Film noir
Film Noir is a distinctive artistic movement in cinema that emerged in Hollywood during the 1940s and continued until around 1960. Characterized by its dark and cynical narratives, Film Noir often centers on crime dramas and thrillers that reflect the anxieties and pessimism of post-World War II America. The term "Film Noir," which translates to "black film" in French, was coined by critics in 1946 who noted the gloomy tone of these films, many of which were influenced by German Expressionism. Common themes include moral ambiguity, paranoia, and the darker aspects of human nature, often featuring a cynical male protagonist and a manipulative female character.
Narrative techniques such as flashbacks and voice-over narration enhance the suspense and complexity of the plots, while the distinctive visual style employs dramatic lighting and unconventional camera angles to create a sense of tension and foreboding. The settings typically include urban environments, with a focus on shadowy alleys, dimly lit rooms, and rain-soaked streets, contributing to the overall atmosphere of menace. Film Noir also explores societal issues, such as the impact of women's newfound independence during the war, often depicting female characters as both alluring and treacherous. The legacy of Film Noir is evident in its influence on later genres and its ongoing appeal in cinematic storytelling.
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Film noir
Film Noir is an artistic movement developed in Hollywood in the 1940s. Movies in the Film Noir style tended to be dark, cynical dramas that were melodramatic and highly stylized. The style was loosely based on the "Expressionist" films popular in Germany during the 1920s and 1930s. Initiated during World War II, Film Noir films reflected the underlying negative feelings of Americans at the time. These adult-oriented films were usually murder dramas or crime thrillers that revealed a dark view of existence. Most featured a female villain who double-crossed the hero of the film and led him to take the blame for a crime he did not commit. The "Film Noir" term did not appear until 1946, when a retrospective of American films that had been banned during the war was shown in Paris. Several of the French critics noted the dark tone of the films, calling them "film noir," which translates to "black film."
Background
Film Noir is a style of Hollywood films that originated in the 1940s, during World War II, and continued until 1960. French film critics coined the term to describe the downbeat films produced in America in this era. Film experts debate whether Film Noir is a genre or a style of storytelling that is marked by a distinctive mood, style, and tone. Film Noir refers to a distinct period in the history of film-making, but the films were only deemed as such after they were made.
The Film Noir screenplays took their inspiration from American crime fiction. Many of the directors of these films were European immigrants to the United States, such as Fritz Lang, Robert Siodmak, Billy Wilder, and Otto Preminger. These directors drew on the dramatic and theatrical sensibility and imagery of the German Expressionist style cinema of the 1920s and 1930s.
The Expressionist style of film reflected Expressionist painting and theater in their rejection of realism. The German directors aimed to relay inner experiences via external means. To accomplish that, they designed films that used highly stylized sets and acting, and their sets featured exaggerated and dramatic lighting and camera angles that emphasized emotions like pain, horror, and fear.
This style fit well with Film Noir, which reflected Americans’ mood in WWII and the post-war Cold War period. At those times, a sense of anxiety and suspicion prevailed. The films mirror the tensions and insecurities of the time period, when people worried about nuclear destruction. Fittingly, Film Noir films were full of crime, violence, and pessimistic endings. The greedy perspectives of the villains in the films were viewed as a metaphor for society’s evils.
These films also revealed Americans’ ambivalence about women’s newly formed independence and economic freedom, as many women had entered the workforce during WWII. Often, Film Noir stories centered on a cynical male character and a beautiful but amoral woman. The woman would use her physical attractiveness to manipulate the male into taking the blame for a crime. At the end of the movie, the hero, along with the duplicitous woman, was destroyed.
Overview
Film Noir style of films were produced from the early 1940s until 1960. The first of this style of films to achieve broad success was "Double Indemnity," which was adapted from a book and directed by Billy Wilder in 1944. Noting its triumph, many movie studios followed suit, producing murder dramas and crime films that portrayed a negative view of existence.
Film experts generally agree that the first Film Noir ever produced was the 1940 film "Stranger on the Third Floor," which was written, directed and photographed by European immigrants. The film portrays a taxi driver who is accused of murder and builds suspense and paranoia throughout the movie. Its nightmare scene is considered classic.
Themes. Film Noir films featured a melancholy tone. Feelings of disillusionment, pessimism, bleakness, and alienation prevailed among the films’ characters. Moral corruption, desperation, and paranoia were all common themes.
Narration and flashbacks were techniques regularly employed in Film Noir. The central character (usually a private detective) narrated the films to explain a complicated plot and give a subjective point of view. Flashbacks were often shown to shed light on the downfall of the central character, which was featured in the first scene. Both narration and flashback increased the suspense of these films, making the viewer constantly aware of oncoming destruction.
The standard characters in these films were heroes and anti-heroes. The heroes were often from the lower echelons of society, stemming from the underworld where crime and corruption reigned. Many were detectives, private eyes, government agents, or police officers who had become cynical and hard-boiled. These insecure, lonely people who struggled to survive usually lost their struggle at the end of the film.
Women populating Film Noir films bore distinctive dress and characteristics. They wore lipstick, mascara, low necklines, red dresses, high heels, elbow length gloves, and floppy hats. Nearly all knew how to mix drinks, were attracted to gangsters and alcoholic private eyes. Many ended up sprawled dead on the floor with their limbs attractively arranged and no hair out of place.
Themes of Film Noir story lines tended toward the dark side of human nature. Common topics were doomed love and the unhealthy and sadistic sides of the human experience. The films were set in an atmosphere of menace, anxiety, and the suspicion that anything could go wrong. Often, the heroes were compelled, either by human weaknesses or their evil pasts, to repeat their old mistakes.
The cinematography of Film Noir films was distinct, using skewed camera angles, unbalanced compositions, and ominous shadows. They were often set indoors and illuminated by a single source of light. The rooms were overcast by gloomy appearance and shaded windows. When scenes were shot outside, they usually featured the city at night and were characterized by wet asphalt, dark alleyways, shallow lighting, rain-slicked streets, and flashing neon lights. Other common movie locations included abandoned warehouses, dimly lit hotel rooms in big cities, and low-rent apartments.
Other noticeable themes prevalent in the Film Noir genre were cigarettes (just about every character in these films smokes without pause), cars with running boards, all-night diners, and characters who were friends with homicide detectives. The characters also tended toward familiarity with reporters, cab drivers, drug addicts, alcoholics, and bookies.
Bibliography
Conard, Mark T. The Philosophy of Film Noir. Lexington: University Press of Kentucky, 2006. Print.
Dixon, Wheeler W. Film Noir and the Cinema of Paranoia. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 2009. Print.
"Film Noir Foundation." Filmnoirfoundation.org. n.p., 2016. Web. 18 May 2016.
Halasz, Judith R. "The Maltese Touch of Evil: Film Noir and Potential Criticism." Visual Studies 28.2 (2013): 192-93.
Naremore, James. More Than Night: Film Noir in Its Context. Oakland, CA: University of California Press, 2008. Print.
O’Callaghan, Bren. "MY NOIR: John Dahl’S Neo-Noir Trilogy." Film International 11.5 (2013): 40–44.
Perks, Sarah. "MY NOIR: Ambiguity, Ambivalence And Alienation In 1990S International Noir." Film International 11.5 (2013): 47–53.
Silver, Alain, and James Ursini. Film Noir Reader. New York: Limelight Editions, 1996. Print.