...Intro to Film 10/25/11 Film Noir Film Noir is a term first used by some French critics to describe a group of American films made during and after World War II. The term Film Noir means black or dark cinema. Film noir is the classic period saying to have occurred between 1941 and 1958, beginning with John Huston’s The Maltese Falcon and ending with Orson Welle’s Touch of Evil. Film Noir is identified by its constant opposition of light and shadow, oblique camera angles, and the ways characters are placed in unconventional or awkward positions with particular shots. (Conrad, 2006, pp1-8) Themes that characterize Film Noir include inversions of traditional values, the feeling of alienation, paranoia, presence of crime and violence, and the feelings of despair, fear, mistrust and loss of innocence. (Conrad, 2006, pp1-8) Many argue on whether or not film noir is a genre. Foster Hirsch says that a film genre is “determined by conventions or narrative structure, characterization, theme, and visual design.” According to this definition, Hirsch felt film noir was in fact a genre because of the consistent tone and the story telling and visual conventions running through the films of the classic noir period. Andrew Spicer denied film noir can be defined as a genre since the expression of film noir is “a discursive critical construction that has evolved over time.” (Conrad, 2006, pp10) Nonetheless, as a crucial film movement, film noir consisted of films tending to have...
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...During the Great Depression and shortly prior to the outbreak of World War II, many of the films produced were “propaganda” type films. Each one designed to cheer the American people’s dismal outlook during the 30s and 40s. However, with World War II and post-war attitudes, these films did little to help the cynicism of the American people. They were more interested in films that were genuine, depicting the harsh view of society from the perspective of everyday people. Nino Frank explains what they were looking for, “a third dimension: a touch of substance, a touch of depth, the logic of cinema definitively replaced by the logic of truth.”1 Films in this time period were usually adapted from hard-boiled fictions of the 1930s. These films dealt with the uniquely American experiences of despair and alienation as they adjusted to new social and political realities. Films in the early 1940s and late 1950s were, at the time, considered crime melodramas but are now known as “Film Noir,” or “black cinema.” Directors were not intentionally trying to create films that fit into a specific category, but instead were creating films that reflected much of the sentiment of the time. In most literature, there are many debates about what constitutes film noir. I hope to define the genre through historical background, cinematic conventions, and characteristics that categorize a film noir; as well as a progression of the genre into today’s movies. Although Technicolor began in the...
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...In the article “Notes on Film Noir”, Paul Schrader, American screenwriter and director, examines the era of the Film Noir. Schrader discussed the origins of the film noir, and its significance for Hollywood and the American Society. The Film Noir began in the early 1940s and continued until the late 1950s. This era of film was said to have been influenced by postwar disillusionment and realism after World War II. The films of this time began to incorporate crime, violence, fear, political corruption, despair, depression, and mental illness. Anything that was depressing or full of sorrow would be displayed in these films. Many people enjoyed these films because they could relate. Most of these films appealed to the socially conscious because the American Society of this time period wished for more honesty in films. The Americans feeling hopelessness wanted to see what they were going through highlighted in these films. The films produced in Film Noir had a distinct style. Stylistics was very important when creating a film in this genre. In these films, darkness was abundant. The films were always set for nighttime or a time of darkness. Faces would be blacked out. Shadows would appear in the darkness creating odd dark shapes in the background. There was use of oblique and vertical lines to creating the illusion of a...
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...In 1946 French film critics analysed the films produced in the United States during the war, and drew attention to a new mood of cynicism and dark pessimism that has penetrated into the American cinema. As Paul Schrader noted: ‘french cinephiles soon realized that it was only the beginning: with the first post-war years lighting in Hollywood films was getting darker, characters – more vicious, intonation - more hopeless, and the plots were getting increasingly fatalistic overtones’ (1972: 53). Never before have filmmakers dared to express such a harsh and unflattering view of the American life. The name ‘film noir’ was introduced by Nino Frank in his article for L’Ecran français on 28 August, 1946. He particularly emphasises The Maltese Falcon...
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...The early films noir (before being considered noir) were influenced by pulp stories and hard-boiled fiction by authors such as Hammett, Chandler and Caine, whose novels were often a base for the films; as a matter of fact, many of their novels were adapted to films. The attempts to explain film noir were often challenged by the fact that there is no official explanation instead various scholars have formed their own view on what film noir is starting by identifying it either as a genre, cycle, style or movement. As example, Mayer and McDonnell introduce different statements by different scholars in the preface of their book to illustrate how complex it is to discuss the film noir, as each of them has a different opinion. They add that the term is a discursive construct created by critics and scholars of the time but also a cultural phenomenon that changed the previous cinema. When talking about noir in the Italian context, it has to be noted that it does not exist in the same form as in Hollywood. Italian genres are traditionally more flexible and can share the same elements, so we have different trends. As example, Riso Amaro and Ossessione are usually considered to be neorealist films, but they contain many noir elements and for...
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...Many people say that “Chinatown” brought back Film Noir. This is a genre that usually describes crime dramas and mystery thrillers, but the direct translation is, “dark film” (Encyclopedia Britannica, 2014). The original noir films were mostly in the 1940s and 1950s. This style not only had a mysterious feel, but usually darker lighting and a mysterious protagonist who has a troubled past. This genre lost popularity for some time, but then came back as neo-noir. Being that Chinatown was one of the films that brought noir back, it is one of the first neo-noir films. Gitties still embodies a typical noir character, with more of a new school feel. He is tough, gritty, sarcastic, and slightly obsessed with solving the crime. The genre has changed...
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...Reservoir Dogs, directed by Quentin Tarantino, is one of the renowned film noirs in Hollywood cinema culture. The film noir is a French meaning a genre about time (Miyao Lecture 3). There are several characteristics that feature film noir: for example, almost all noir films are crime and action films and revolve around two overarching themes - the irretrievable-ness of time and the emphasis on trust and betrayal (Miyao Lecture 3). Moreover, film noir has its own cinematic techniques to distinguish itself from other genre films, such as flashbacks to manipulate the time to alter the story order. The film Reservoir Dogs does a great work in manipulating time and space as Tarantino even stated in his interview that he wanted to introduce each...
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...Film noir, which literally translates as ‘black film,’ was a term which was used by a French film critic Nino Frank in 1946 to describe what the film audiences of France where seeing in their theatres When World War II had ended and the Nazi regime had collapsed in 1945. The French audience where greeted with a back log of American films. These crime and detective films where noticed to be darker, more downbeat and moodier than the pervious post war films that these audiences watched. Film noir developed during and shortly after World War II. It took advantage of the post war feeling of anxiety, fear, suspicion and pessimism that the American nation where facing a point that is stated in Maria Pramaggiore and Tom Wallis’ book, ‘Film - A Critical Introduction,’ “…a specific historical circumstance: the suppressed cynicism that followed America’s...
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...THE PLAGUE Essay Proposal Film noir is a cinematic term used to describe heavily stylized Hollywood crime dramas emphasizing on cynical attitudes, sexual motivations and recurring dark themes. However, film noir is not considered a genre and it is not defined by conventions of setting and conflict but rather by the subtle aspects and details of tone and mood. The two films being compared are Out of the Past and Sin City. Out of the Past was filmed in 1947 and directed by Jacques Tourneur. It is a superb example of film noir due to its convoluted dreamlike storyline and the impressive chiaroscuro cinematography. It has since, been added to the United States National Film Registry as being deemed “culturally, historically or aesthetically significant” in 1991. Sin City on the other hand is a 2005 neo-noir film produced and directed by Frank Miller and Robert Rodriguez. The former being an actual film from Hollywood’s most celebrated but relatively unknown era in filmography, differs vastly from that of Sin City but at the same time drawing similarities in comparison generated from the various aspects of film noir. This will be further analyzed by comparing the two films to what film noir is comprised of. Looking back into the history of film noir and why it was deemed so important, there were four catalytic elements that could define the technique and the distinct trait of noir drew from them. War and post war disillusionments, post war realism, the German influence...
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...through half-closed venetian blinds--these are the visual elements we typically associate with film noir. More often, however, the genre can be defined thematically, usually relating to the protagonist’s futile efforts against forces out of their control (Defining Film Noir). The world portrayed by these films does not make much sense and there is no apparent rhyme or reason behind the inevitable twists and turns. This atmosphere of uncertainty is intensified by the use of a restricted point of view. We experience the narrative through the eyes and voice of the protagonist, rarely surpassing him in awareness. The protagonist is often motivated by a sense of justice that goes...
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...Coming into this course, I had never heard of the film noir genre. To my surprise, this was one of the most intriguing and entertaining genre’s I’ve ever been exposed to. “Casablanca” directed by Michael Kurtiz was an amazing film that really opened my eyes to the genre. There are many elements to this genre, cinematic and thematic, that made me really enjoy this film. The first cinematic element of this genre that was interesting me was the sense of physical darkness in the film. Any scene is this film was filled with darkness either in the background or on the characters themselves. This darkness was interesting because it was unlike anything I had ever witnessed before. Another cinematic element that built off of the darkness was the use...
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...what made them so special. Prior to World War II American films were about singing, dancing and happy endings. The occupation in Europe changed all that. Many European directors, artists and actors escaped to America and brought their artistic visions and hellish nightmares with them. The movies they made provided them with a creative outlet. They showed a dark side to humanity in which American soldiers returning from war could relate to. It helped them see that they were not the only ones with problems and that life was not always easy. It helped normalize what they were feeling and perhaps even helped them adjust to coming back home. Film Noir films were a complete change to what the American public was familiar with. They exposed the audience to something new and different. These movies brought an “edge and roughness” to life as they knew it. Most of all they provided new techniques to film making. The director’s innovative use of lighting and cinematography were never seen before. The audience was drawn in to focus on the main characters which I think made the scene more intimate. The actors had to up there performances showcasing their acting ability. Music played a big role in these movies as well. If you closed your eyes you could hear the tension and emotion of the scene through the musical score. It helped set the mood and kept you engrossed in the film. Many of the elements used in Film Noir movies are still in use today especially the lighting and camera...
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...Classic noir films reinforce the myth of the private eye; a hard-boiled detective, able to restore order, solve the crime, and ensure justice prevails. Chinatown challenges this myth, reversing genre and stylistic conventions through the protagonist Jake Gittes, a private eye unable to control the crimes his sleuthing unveils. Gittes dresses stylishly in crisp white suits, differing from the trademark trench coat and fedora of his stylistic predecessors, and enters the film with an air of confidence. However, Gittes’ plush chambers and immaculate suit mask an essential vulgarity, betrayed Gittes pleasure in the racist joke about Chinese love-making (Spicer 2001, p.139). Although Gittes is a competent detective, he is forced to confront his own limitations, failing to protect the victims of the narrative and watching helplessly as the criminal remains at large. “As saviour and restorer of the moral order, he is a complete washout, a genre first” (Hirsch 1999, p.151). However, while less capable and...
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...Film Noir and Romance: It’s No Fairy Tale Baby Film Noir may not seem like a very romantic subject considering how many of the couples in the films are eventually lead into their death or a prison term. There are some romantic aspects to these type of cinema. Even if a couple does have a tragic end, there is always some sort of romance in the middle. It could be lust or love, but it is usually there. While all Film Noir never ends as fairy tale, an audience can look at most of the films and see how love, or lust, can drive people to do despicable acts of crime. Before describing how romance and the many varying types of love appear in Film Noir, it is important to understand the different gender roles each character plays. The male protagonist paired with a femme fatale is the usual leading roles in a Film Noir, but that isn’t a hard set rule. Men can play the male victim, damaged men, a private eye, a psychopath, or a homme fatal, (Spicer 85). Women can also play a variety of roles such as the nurturer, the good-bad girl, the female victim, or a femme fatale, (Spicer 90). Male victims can be a protagonist who just gets trapped in the web of lies weaved by a beautiful woman, a femme fatale. The damaged man is usually a veteran who has a hard time adjusting to society after war or a police officer who loses control. After seeing so much violence it is hard for some men to see the world as a happy place. These men are usually paired with a nurturing female character. A private...
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...The film "The Usual Suspects" (Bryan Singer, U.S.A., 1995) has a plot that circles around and around before finally hitting the mark. It is hidden under deceit, lies, and misgivings. Because everything is told from the perspective of one person, or in the first person, nothing is clear. Could that person be lying? Or is it that he is just the mere pawn of a darker and more evil force, without even realizing it. Maybe he is just giving the facts. These shades of gray are very successful in manipulating the audience's point of view. Of course all of this is accomplished through the exceptional cinematography contained in "The Usual Suspects". One of the main objectives of a film is to never let the audience escape, to never allow them to realize that it is only a movie. By way of devices such as editing, filming style, and even the musical score this film is able to do exactly that right up until the last minute with an ending that nothing could prepare you for. By examining these techniques in detail we can gain an even greater appreciation, not only for the film, but for the elements involved as well. The film begins, "last night". Roger "Verbal" Kint (Kevin Spacey) has been arrested for being in the location of a massive explosion on a Hungarian boat. Agent Dave Kujan (Chazz Palminteri) wants to get the truth out of Kint, but Kint has already posted bail. In about two hours, he will be a free man. Kujan has Kint brought into his office where he asks Verbal to retell the story...
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