Femme fatale

Pan’s Labyrinth, directed by Guillermo (gill-yea-mo) Del Toro, is a visually striking, dark fantasy film compiled of a range of equally gruesome and intriguing scenes that address the grim realities of 1944 fascist Spain through a child’s perspective. Del Toro does not delude nor pacify the cruel reality of the narrative where he displays a society that glorifies a corrupted male-dominated society. In the ‘Final Task’ scene, Del Toro’s intertwining of the camera techniques, colour scheme,…

Film noir, in the most traditional sense, is a genre of cinematographic film notable by a tone of pessimism and fatalism. From the forties and fifties - when the genre was first identified with American detective or thriller films - film noir has since experienced a resurgence at the dawn of the new century, often dubbed as “neo-noir” films. One film in the neo-noir category is Pulp Fiction, directed by Quentin Tarantino. The title, “pulp fiction,” owes itself to the “cheap fiction magazines…

argument is sometimes lengthy and complicated, thus resulting in confusion to the readers. Although the text "Double Indemnity's Fatal Woman" is a careful analysis of Phyllis Dietrachson, it does not provide the readers with a clear definition of "femme fatal". The book chapter presents an excellent overview of women in film noir, but it lacks a deep investigation…

Film noir, a genre of darkness, of shadows, of hardboiled loners and bottom-feeders. The term noir was coined by French film critic Nino Frank in 1946 that literally means “Black Film”. This essay will discover how film noir is affected by the context of history as well as its course of evolution to reach its state nowadays. This would collectively enhance my degree of understanding of this influential genre of filmmaking. The origin of film noir dates back to the 1930s, the great depression…

Even though film experts still debate what genre it best falls into, the 1950 Billy Wilder-directed film Sunset Boulevard is, in many respects, the archetypal film noir, and is also widely regarded as one of the most brutally honest depictions of Hollywood, by Hollywood. One of the biggest reasons Wilder’s film is viewed as such an exemplar of the film noir movement is its innovative use of lighting effects. Use of lighting can make or break a black-and-white film much more than it can one in…

The sirens have chosen Sirens that sound lovely to the ear, might be deadly to the soul. In the epic poem, The Odyssey, Homer describes that temptation might lead to death by the song, “Siren Song.” Homer tells the story of a man who is very clever and is knowledgeable enough to apply wax to his ears to survive the beautiful voices. On the other hand, Atwood’s song illustrates a siren who is waiting to trick men onto her island and lead them to their own death. Homer and Atwood both…

The Departed is a Martin Scorsese film released in 2006 (The Departed). While it may appear to be just another mob movie in a sea of mobster noir films, it’s a contemporary crime drama that hinges on thriller as well. The film is set in modern times on the south side of Boston, and the characters are keen to remind everyone of that fact, making the setting of the south side a prominent point throughout the film. It starts with an almost benevolent Frank Costello, expertly played by Jack…

Week 11 French New Wave Breathless 90 mins, 1960, French Directed By: Jean-Luc Godard Written By: Jean-Luc Godard Synopsis: Paying homage to the numerous crime thrillers of Hollywood’s Golden era, this film charts the relationship between Michel, a stylish but unpredictable criminal, and his estranged American girlfriend. Again, the notion of escapism through the cinema is key to this most famous of the new wave pictures. Essential Readings: Hart Cohen, Juan Francisco Salazar and Iqbal Barkat.…

Double Indemnity, a film based on fraud and betrayal in regards to insurance money, carried out by Walter Neff and Phyllis Dietrichson. This film is a perfect classic example of film noir, as the film has various aspects of depicting characters in an ambiguous manner with the addition of dark shadows, moody aesthetics, intense music and mis-en-scene to express the shots well. In particular, the opening scene of Walter entering his apartment building to his room is divided into five simultaneous…

Social and technological factors have caused Film Noir to develop and change in a plethora of ways to keep up with a constantly changing audience’s takes and expectations. During the 1940-50’s Film le Noir emerged and created an artistic movement within the movie community and created a contemporary style of movies that were often described at cynical crime melodramas. These films used lighting effects, flashbacks, cynical heroes and were mostly present in post-World War II, in which the…