1. “You may think you know what you’re dealing with, but believe me, you don’t.” – Noah Cross (John Huston) to Jake Gittes (Jack Nicholson) in Roman Polanksi’s Chinatown (1974)
FILM NOIR
“Black Film”

2. FILM NOIR
A term coined by French film critics (first by Nino Frank in 1946) who noticed the trend of how dark, downbeat and black the looks and themes of many American crime and detective films released in France following WWII were.
Although the term became widely used after 1946, the first noirs were before
that.

3. FILM NOIR
Content is focused on crime or some crime about to be committed
In early noir, characters were criminals and gangsters
As noir progressed, the focus shifted to regular people caught up in criminal plots OR women of questionable virtue who plot to kill with the help of a clueless man : Double Indemnity; The Postman Always Rings Twice; Gilda; The Killers

4. FILM NOIR
Also focused on detectives on the fringe of the law: The Maltese Falcon; Murder, My Sweet; Laura; Kiss Me Deadly

5. FILM NOIR STORYLINE CHARACTERISTICS OF FILM NOIR:
Non linear, twisting narrative
Convoluted, maze-like plots
Flashbacks
Witty, razor sharp, acerbic dialogue
Reflective and confessional
First person, voiceover narration

6. FILM NOIR Claustrophobic framing devices (doors, windows, ceilings)
VISUAL CHARACTERISTICS OF FILM NOIR
Claustrophobic framing devices (doors, windows, ceilings)
Mirrors are prominent (reflections of dark side or duality of human nature)
Extreme high angle shots to show “helpless” victims
Low key lighting

7. VISUAL CHARACTERISTICS OF FILM NOIR
Disorienting visual schemes
Ominous shadows
Skewed, bizarre camera angles
Unbalanced screen composition

8. PROTAGONISTS OF FILM NOIR
Cynical, obsessive, sarcastic
Disillusioned, frightened and insecure loners
Struggling to survive
Often detectives or
con men

9. ANTAGONISTS OF FILM NOIR “Femme Fatale”
CHARACTERISTICS:
Beautiful, promiscuous, double-dealing, seductive
Questionable values
Betrays, manipulates or double crosses the hero

10. SETTINGS OF FILM NOIR Interiors with low-key lighting
Venetian-blinded windows and rooms
Dark, claustrophobic
Exteriors were often
urban night scenes
Wet asphalt
Dark alleyways
Foggy scenes near
water

11. FILM NOIR “CLASSIC” Film Noirs:
Double Indemnity (1944), dir. Billy Wilder
The Big Sleep (1946), dir. Howard Hawks
Kiss Me Deadly (1955), dir. Robert Aldrich
The Third Man (1950), dir. Sir Carol Reed
The Maltese Falcon (1941), dir. John Huston
Touch of Evil (1958), dir. Orson Welles

12. FILM NOIR “REVISIONIST” (modern) Film Noirs:
Chinatown (1974), dir. Roman Polanski
Body Heat (1981), dir. Lawrence Kasdan
Pulp Fiction (1994), dir. Quentin Tarantino
The Usual Suspects (1995), dir. Bryan Singer
L.A. Confidential (1997), dir. Curtis Hanson