Film Noir and Noirvember!

Though its often quoted as a genre, “film noir” (pronounced film nwar – yeh its one of those words that makes you self-conscious when saying it cause it never sounds right!) is more about style and mood rather than genre. “Film Noir” was a term given by the French as a response to some of the American films, essentially meaning “black film” due to its darker portrayal of characters and visual styles.   As the term Film Noir was not even thought of back when many of the films in question were made, it can be hard to define exactly what a Film Noir is.  In fact, many books by much smarter people than I have been written solely about Film Noir and what it is or isn’t, so I have no intention to try to replicate that, but instead give a simple overview to help you get a basic idea as to what it is (if you want a simple, visual cheat sheet check out the awesome guide at the British Film Institute website here http://www.bfi.org.uk/news-opinion/news-bfi/features/infographic-what-makes-film-noir or you can read on for my quick thoughts).

Generally speaking, they were made primarily during the 40’s and 50’s and usually were a combination of (but not limited to) the following:

• About or involving a crime of some sort (eg. Theft of money or something of value)
• Contained low-key lighting (low light, high contrast) with plenty of shadows
• Creative camera angles including in some cases extreme close-ups
• The leading/main character often has an unhappy ending
• The presence of a bad guy
• Often a good and bad females involved
• Sharp and witty dialogue
• More smoking than a steam train

As stated above the list is not in any way comprehensive and can have many variations.  For example, the main character could be a cop (The Prowler, The Big Heat), a boxer (The Setup, Champion), a crook (The Killing, This Gun for Hire), Insurance salesman (Double Indemnity) or even an innocent citizen (D.O.A.).  There are times where the ending is “happy” but I suspect that it was forced on the movie makers via the Hays Code (a type of code of conduct for movies from the late 30’s up until the 60’s).  Also the plot can sometimes be quite involving even to the point of confusion (The Big Sleep) that forces multiple viewings to try to figure out what is happening to who.  And there can often be double crosses between.

Interestingly, as the Nazi’s came to power in Germany (prior to WW2) various directors (some being Fritz Lang, Robert Siodmark and Billy Wilder who were very highly respected), cinematographers and actors/actresses fled the Nazi regime and landed up in Hollywood and they also brought along their European influence (especially German) which also assisted in defining the style as the years went on.

These were often classed as “B” movies as opposed to the “A” or Premium movies which had higher budgets and more scrutiny from the big bosses in the film companies involved.  So being a “B” movie in some ways had advantages cause as long as you kept to budget and within specified time frames you had a bit more freedom and as costs in lighting also had to be reduced it assisted in giving the film a visually darker look that is often filled with shadows.  As the demand for “B” movies was greater (making a quick buck) the reigns were often passed to on to these foreign directors who fled some of the war torn countries of WW2 and therefore the blend of European and American cinema began.  

It is generally agreed that the first Film Noir was “Stranger on the Third Floor” which was a 64-minute film which had a mix of international cast (eg. Peter Lorre) and crew.  Many also consider Orson Welles’ “Touch of Evil” from 1958 as the last real Noir.  There are modern noir’s, often termed neo-noir, where a film maker tries to adopt some of the styles of the 40’s and 50’s Noir but with modern themes and ideas and in colour, though there is the odd exception such as The Man Who Wasn’t There which was shown in Black and White which perfectly suits the film (a small comparison can be seen here http://www.dvdbeaver.com/FILM/dvdcompare/manwho.htm).

A very small list of Film Noir examples would be In a Lonely Place, The Killers, Detour, Ace in the Hole, The Blue Dahlia, Murder my Sweet, The Big Heat, Double Indemnity, Gun Crazy and Kiss Me Deadly.  Again a small list of Neo-noir examples would be Payback, House of Bamboo, Drive, Driver, Chinatown, L.A. Confidential, Fargo, Blade Runner, and The Usual Suspects.

As Film Noir is a style of film I really enjoy, you will no doubt see more reviews of these movies but I will usually try not to post too many in a row so there will some variety.  However, as this is November I thought it would be good to mainly concentrate on Noir and therefore call it Noirvember!  So in the coming weeks I will mainly be pumping out a combination of Film Noir and Neo Noir along with my promised review of a recently released 50’s sci-fi in 3D.  So stay tuned!