Film Noir An Introduction

The Classic period With the ‘Western’ noir is an indigenous American form. Presents a vision of society A reflection of its preoccupations Literally “black film” – full of dark images – reflecting a dark mood in American society - a black slate on which culture could inscribe its ills - in the process, a catharsis to relieve them

Creates visceral unease in audiences Plots turn on deadly violence or sexual obsession. Characters include private eyes, desperate women & petty criminals. Shadowy forms moving across a lonely street. Sound of tyres creeping over wet asphalt. Translated into sociological paranoia & guilt. Its emergence coincides with these sentiments after World War ll, the Holocaust & fear of the atomic bomb. Shot at, alone, facing death, a dark world.

Antecedents Helped to shaped rough beast that is film noir as it slouched towards Los Angeles to be born Thrived there from 1941 (The Maltese Falcon) to 1958 (Touch of Evil) Identified by French film critics Derived from hard-boiled stories of “Black Mask” magazine Gangster films of the 1930s. Grounded in social verisimilitude projecting machine guns & fast cars Figures assailed by twists of fate in an irrational universe (the soldier returned from combat)

Spectre of the Bomb Inspiration for deep paranoia in noir after WWll An unstable universe reflecting cultural sense of upheaval and apprehension

Influx of foreign directors Helped refine noirs distinctive visual style German Expressionism – oddly angled shots, low- key lighting, a chiaroscuro frame of light & shadowy mazes, foregrounded objects, glinting highlights bouncing off mirrors, wet surfaces

Existential motifs Alienation, obsession, paranoia, entrapment, doom Existential belief in “benign indifference” of the material world “At any street corner, the absurd may strike you in the face.” Camus Characters experience existential despair based on the consequences of choosing and free will Fate becomes fatality Awareness of their condition is truly existential E.g. Ollie in The Killers

Genre Identity Contempory films Usually urban Mostly American in setting Consistent visual style keyed to recurring narrative patterns & character emotions Suggestive of alienation or obsession A doomed protagonist, a dangerous women Adrift in a corrupt, maze-like world Settings that close in trapping characters & creating sense of claustrophobia

Two key character motifs 1.Alienation – isolated by choices & fate, seems more alienated because once idealistic / romantic 2.Darkness – a metaphor for the protagonists mind, fills the mirror or the past. Events conspire to crush hopes or destroy ethical constraints

Femme Fatale “I did it for the money and a woman. I didn’t get the money. I didn’t get the woman.” Freudian in its sexuality. Symbolises sexual release & psychological reunion with happier, less complicated times. A fantasy escape from the present and its troubles Tragic flaw of idealising a woman destroys man Fatal inability to perceive dishonesty of women undermines his ability to make rational decisions Entrapped in spider woman’s web, leads to existential realisations

Private Detective Knight on a quest to unravel the mystery A lone wolf hunting the truth in a dark and dangerous corrupt world Follows own code, duty to the client Symbolically enters a claustrophobic labyrinth to battle the Minotaur Isolated and lonely existence, will not find happiness as s/he would no longer be a noir anti- hero (Brendon in Brick, Veronica in Veronica Mars) Mirrors our own inevitable isolation, we are born alone and will die alone