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Film Noir


             In film noir there are three main aspects that feed into the development of noir: German Expressionism, the detective fiction of the 1930s, and the cultural turmoil of World War II(Ward, 9). A basic premise of expressionism was that mise-en-scene should express the stress, psychological state of either its main character or the culture at large. This was the basis for having very tense and melodramatic shots because they were meant to bring out the character's feelings. The detective fiction was formed by writers who created visions of a dark corrupt underworld of cops and robbers, sexual exploiters, and omnipresent immorality was filtered by their cynical but morally secure detective characters. These films were filled with who-done-its and were very mysterious. The cultural turmoil of World War II films were on the ideas that the world was still recovering from the war and there was mystery about what was in the near future which brought about paranoia. .
             The production of noir films all follow specific methods. The scenery is usually a panorama shot of a dark and damp street in an urban setting. There are certain shots such as high and low angles that allow the viewer to see that the character on screen feels threatened. There are also techniques such as a side-lit close-up, long take, and the foreground object bisecting the frame which implies that a person is indecisive and is building tension(film noir, 452). Film noir is usually abundant with night scenes, both indoors and outdoors, which suggests an eerie realism and low key lighting that emphasizes deep shadows which accentuates the mood of fatalism. All these factors go along side with what events were happening at the time of their production. During the German Expressionist time period there was a lot of anxiety about the rise of dictators and when America was peaking with noir films they were nervous about ties with Russia and other Cold War problems.


Essays Related to Film Noir

1. What is film noir

... slight exceptions to this rule, The Usual Suspects' was made in the nineties and contains elements of film noir.) Film noir also tends to cross many different genre boundaries gangster film, woman film, detective story etc for example The Big Sleep' which borrows generic elements form both the detective and ... Kane' and Mildred Pierce' there seems to be no overriding similarities that could be used to ultimately describe what is film noir. Silver in Film noir: an encyclopaedic reference' states that this is because that there is no grammar attached to this visual substance because its ...

  • Word Count: 4729
  • Approx Pages: 19
  • Has Bibliography
  • Grade Level: Undergraduate

2. Film Noir Styles in Martin Scorsese's Taxi Driver

... notion of disillusionment connotes the growing lack of faith in conventional images of American society. A type of moral ambiguity emerges in a way never seen before in cinema. In film noir, the heroes begin to skirt along the edge of corruption, eventually rooting out the villains, but typically using questionable methods to do so. "Audiences and artists were now eager to ... a conspiracy that either does not exist or is too large to defeat. Travis's schizophrenia is the extreme manifestation of a phenomenon Schrader sees in what he calls the third phase, of film noir, the one to whic...

  • Word Count: 1980
  • Approx Pages: 8
  • Has Bibliography
  • Grade Level: Undergraduate

3. Film Noir

... So-called post-noirs (modern, tech-noirs or neo-noirs) appeared after the classic period with a revival of the themes of classic noir. Primary Characteristics and Conventions of Film Noir: The primary moods of classic film noir are melancholy, alienation, bleakness, disillusionment, disenchantment, pessimism, ambiguity, moral corruption, evil, guilt and paranoia. Heroes (or anti-heroes), ... cynical, tarnished, obsessive (sexual or otherwise), brooding, menacing, sinister, sardonic, disillusioned, frightened and insecure loners (usually men), struggling to survive and ultimately losing. ...

  • Word Count: 1859
  • Approx Pages: 7
  • Grade Level: Undergraduate

4. Taxi Driver: an offspring of the "noir" genre.

... city streets, crime and corruption" and to a question of "subtle qualities of tone and mood". Taxi Diver is obviously younger than the original "film noir" phenomenon but it carries indubitably some "qualities" and a general "mood" which are very close of those which characterize his famous ancestor. First, one ... what it is. Finally, one remark that the themes approached or suggested through Taxi Driver are reflecting those which are at the center of "film noir". The Scorcese's movie is dealing with topics such as urban problems - which are revealed to the spectator through the Travis...

  • Word Count: 2469
  • Approx Pages: 10
  • Grade Level: Undergraduate

5. Film Noir Reflects The Depression

... change in the mood of our country during that time period. These changes were greatly reflected in the sub-genre, or the mood of film noir, also known as black film. Film noir was seen not as a genre within itself, but as a sub-genre off the Crime/Gangster Genre of the 1930's. It was developed ... were needed by them during the war. The men were very threatened by this and felt as if women were challenging their dominance. In film noir women were generally independent and had their own agenda on mind. For example in the Maltese Falcon Miss Oshaughnessy asked for help from Sam the ... and...

  • Word Count: 974
  • Approx Pages: 4
  • Grade Level: High School

6. Film noir

... hotel rooms of big cities. Narratives are frequently complex and typically told with flashbacks or voice-over narration. Some characteristics or primary moods of classic film noir are melancholy, alienation, disillusionment, moral corruption, evil, guilt and paranoia. Film noir, gives us characters trying to elude some mysterious past that continues to haunt them. Heroes, or anti-heroes, are often corrupt characters and villains many ... times include gangsters, government agents, and murderers. The protagonists in film noir are normally driven by their past or by human weakness to repe...

  • Word Count: 1165
  • Approx Pages: 5
  • Grade Level: High School

7. Recipe for Classic Noir

... -on camera angles, and plot twists exhibits the style wonderfully. Also, the seemingly shady characters, especially the law partner, give the film the depth it needs to prove itself as quintessential noir. All in all, this film is a great example of the film noir variety. Alfred Hitchcock changed the characterization of the protagonist in the 1950's by using an "Everyman" as the hero, rather than ... yet diabolical character. In his sick mind, Anthony believes that the two men made a deal and wants his crime reciprocated. Although there isn't a true femme fatale in this film, it is consi...

  • Word Count: 1239
  • Approx Pages: 5
  • Grade Level: High School

8. Film Noir

... oppressive feel to them. There is a constant feel of being imprisoned which perfectly compliments the narrative which surrounds the characters. "The characteristic film noir moods of claustrophobia, paranoia, despair and nihilism constitute a world view that is expressed not through the film's terse, elliptical dialogue, nor through their confusing, often insoluble plots, but ultimately through their remarkable style" (Janey Place and Lowell Peterson, ... 1974) Film Noir literally means black film a term originally used by French film critics about American detective films made after th...

  • Word Count: 2004
  • Approx Pages: 8
  • Has Bibliography

9. Paranoia and Entrapment in Film Noir

... inevitable conflict. A wide array of films including Double Indemnity (1944), and Murder, My Sweet (1944), Out of the Past (1947), Kiss Me Deadly (1955), reflect the tensions and insecurities within film noir, and counter-balance the optimism of Hollywood's musicals and comedies. It was the style of black and white American films that first evolved in the 1940s that became prominent in ... and the ideas of individualism, liberty, equality, and free enterprise that accompany it" (Osteen, 2012), and took the position as the dark side of the American dream. Very often, a film noir story ...

  • Word Count: 1145
  • Approx Pages: 5
  • Has Bibliography
  • Grade Level: Undergraduate

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