Film Noir, launched just before USA’s entry into the World War II and peaking during the Cold War, was a hybrid of glamour and grittiness, exposing a seamy underside of America during the mid century. Film Noir was cast with wised-up men and wordly women who might not have had the right answers, but certainly had all the right moves. More than often, they held mixed motives and malign agendas. The name ”Film Noir” was coined by french film critics whom, after the trade-blockade following the second World War, recieved five american films during the same week. All films were set in a tortured world of violence, crime and misery, with a general tone of pessimism that was different from the gangster genre of the 1930s. Allthough many Film Noir movies are set around crime, the style can break boundaries
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The Maltese Falcon (1941) was directed by John Huston and is one of the most famous movies within the Noir-genre. It is often referred to as the pioneering catalyst of Film Noir. It was also John Hustons directing-debut and one of the movies that helped Humphrey Bogart in becoming leading man. In the plot, the private detective Sam Spades’ partner gets shot on a mission. Spade takes over the mission and simultaneously tries to get to the bottom of his partner’s murder. Spade later struggles with the decision of wether he should report the film’s Femme Fatal, whom he loves, to the police. Being one of the first Noir movies, it is evident that the style was not yet fully developed. Though many signature features of Noir film are present: a detective, fast dialogues and ambiguously malign characters, including a Femme Fatale, in my opinion, the aesthetics are not as characteristic as in later Noir films. For example, the play between contrasting shadows and light is not as predominant as some of the later works in the
The Maltese Falcon (1941) was directed by John Huston and is one of the most famous movies within the Noir-genre. It is often referred to as the pioneering catalyst of Film Noir. It was also John Hustons directing-debut and one of the movies that helped Humphrey Bogart in becoming leading man. In the plot, the private detective Sam Spades’ partner gets shot on a mission. Spade takes over the mission and simultaneously tries to get to the bottom of his partner’s murder. Spade later struggles with the decision of wether he should report the film’s Femme Fatal, whom he loves, to the police. Being one of the first Noir movies, it is evident that the style was not yet fully developed. Though many signature features of Noir film are present: a detective, fast dialogues and ambiguously malign characters, including a Femme Fatale, in my opinion, the aesthetics are not as characteristic as in later Noir films. For example, the play between contrasting shadows and light is not as predominant as some of the later works in the