Film Noir

Film Noir

1. The term "Film Noir" was used to describe a daring new style in relation to the crime thriller genre, heavily influenced by films such as "the Maltese falcon", "Double Indemnity", "Laura" and "Murder, my sweet"

   • Common visual and narrative elements include low-key photography, images of wet city streets and romantic fascination with femme fatales.

2. Film noir and german expressionism - Film Noir emerged from a number of influences common in german expressionism, such as:

   • Presenting the inner psychological and emotional dimension of its characters by creating mood and atmosphere through its use of visual style.
   • making inventive use of lighting, canted angles and unusual shot composition.

3. Narrative

   • 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.
   • The Noir world is corrupt, threatening and violent. Critics saw the noir as an nightmare the protagonist could not escape from. 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.
   • lighting schemes and unconventional camera angles convey a sense of entrapment as the hero makes his way through an often labyrinthine plot.

4. Visual style and iconography

   • The visual style of film noir, James Naremore writes, “is characterised by unbalanced and disturbing frame compositions, strong contrasts of light and dark, the prevalence of shadows and areas of darkness within the frame, the visual tension created by curious camera angles.
     • The dark and shadowy world of silhouettes, shadows, mirrors and reflections gives both the characters within the films, and also the audience watching them, very little opportunity to orientate themselves.
   • femme fatale: the iconography of long hair, glamorous costumes, make-up, jewellery and cigarette smoking conjures up a powerful image of sexual assertiveness and romantic allure.
   • Typical locations are abandonded, such as warehouses, alleyways, empty streets.
     • Darkness, gloom and fog are normally associated with film noir as well, giving a mysterious and dangerous feeling.

5. Double indemnity

   • According to film historian Richard Schickel, “the movie has a very firm sense of place – no movie offers a better sense of how the Los Angeles of its moment looked – but at the same time it energises that reality with a subtle air of menace.”
   • employs a non-linear narrative
   • the visual style of Double Indemnity is indebted to films which emerged out of the German Expressionist movement. Low-key lighting and looming shadows feature in many of its pivotal scenes.