Detour

This intriguing ultra-low-budget noir drama about a hitchhiker who becomes acquainted with a real femme fatale (Ann Savage) and becomes involved in a murder was shot in a mere six days, a typical schedule for many of Ulmer’s low-budget films, but it bears his distinctive stamp throughout. For the famous penultimate scene of Vera’s ‘accidental’ murder, the camera seems to crawl inside Robert’s head as he surveys the room where she dies, with the lens alternately zooming in and out on various objects. Forced perspectives and expressionist motifs appear throughout, reinforcing the script’s vision of an unpredictable, ultimately terrifying world.On the surface, Al Roberts, the non-heroic hero of Detour, appears to be ruled by fate. He is driven by nihilistic, self-defeating forces. What happens in Detour is rendered entirely through Roberts’ eyes, the action of the flashback consistently interrupted by creepy close-ups of him giving his version of events. Like many a noir narrator, his reliability is constantly questioned by the film. Detour has been lauded as one of the most demanding and audacious narratives ever produced in Hollywood. It definitely was one of the more convoluted plots in noir, packing a flashback structure, an extended voice-over, a cross-country trek, several murders and changes of identity, an unforgettable femme fatale and one of the most wretched, masochistic anti-heroes ever into its 67-minute running time. (Gary Morris)