Guilty Bystander

This has all the ingredients for a good old-fashioned film noir. A struggling main character, the good guy chasing the bad guy through a series of tunnels, the light always throwing oversized shadows on the walls, and a twist at the film’s end.

When I learned that large parts of Guilty Bystander were shot on location, I hoped for some nice shots of 1950s New York. But I realised when you tell a story in 90 minutes, there’s little room for filler. No time for extensive drone shots with dramatic music or long-winded pan shots. Today’s movies are full of these, that’s why it’s hard to find a contemporary movie that’s shorter than two hours.