Film Noir

Film Noir

1. Narrative

   • Many film noirs were crime novel adaptations. The 'hard-boiled' crime stories of authors such as Dashiell Hammett, and Cornell Woolrich provided the narrative source for many classic film noirs. John Huston began the trend of crime novel adaptations with his 1941 version of The Maltese Falcon, based on the novel by Dashiell Hammett. Many film noirs translate the confessional narrative of crime literature into a first person voice-over from the doomed protagonist. Noir films often begin at the end of the narrative and tell their story in flash-back. A famous example is Billy Wilder’s 1950 noir, Sunset Boulevard, which begins with the discovery of a body in a swimming pool. The body is that of the lead character Joe Gillis who narrates the story in flashback from beyond the grave.
   • The Noir world is corrupt, threatening and violent. French film critics saw the typical noir narrative as an existential nightmare from which the protagonist can never awaken. He is a doomed figure journeying through an underworld of crime and deception until a final betrayal by the femme fatale he has fallen in love with. Expressionist lighting schemes and unconventional camera angles are typically used to convey a sense of entrapment as the hero makes his way through an often labyrinthine plot.

2. Origin

   • “Film Noir” was first coined by French film critics in August 1946 to describe a daring and stylish new type of Hollywood crime thriller which included films such as The Maltese Falcon (John Huston, 1941) Double Indemnity (Billy Wilder, 1944)
   • Film Noir was historically described as a synthesis of hard-boiled crime fiction and German Expressionism. Most commentators locate the period of Film Noir as beginning in 1941 with The Maltese Falcon and culminating in 1958 with Orson Welles’ Touch of Evil. Some commentators believe that noir began much earlier and that it has never gone away.
   • The term 'Film Noir' is also associated (as film historian James Naremore writes) “with certain visual and narrative traits, including low-key photography, images of wet city streets and romantic fascination with femme fatales.”

3. Visual Style and Iconography