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When comparing Walter Neff and Mike, it is seen that Mike is far weaker than Walter. Mike represents how men and their gender roles have changed in the 1990's. Women in Western society have far more economic and sexual power than ever before. This shows strongly how women do not need men any more.The most dangerous part of The Last Seduction is knowing that Bridget actually got away with so much. This also represents how she is seen as much more dangerous than Phyllis as Phyllis didn't get away with murder.

Exit sign - Mike in The Last Seduction.

The exit shot has a very strange angel, the irony of this exit sign is that there is no exit for Mike to get out of this. The red colour for the exit sign also helps to represent danger, we can also connect this to Bridget being dangerous when wearing red lipstick. This therefore foreshadows that Bridget is about to do something dangerous. Colours play a very important role in this scene, an example why is when seeing Bridget's New York apartments walls being green. The colour green represents the colour of money, this shows Bridget's motivation for money and is also seen to be true when the U.S money bills is green. Also due to the strange camera angle being   in a circle for this scene it can suggest how due to this being a similar shape as a telescope, that Mike is being watched. 

The urban non diegetic music that is played help anchor the shots in low terms of the double music. This creates a very seductive atmosphere. Bridget has seduced Mike and this is why Mike is doing this. The reason why is because Mike is completely smitten towards Bridget. We can also then compare this to Double Indemnity as Walter's lust for Phyllis becomes his weakness. 

When looking at both Walter and Mike as the "Fall Guys" it is clear to see that they were both doing well for themselves. Both fall guys were confident, with a good job and found it easy to talk to people. However both Fall guys gave the impression that they are bored with their current lives. Phyllis and Bridget both show excitement for the fall guys and shows how Walter and Mike were in the wrong place at the wrong time. If Mike wasn't at the bar at the time of when Bridget was then they would have never met, however it could be argued that they have met when Bridget got a job in the same company. The same could be said for Walter, Walter usually works with Phyllis's husband and doesn't speak to Phyllis. If Walter came later in the day, he would have spoke to Phylli's husband instead.

Keys on the left

A way that we can see Mike is more weak than Walter is by watching how he is like with Clay. Mike looks very nervous when trying to dominate Clay. Due to seeing Mike as weak it is clear to say that Mike is no match for Bridget. On the other hand Clay can be seen as probably the only match for Bridget and is the detective like type of character throughout the film of The Last Seduction. Due to Clay acting like a detective, it shows similarities to Keys in Double Indemnity.

The separation for Phyllis in Double Indemnity

Bridget is anti-family

The wedding photo in The Last Seduction in the scene role play has great significance to the antagonists personality. This gives the indication that Bridget has no family values and doesn't want to be married. Bridget is not the typical family orientated woman, this is represented by the fact she feels trapped in the life she never wanted. We can then connect this to the femme fatale in Double Indemnity with Phyllis as she is who destroys the family. Phyllis destroys the family by killing Mr.Dietrichson's wife and then getting Mr.Dietrichson himself. Phyllis before killing Mr.Dietrichson had already destroyed the family by just marrying him. The division is caused between Mr.Dietrichson and his daughter. Bridget is very anti-family and the illustration shown for this is when Bridget puts out her cigarette in Mike's grandma's home-made pie. The fact that she does this shows that she hates family and all America in general. Another example of showing how Bridget is anti-family is when she always wants to use condoms, this shows how she doesn't want children.  The threat is shown in the shattered photograph of the threat of a family. We can see this for Phyllis also when there is a picture of her husband and step daughter in frames but not her, this shows the separation of her and family. This can be seen for both femme fatales.

Green walls for Bridget's apartment

Phyllis cares a lot about her appearance

Colours are very effective for both femme fatale characters, an example for Bridget is the green walls in her New York apartment. The reason why this is so effective is due to the fact the green, is the same colour as money... especially U.S money. This shows her motivation for money and gives a strong indication that this is her main focus and again showing how she is anti-family. The same could be said for Phyllis, although the film is black and white, when she applies her lipstick, with fake hair and wearing an anklet it gives the impression that Phyllis is trying to use her looks to get what she wants. This therefore shows motivation for the insurance money for Phyllis also.

Bridget's appearance

Bridget's costume and make up is very dark colours, this gives the impression that she is dangerous, dark and mysterious. Bridget's hair is just like the 1940's style, this era has great significance. The significance is that in the 1940's women were more independent with money, politics and in the economy. Women were finally finding themselves when the men went to war, when the men came back they were not needed as much. Bridget's clothing in the second to last scene of the film shows her dominant nature, she is dressed in braces with trousers. This is done to act on what she knows about Trish and then using it against Mike for her evil plan. This is the only way that Bridget can create the most impact and make Mike angry. In this scene Clay talks about role playing and forebodes what is going to happen between the femme fatal and the fall guy.  

Mike is seen as a lot weaker than the fall guy in Double Indemnity (Walter) due to in the 90's in terms of employment, women were more stable and didn't depend on men as much.  The steel industry for men were becoming unemployed and due to them having no experience in any other department the women got a better opportunity to work. Women were eligible to work in banks and focus on finance because they knew how to do this. Women benefited in this changes and Mikes character represents this change. Mike can be seen as weak when he is seen drunk and talking on a pay phone to Bridget, not managing to kill Clay and agreeing to kill Clay in order to get close to Bridget. This is similar to Walter as the fall guy also agreed to kill in order to get the girl.

Phyllis, just before her husband dies...

Bridget when murdering her husband

The evil within both femme fatales shows most clearly when the killings have just happened. Phyllis has a close up shot on just her when the killing is going on due to the 1940's not being allowed to make films so explicit. However this shows the true evil within Phyllis, we can see by the facial expressions that there is no feelings, nothing but determination. This shows that the motivation is strong and is what Phyllis really wants. Due to The Last Seduction having a no hays code they were able to show more. Bridget is seen much more evil as she smiles when killing her husband.

The role play scene is very dramatic and unpredictable, this also shows how unpredictable Bridget is. Due to knowing that Bridget gets away with what she has done is the most intimidating. At least we are aware that Phyllis was killed due to her actions, but Bridget actually won what she had been so determined to achieve. The greed for money over powers typically in the genre in film noir and in The Last Seduction shows how the American society in general is driven by money, wealth and materialism.




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