摘要：Human Desireshares with other Lang films a pervading interest in epistemological concerns – what do we know and how do we know it, what do we believe we know and why do we believe it. Here, this interest becomes evident through the film's presentation of complex inter-relationships among its three central characters: Vicki (Gloria Grahame), her husband Carl (Broderick Crawford) and her lover Jeff (Glenn Ford). More specifically, the pos-sibilities open to men and women really to know and under-stand one another, and the way that these possibilities both complicate heterosexual desire and are in turn complicated by it, form the subject matter of the film. When Vicki's friend Jean (Peggy Maley) remarks to Carl that 'most men see much better than they think', she is suggesting that judgment may be clouded by desire – especially for men – a proposition borne out by subsequent events. The confidence of both Carl and Jeff in their ability to 'read' Vicki's mo-tives and veracity will be shown to be badly misplaced (and, in the process, as we shall see, our own capacity to interpret the narrative will be subjected to strain).
