Film noir

“Private Eye” or tough “Hard-boiled” private investigator detective fiction is the classification most dominated by American writers (Mansfield-Kelly 205). One of the founders and innovators of the private investigator is Dashiell Hammett. And is also “The most influential figure in the structuring of hard-boiled detective fiction,” (Mansfield-Kelly 229). He wrote the first tough-guy detective in “The Gutting of Couffignal”, named Continental OP and wrote The Maltese Falcon (Mansfield-Kelly 229)…

Express: The Role of Hong Kong City in the Plot The movie “Chunking Express” which was written and directed by Wong Kar Wai is a romance/drama film produced in 1994. The plot within the movie tells of two stories which are shown in sequence (“Chunking Express” n.p). Each story features a troubled relationship of a Hong Kong police officer. In the first story, the film focuses on Cop 223 (He Qiwu), the obsession he bears of his broken relationship with May as well as the platonic encounter he…

novel L. A. Confidential written by James Ellroy. This was a newer film compared to the previous films that we had watched, it also happens to be my favorite film we have watched so far. With that, it presented some similar characteristics and traits like the other films, but it also created new emerging characteristics that would continue with this film genre. Some of the traits that are shared with other films include: the film takes place in a city, there is always at least one detective who…

new, iconic, and controversial to the table. One surprisingly effective way to do this is to analyze the film industry. Films often correspond with the attitudes and feelings of the time and can thereby be one of the best ways to analyze how society thinks, has developed, and how audiences have responded to everything from traditional gender roles,…

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…

become original film noir. Film noir is defined as a type of crime film featuring cynical and malevolent characters in an unflattering setting including an ominous atmosphere that is conveyed by shadowy photography and foreboding background music (Dictionary). This includes Christopher Nolan’s The Dark Knight, Carol Reed’s The Third Man, and John Huston’s The Maltese Falcon which serve as perfect examples of film noir, which I will explain in further detail. The purpose of film noir is to…

Film noir is a genre that is characterized by high contrast lighting, non-chronological storylines, and hard-boiled main characters (Barsam 94-96). But, what gave rise to the Genre? Many will argue that is was German expressionism that inspired Film Noir. “The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari” (Wiene, 1919), is a silent film that followed a mentally ill man’s perspective through troublesome times. “Sunset Boulevard” (Wilder, 1950) follows a struggling screenwriter that is put into a unique position when…

Film noir developed in the post war era as a response to the cultural disturbance created by the war. This unsettling time pushed the envelope for the production of dark films portraying the social and cultural conflicts of the time. These films broke the boundaries of classic Hollywood cinema and left the audience unsettled through use of dark lighting and corrupted story lines. Critics claimed that these films had developed “grimmer, bleaker, and blacker” (Belton, 221). One of the main…

Schatz has identified several noir elements in the film Citizen Kane. According to Schatz (116-117), Citizen Kane had all of the seven noir elements: 1. The majority of scenes are lit for night 2. As in German Expressionism, oblique and vertical lines are preferred to horizontal 3. The actors and setting are often given equal lighting emphasis 4. Compositional tension is preferred to physical action 5. There is an almost Freudian attachment to water 6. There is love of romantic narration 7…

archetypes and themes with the classic film genre of film noir. Both Greek tragedy and film noir feature femme fatales, women portrayed as devilish or in the role of a killer, the topic of the inevitability of fate is highly prevalent, and both genres incorporate mystery into their stories. “[Film noir is] a low-key black-and-white visual style, with a hard-boiled detective, a femme fatale, rainy streets, murder, and a downbeat ending” (Jukes). The genre of film noir is a cinematic genre that…