IT AMUSES ME TO FEED YOU BEAUTIFUL THINGS, BECAUSE YOU EAT WITH SUCH A GOOD APPETITE. The barest trace of a smile on that terrible mouth and she moves like liquid silver; caressed by moonlight - or was it the glow of a stage lamp? A moment away from the evening’s next performance and the crowd holds its breath in anticipation: an unlikely wallflower peeeeeeeeling away from two-toned wood panelled doors. She’s not BLUEBEARD’S WIFE (you wouldn’t think one woman could marry two insane men in her lifetime); pale hands lingering upon varnish and she steps into the spotlight with an Oscar winning smile. Silence. A heavy and weighted thing permeated by the steady clicks of heels against marble, the whisper of black silk with a steady, languid gait and the curve of her body seems to sigh. GILDA, ARE YOU DECENT? ME, DECENT?! SURE.
“Words are ideas, good doctor.” Radiant. Remastered in 1080P for blueray players and even with the absence of Technicolour, there’s a glow to her – maybe it’s the LED, energy efficient eyes. Maybe it’s her smile. Maybe that dame was trouble. Who knew? FEMME FATALE PERSONIFIED; we’ve both been stinkers, haven’t we, Johnny? “Ideas are hard to kill. Almost impossible. Men die like men. Gods die like men; and then, they are forgotten.” Her smile grows; something almost alive in the gleam of those eyes, something almost real. “But ideas? Oh, those are eternal.” Head tilting upwards to bare her neck to the world and her lips part barely – just barely. DECEDANCE dancing at the tip of her tongue and those all seeing eyes flutter shut. Inhale, exhale; artificial breath in an effort to savor the sensation. “Looks like I caught you at a good time, I do hope I’m not interrupting.” And if I am – PUT THE BLAME ON MAME, BOYS. The camera finds him; she is not left wanting. Bringing him in to picture perfect focus and her smile grows, twists; unpleasantly tight across cheeks and skin, almost too big for her features. The skin buckles, sags and she braces herself against granite and the stone bites into her. I like a man who’s good with his hands, Johnny. Reds lighten to pinks, sear into browns; fat sizzles and fizzles and POPS: something in the distance growls. Could have been her stomach, could have been something scratching away at her throat; the film reel skips.
There is a heat in this that one can feel. DIDN’T YOU FEEL IT TONIGHT? Hunger pinching her features and her eyes are as cold as dozens of backlit, dead screens dusting the aisles of every shiny Target and decrepit mall: REAL AMERICANA! Inhale. Rosemary, honey, thyme; something metallic. Something sharp. Delectable. He’s a mirror image of a mirror image when her eyes meet his; something about film noir rules and a painful absence of kitchens, of hearth. He’s empty. Somewhere, a camera clicks on. Somewhere, a starlet with dreams of being just like Hollywood’s Love Goddess has a tantrum and rebels against her contract. Somewhere, that same starlet is fired and replaced with another prettier, younger, pliable thing. The silence is oppressive. Felt like hands around a neck – bear down. Squeeze. Buzzing between them and the bone china ziiiiiiiiiiiiings across the polished countertop: still sizzling, still steaming and his movements are practised. Slow. Every incision worth something, every pause filled with meaning – I HAVE THE FUNNIEST FEELING. DON’T TELL ANYBODY, BUT I’M AWFULLY SUPERSTITIOUS. A film noir classic permeated by a sudden burst of red: it’s art.
Blade gleaming like a bayonet, like a card shark’s cheap cufflinks; momentarily stained and the blood driiiiiiiips. Pools within the china; caught up in the metaphors and scripts and she looks up at the good doctor through fibre optic lashes. Evaluating, watching: it’s a game, isn’t it? I can play. NOW THAT YOU’VE DELIVERED ME, DO YOU WANT TO WAIT AND GET A RECEIPT FROM THE MAN? I know that look. I recognise it. Acrylic teeth click together; tongue darting out to wet her lips and not a trace of moisture is left behind: tête-à-tête at last; sizing each other up in the cold light and slowly, she leans in, hair brushing past her shoulders in waves, voice a cold whisper, chewing on her words while a director wrung his hands in worry.