Film noir

Noir injected a bleakness into American cinema, a desolate quality that distinguishes it from the optimistic Hollywood productions of the 1930s, with their flat lighting, tidy narratives, and satisfying conclusions. In Hollywood Genres, Thomas Schatz attributes this bleakness to social condition in World War II America: “This changing visual world . . . reflected the progressively darkening cultural attitudes during and after the war. Hollywood’s noir films documented the growing…

movement. French film critic Nino Frank established the term “Film Noir”, also defined as a black film. These black films characterize as a style of filmmaking and genre that contains several elements such as crime, mystery, thriller, menace, and fatalism; these particular films are set in the era of crime and war. The dark tones and setting of the films attracted a wide number of audience, film Noir’s were flourishing in Hollywood and throughout the film industry. Although the films had a…

In 1992, Billy Wilder’s 1944 film Double Indemnity was preserved by the Library of Congress for being “culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant.” It is clear that the film has had a major impact in cinema but it was created to protest Los Angeles but suffered many hurdles to complete. However, Double Indemnity would effectively jump start the noir movement and influence cinema to this day. When Double Indemnity was first played in theaters audiences and critics reacted in shock…

with film. Even during times such as the Great Depression our nation has always had an urgency to spend their weekends at the drive-ins enjoying a movie or two. The woman’s role in film has drastically changed over the years, not just in their wardrobe but also in all aspects of film. As the trends change so do the social normalities. With the importance of women’s power increasing, their sexuality in film is becoming more of a popular theme. The ongoing evolution of sexualizing women in film…

In Michael Curtiz’s 1945 film, Mildred Pierce, the director and producers mix both the woman’s film and the film noir genre to create a mysterious, yet empowering piece. The film Mildred Pierce, released in 1945, can be defined as both a film noir and a woman’s film, because of the use of mixing elements from each film genre. This film incorporates aspects of the woman’s film that include familiar plots such as rags to riches, themes of love and marriage as well as “the choice”, which can be…

black and white era, the controlled use of contrast and intensity of lighting was a key factor that allowed for depth and even emotion in film. Keating talks in his writing about how Noir helped pioneer the excellent use of lighting to create enriching scenes with high contrast and irregular shapes and patterns. Keating talks about how lighting inside noir films are more low key and deep focus, while in regular studio cinema it tends to be more shallow and high key. Keating goes on to explain…

characters as well. Fate is an important part of film noir and screwball comedy. It is some mysterious force you can’t put your finger on. The audience can be lead to conclusions about characters’ fates through plot points as well as the character themselves. However, fate can be a theme without being mentioned explicitly. Many noirs have the intervention of fate without it being pointed out abruptly. Guilt is also a critical motif in film noir and screwball comedy. This can lead the…

evolution of the character of femme fatale, it is imperative to analyze the character of Evelyn Mulwray from the last true film noir, Roman Polanskis’ Chinatown. Evelyn Mulwray is the ‘femme fatale’ movie and is played by actress Faye Dunaway. The movie was released in 1974, and therefore, present a different time. It was released almost thirty years after the birth of the film noir. The movie is graciously paced and ingeniously developed. Some could call it confusing due to the presence of…

Film noir had a lot of influences that affected the visual and thematic styles of films. History had an impact on these influences. The 1920’s German Expressionism had an early impact on film noir. Then in the 1920’s and 1930’s technology grew rapidly and the film industry was able to manipulate light and create a visual story. The events of the 30’s and 40’s drastically changed society and had the greatest impacted on the film industry. From 1929-1939 The Great Depression had hit America. When…

Classic Film Noir traits of hard boiled detective, femme fatale and miss en scene are represented in the films Chinatown,The Big Sleep and the Basic Instinct. In Film Noir the main female character is known as the femme fatale and Femme fatale is a attractive and seductive woman, especially one who will ultimately bring disaster to a man who becomes involved with her. In the film Chinatown Evelyn Mulwray fits into the role of femme fatale because of her skills in hiding things and lying. Her…