At it's surface the film is a decently entertaining murder mystery with Marlowe, a laconic, socraticely contemplative, stoically desire free, knightly private eye at its centre, who's out to uncover a great (and multi-faceted) story of betrayal.
This makes the movie watchable enough.
Additionally, there are about two subtexts. One is about the pitfalls of romantic love, namely aggression, jealousy, resignation, and murder and the question what in the world makes us prefer it over owning a cat or a dog, respectively.
The other subtext is a commentary on the film noir and detective genre, Los Angeles, the Hollywood industry in the early 70s, and the craft of writing. Here, the movie is certainly far from self-explanatory, except for maybe the portrait of the playwright as a suicidal lunatic and abusive alcoholic, who couldn't make it to the next day without his psychiatrist. For the rest, you'd probably have to do some serious research to understand. At least, I don't, i.e. I haven't. For the ones who like me lack the appropriate background knowledge and do not wish to spend hours to acquire it, the movie might loose some of its appeal.
This makes the movie watchable enough.
Additionally, there are about two subtexts. One is about the pitfalls of romantic love, namely aggression, jealousy, resignation, and murder and the question what in the world makes us prefer it over owning a cat or a dog, respectively.
The other subtext is a commentary on the film noir and detective genre, Los Angeles, the Hollywood industry in the early 70s, and the craft of writing. Here, the movie is certainly far from self-explanatory, except for maybe the portrait of the playwright as a suicidal lunatic and abusive alcoholic, who couldn't make it to the next day without his psychiatrist. For the rest, you'd probably have to do some serious research to understand. At least, I don't, i.e. I haven't. For the ones who like me lack the appropriate background knowledge and do not wish to spend hours to acquire it, the movie might loose some of its appeal.