Sp 471 American Film History Week 7 - Film Noir

Film Noir • Literally “Black Film” • Evolved in the 1940’s although the roots can be traced through German Expressionism, French films of the 1930’s and the stark American gangster/crime films of the 1930’s • Answer to the optimistic and patriotic escapist fare • Reflected change in attitude after WWII • 1941-1958

Film Noir • Literally “Black Film” • Evolved in the 1940’s although M, 1931 the roots can be traced through German Expressionism, French films of the 1930’s and the stark American gangster/crime films of the 1930’s • Answer to the optimistic and The Public Enemy, 1931 patriotic escapist fare • Reflected change in attitude after WWII • 1941-1958

Pepe le Moko, 1937

Film Noir • Literary tradition • Pulp Fiction • Writer-driven genre – Raymond Chandler – Dashiell Hammett – James M. Cain

Film Noir • The “Look” • Stark black & white • chiaroscuro (Italian for light-dark)

T-Men, 1947

Out of the Past, 1947

– Physical effects of light on surfaces – Dark and light with little gray – Excessive shadows – “Low key” – “High Contrast”

Film Noir • The “Look” – Disorienting visual schemes

T-Men, 1947

He Walked by Night, 1948

Film Noir • The “Look” – Ominous shadows

The Third Man, 1949 T-Men, 1947

Film Noir • The “Look” – Skewed camera angles

The Third Man, 1949 Pickup on South Street, 1953

Film Noir • The “Look” – Night in the city • Wet • Dark • Murky

The Big Combo, 1955

Film Noir

Detour, 1945

The Big Combo, 1955

• The “Look” • Claustrophobic interiors – Cheap hotels – Abandoned warehouses – Low rent apartments

Film Noir • The Heroes or anti-heroes – Cannot escape their past or human nature – Conflicted – Morally ambiguous – Protagonist often doomed to repeat past mistakes or pay for recently made mistakes

The Big Sleep, 1946

Film Noir • Female archetypes – The Good Girl • Trustworthy • Loving • Reliable

– The Femme Fatale

Out of the Past, 1947

• • • • •

Duplicitous Predatory Tough Gorgeous Independent

Film Noir

Sunset Boulevard, 1950

• The Stories – Elliptical and twisting – Cynical – Doomed love – Dark side of human existence – Nobody emerges to triumph – Often told in the past tense or flashback – Voice-over narration subjective, flawed narrator

Scarlet Street, 1945

Film Noir Modern Film Noir

Film Noir • The Big Heat (1953) • Directed by Fritz Lang • Starring Glenn Ford, Gloria Grahame and Lee Marvin • Inverts the classic femme fatale who ruins everyone’s life