As Selena Gomez Sings, "The Heart Wants What It Wants"

 3.   Double Indemnity has been called “a film without a single trace of pity or love.” Do you agree with this statement? Think about the motivations that lie behind the actions of Walter Neff and Phyllis Dietrichson when you consider your response.

This statement is an inverted statement. Pity or love may not exist between the characters, but it does exist internally. 


 In the beginning when Walter Neff goes to Phyllis Dietrichson's house to see her husband, his reasoning for going there was just to go for the "insurance" policy. When he goes inside the house, however, and saw Dietrichson; he wasn't "love-strucked", he was "stricken by an opportunity". Neff saw Dietrichson as this point of access to money, concerning himself, and only himself. Immediately after seeing this scene, I thought of Macbeth. Macbeth didn't plan on seeing the witches on his journey- in fact, that wasn't a part of his plan. But when he did, the witches presented him this opportunity of glory to which he took. There is also this ironic play on Neff's job. In the film, he is a business man- specifically, an insurance investor. Walter Neff could have been given any other job 
[cashier, tailor, a bar tender] but he was given the job of an insurance investor. The small blurb in the beginning of the movie (when Neff actually begins speaking about what happened) foreshadows that Neff is going to insure that he is going to make money- and not the money from his salary, but by bringing to life one of the probable causes to 
which the insurance policy applies to.... like accidental death.

This inverted statement also illuminates itself in the end of the film when Neff shoots Dietrichson. At first when Dietrichson had the gun and shot Neff, she shot to save herself.  When Neff told Dietrichson to shoot him more, she didn't do it, and claimed that she "loved" him which is why she couldn't pull the trigger.Phyllis Dietrichson doesn't actually love though, she loves herself; she takes pity upon herself; she became so caught up in the whole scheme of things that she suddenly became aware of her surroundings.  Neff had a similar realization, which sparked his shots at Dietrichson, killing her. He seemed 
internally upset that nothing worked out, which is why he pitied himself. 

Adding to that, the "love" that Neff and Dietrichson "had" in the film never existed. They abruptly met and seemed awkward with each other. When Neff kissed Dietrichson, there was no passion; it seemed as if he forced himself to embrace upon her. When Neff looked at Dietrichson, he saw his future, and never did it incorporate Dietrichson. All he saw was money and an easy target to get the money. 

Therefore, I would argue that Double Indemnity is a film "with pity and love" written all over it, only through a different perspective. 

As Selena GOmez sings, "The heart wants what it wants", and apparently neither Neff nor Dietrichson wanted each other.... they were in it for the money and personal gain.