death?

13.Lon as the genial salesman, friendly with Harry, the ordinariness of Landers, Texas, seen in Lon?

14.The atmosphere of the town and its characters, their contribution to the atmosphere of the film: the sheriff, the eccentric bank manager, Uncle Mort, the people in the clubs, the hotels, the salesrooms and the clients, the police and the deputies?

15.The overall impact of this kind of film noir experience - ambiguities?