Film Noir
The term film noir is quite a problematic term for film analysis because it is by definition, hard to categorize. The films came out in the midst of the Second World War. These were to be released in the aftermath to many European countries. With much of the sets shrouded in darkness and shadows, French film critics labelled these films "Film Noir" due to the lack of lighting involved in these films. However for American/Hollywood producers at the time, this wasn't what they were thinking. For them, these were crime movies, thrillers, melodramas and so on. They did not see what distinguished these films more to illustrate it's own term than other crime thrillers and melodramas.
The key ingredient it would seem is the moral ambiguity or even ambivalence to rules. Characters are more complex, layered with undercurrents of mixed emotions that give a more human portrayal than films of that time were known for. There were two-timing double crossing "good for nothing" men and women who would have the fine art of espionage figured out that would undermine even the greatest or worst of intentions. It is this, that seemingly has us labelling these films as "noirish."
Whether or not you agree with the term of Film Noir set to basically anything that was made in the 1940's to the end of the 1950s is perhaps subject to intense debate but what cannot be denied is that these films have had a significant impact on cinema outside of America. Witness the likes of Godard's Made In USA, Wim Wenders' The American Friend and many other well known directors including Francois Truffaut etc. developing films with noirish attitudes, the same complex human situations, revenge as the motif with which to propel the film onwards.
Indeed many of the original practitioners of this so called film noir were European themselves. The likes of Fritz Lang, Max Orphuls, F.W. Murnau, Otto Preminger were European exiles, escaping into the open arms of Hollywood, who would allow them to film their epics with the right scripts, the right cast and for the right money. Fritz Lang had made in M and the Dr. Mabuse trilogy in much the same way he did with American films such as The Big Heat with the use of expressionistic lighting and it is with this that Film Noir gathers it's reputation. With expressionist lighting, the use of shadows to conceal and heighten the tension of the film, it helps identify somewhat the prevailing mood that encapsulates the film within.
Film noir of course is a genre that is not without it's clichés. The streets are always raining, there are hard-boiled detectives, there are sharp wise-cracks between men and women, a sort of game of brinksmanship to see who can do the most damage to the other with words. These films are marked by a nihilism which encaptures a completely misanthropic and indeed at times can display such shocking displays of misogyny from it's characters. Notice in Fritz Lang's The Big Heat where Vince Stone ( played by Lee Marvin ) gets outraged by his girlfriend's antics ( she had been working for as informant for Detective Seargeant Bannion ) that he splashes scalding hot coffee into her face leading to facial disfigurement. She proceeds with her work as an informant before taking her own personal revenge on her boyfriend Vince by exacting the same methods as he did to her, only more so.
However as Barry Langford states in Film Genre: Hollywood and Beyond has stated that film noir has since become "detached from it's historical and cultural contexts" it is worth pointing out that in the era of McCarthyism in America that such pessimism and bleak paranoia were subjects with which these films thrived on. Once taken these out of the context with which these films were made in and particularly with today's "homages," it would count for nothing to watch these films without studying the originals that went before.
Film Noir's reign in America was more or less over by the time of Orson Welles' A Touch of Evil in 1958, but as has been mentioned earlier, many European directors were influenced in part by these films. In French Film magazine Cahiers du Cinema, articles would crop up praising the likes of Otto Preminger, Howard Hawks and Fritz Lang's movies. These articles were written by future film directors such as Jean Luc Godard, Francois Truffaut, Jacques Rivette and Claude Chabrol. All these filmmakers would go on to make films inspired by American film noir. But this not only were French film directors inspired by them but German film directors too with the likes of Rainer Werner Fassbinder and Wim Wenders etc. and many more around the world. The impact of these films cannot be over-estimated as Hollywood's films have had the power to be seen throughout the world in cinema screens everywhere. These films will, time and again, will be enjoyed by anyone from Minnesota to the furthest reaches of the world. The Big Heat and many other films in this genre are ripe for viewing and re-viewing.
The key ingredient it would seem is the moral ambiguity or even ambivalence to rules. Characters are more complex, layered with undercurrents of mixed emotions that give a more human portrayal than films of that time were known for. There were two-timing double crossing "good for nothing" men and women who would have the fine art of espionage figured out that would undermine even the greatest or worst of intentions. It is this, that seemingly has us labelling these films as "noirish."
Whether or not you agree with the term of Film Noir set to basically anything that was made in the 1940's to the end of the 1950s is perhaps subject to intense debate but what cannot be denied is that these films have had a significant impact on cinema outside of America. Witness the likes of Godard's Made In USA, Wim Wenders' The American Friend and many other well known directors including Francois Truffaut etc. developing films with noirish attitudes, the same complex human situations, revenge as the motif with which to propel the film onwards.
Indeed many of the original practitioners of this so called film noir were European themselves. The likes of Fritz Lang, Max Orphuls, F.W. Murnau, Otto Preminger were European exiles, escaping into the open arms of Hollywood, who would allow them to film their epics with the right scripts, the right cast and for the right money. Fritz Lang had made in M and the Dr. Mabuse trilogy in much the same way he did with American films such as The Big Heat with the use of expressionistic lighting and it is with this that Film Noir gathers it's reputation. With expressionist lighting, the use of shadows to conceal and heighten the tension of the film, it helps identify somewhat the prevailing mood that encapsulates the film within.
Film noir of course is a genre that is not without it's clichés. The streets are always raining, there are hard-boiled detectives, there are sharp wise-cracks between men and women, a sort of game of brinksmanship to see who can do the most damage to the other with words. These films are marked by a nihilism which encaptures a completely misanthropic and indeed at times can display such shocking displays of misogyny from it's characters. Notice in Fritz Lang's The Big Heat where Vince Stone ( played by Lee Marvin ) gets outraged by his girlfriend's antics ( she had been working for as informant for Detective Seargeant Bannion ) that he splashes scalding hot coffee into her face leading to facial disfigurement. She proceeds with her work as an informant before taking her own personal revenge on her boyfriend Vince by exacting the same methods as he did to her, only more so.
However as Barry Langford states in Film Genre: Hollywood and Beyond has stated that film noir has since become "detached from it's historical and cultural contexts" it is worth pointing out that in the era of McCarthyism in America that such pessimism and bleak paranoia were subjects with which these films thrived on. Once taken these out of the context with which these films were made in and particularly with today's "homages," it would count for nothing to watch these films without studying the originals that went before.
Film Noir's reign in America was more or less over by the time of Orson Welles' A Touch of Evil in 1958, but as has been mentioned earlier, many European directors were influenced in part by these films. In French Film magazine Cahiers du Cinema, articles would crop up praising the likes of Otto Preminger, Howard Hawks and Fritz Lang's movies. These articles were written by future film directors such as Jean Luc Godard, Francois Truffaut, Jacques Rivette and Claude Chabrol. All these filmmakers would go on to make films inspired by American film noir. But this not only were French film directors inspired by them but German film directors too with the likes of Rainer Werner Fassbinder and Wim Wenders etc. and many more around the world. The impact of these films cannot be over-estimated as Hollywood's films have had the power to be seen throughout the world in cinema screens everywhere. These films will, time and again, will be enjoyed by anyone from Minnesota to the furthest reaches of the world. The Big Heat and many other films in this genre are ripe for viewing and re-viewing.
Barry Langford Film Genre: Hollywood and Beyond page 210
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