Universität zu Köln 05th of February 2015
Englisches Seminar I
Übung: Essay writing II
Dozentin: Katherine Maye-Saidi, M.A.
Costantino Dino Scimone
WiSe 2014/2015
Please analyse the role of the femme fatale in film noir, using examples of your own choice.
Immediately after the Second World War, when the French people once again had the possibility to watch American cinema, they noticed a remarkable change in these films. Not only had they become much darker in mood, but also the themes had become much more serious. It was in 1946, when the term “film noir” was coined for the first time by the French film critics Nino Frank and Jean-Pierre to describe this genre of movies (Silver & Ursini 2004). Part of what makes these …show more content…
And how does the femme fatale differ from all other characters played in these films? In Out Of the Past, Kathie Moffat, exceptionally depicted by Jane Greer, is the very last character introduced in the movie. Jeff Markham, a private eye, gets an assignment from the gangster boss and gambler Whit Sterling. He is instructed to find his girlfriend, who shot him four times before escaping the country with his 40,000 dollars. Jeff tracks her down to Acapulco, Mexico. After around twenty minutes of the movie, Jeff sits in a little café called La Mar Azul next to a movie house. While he waits there during a hot afternoon, we hear him say the famous line: ”And then I saw her coming out of the sun”(Out of the Past 1947). This is the very first time the viewer gets to see the object of desire. Teasing her character in the beginning of the film, but never showing her, increases the impact of her first appearance. It also shrouds her in a veil of mystery, which the viewer can't wait to uncover throughout the …show more content…
She frees herself from the clutches of Whit by killing him, has possession of the money and finally wants to be reunited with Jeff. If it had not been clear up to this point, now it becomes completely obvious who Kathie really is, an elegant reptile who disguises herself as the sweetest little girl (Gifford 2001). She even confesses to Jeff: “I never told you I was anything but what I am”(Out of the Past 1947). By uttering these words she practically blames Jeff for wanting to see something in her that has never been there. Crime doesn't pay. Especially not in a movie of the late 40s, where there was no chance that a character could escape his or her atrocious crimes. After Kathie murders Whit, Jeff manages to alert the police without her noticing. They leave the scene of the crime, driving towards a new life, when from afar she suddenly notices the police. Immediately she understands that Jeff has betrayed her and shoots him. Finally, the police open fire, fatally wounding her. Nevertheless, “she remains fiercely independent even when faced with her own destruction. And in spite of her inevitable death, she leaves behind the image of a strong, exciting, and unrepentant woman who defies the control of men[...]” (www.filmnoirstudies.com), thus revealing various prominent features of the femme
Englisches Seminar I
Übung: Essay writing II
Dozentin: Katherine Maye-Saidi, M.A.
Costantino Dino Scimone
WiSe 2014/2015
Please analyse the role of the femme fatale in film noir, using examples of your own choice.
Immediately after the Second World War, when the French people once again had the possibility to watch American cinema, they noticed a remarkable change in these films. Not only had they become much darker in mood, but also the themes had become much more serious. It was in 1946, when the term “film noir” was coined for the first time by the French film critics Nino Frank and Jean-Pierre to describe this genre of movies (Silver & Ursini 2004). Part of what makes these …show more content…
And how does the femme fatale differ from all other characters played in these films? In Out Of the Past, Kathie Moffat, exceptionally depicted by Jane Greer, is the very last character introduced in the movie. Jeff Markham, a private eye, gets an assignment from the gangster boss and gambler Whit Sterling. He is instructed to find his girlfriend, who shot him four times before escaping the country with his 40,000 dollars. Jeff tracks her down to Acapulco, Mexico. After around twenty minutes of the movie, Jeff sits in a little café called La Mar Azul next to a movie house. While he waits there during a hot afternoon, we hear him say the famous line: ”And then I saw her coming out of the sun”(Out of the Past 1947). This is the very first time the viewer gets to see the object of desire. Teasing her character in the beginning of the film, but never showing her, increases the impact of her first appearance. It also shrouds her in a veil of mystery, which the viewer can't wait to uncover throughout the …show more content…
She frees herself from the clutches of Whit by killing him, has possession of the money and finally wants to be reunited with Jeff. If it had not been clear up to this point, now it becomes completely obvious who Kathie really is, an elegant reptile who disguises herself as the sweetest little girl (Gifford 2001). She even confesses to Jeff: “I never told you I was anything but what I am”(Out of the Past 1947). By uttering these words she practically blames Jeff for wanting to see something in her that has never been there. Crime doesn't pay. Especially not in a movie of the late 40s, where there was no chance that a character could escape his or her atrocious crimes. After Kathie murders Whit, Jeff manages to alert the police without her noticing. They leave the scene of the crime, driving towards a new life, when from afar she suddenly notices the police. Immediately she understands that Jeff has betrayed her and shoots him. Finally, the police open fire, fatally wounding her. Nevertheless, “she remains fiercely independent even when faced with her own destruction. And in spite of her inevitable death, she leaves behind the image of a strong, exciting, and unrepentant woman who defies the control of men[...]” (www.filmnoirstudies.com), thus revealing various prominent features of the femme