"Noir is concerned with error, with confusions. It's the Noir Idea." - Errol Morris (director)
In my opinion, this is a vital concept to the foundation of the film noir style that is prominent in the film The Postman Always Rings Twice. Throughout the beginning of the film, Cora and Frank's fondness of each other develops only after a series of confusing interactions between the two. At first, Cora comes off as a woman who has a dislike for Frank. As the film unfolds that same distaste becomes reason for the audience to believe that she has fancied Frank since their first meeting at her husband's Diner. Further elaborating on this effect, this idea is illustrated consistently throughout the film as the unfaithful Cora Smith and her lover Frank Chambers begin to implement plots to murder Cora's husband Nick Smith. After their first murder attempt becomes flawed, the local Distract Attorney begins to raise suspicion about the two which become a main factor in the developing plot of the latter half of the film. In conclusion, the entire film revolves around the two ideas of confusion and error. It is these ideas that further emphasize and stylize the film noir attributes within this film."She's very smart, she's very powerful, and she's extremely sexual... Men have always been endangered by this strong sexual female" - Janey Place
This quote by Janey Place accurately depicts the role of Cora Smith and her femme fatale power within the film. Since the first introduction of her character in the film, Cora is illustrated in a iconic manner often lit in a way that puts her physical qualities to par with those of a goddess. In her first confrontation with Frank, she seems only interested in her own beauty as she glares into her handheld mirror while putting on lipstick seductively insisting that Frank should pick up the possession that she dropped. Cora is a character that dresses in tight clothes and clearly keeps her sexual presence dominate within her characterization. However, she does not seem to be using Frank as a tool like the usual femme fatales do. Instead, it is evident that she has fallen in love with Frank but only diverts from that after she convinces herself that Frank was in fact using her as a tool to get to her husbands life insurance money and diner property.
Within the film The Postman Always Rings Twice, director Tay Garnett utilizes camera angles and sound in order to add depth to the film noir aspect of this film. Unlike the standard American films of the time period, Garnett often exemplified the prominence of the character Cora Smith with the utilization of lower camera angles to give her a certain appearance that illustrated her dominance within the film. Along with this, these camera angles often simultaneously added a sense idolization to Cora's role in the film. With this in mind, Garnett furthered the depth of the film by utilizing musical scores that helped to evoke emotions in scenes where the direct understanding of these emotions were significant. An example of both attributes is evident in the first scene that Cora Smith is introduced in. In this scene Cora is centered in the middle of the frame with the camera angled a little lower than usual making her instantly known as a woman of importance. To further add to this effect, a slow yet dramatic musical score is used that evokes suspenseful emotion while hinting at Cora's seductive dominance over Frank. On a different note, the setting of the film also takes place within the rising metropolitan city of Los Angeles California. This, of course, is an important aspect to the film noir style of this film for almost all film noir styled films are set in big cities.