2. What is film noir?
Noir films are often overly complex quick passed
scenarios, almost always involved with crime and
gangs aimed at an adult audience. The films
purpose is to create a almost mind-blowing are
filled with holes that need to bee filled. They
drew their inspiration from actual crime of the
1920‟s to the late 1950‟s.
3. The First Grate Noir?
Possibly the first Noir film was not French but a
German film, it was a two part film who was a
drug lord mastermind and was directed by Fritz
Lang who later went on to make the infamous
noir science fiction movie „Metropolis‟. Though
the film was considered a flop.
4. Another Classic…
One of the first very successful films was
„underworld‟; the film is about a gangster trying to
rehabilitate his friend. However problems arise
when he falls for his friend‟s girl. This is a classic
noir film with often the dame being the root of all
problems.
5. “Keep the change;
you filthy animal”
In 1938, the noir film “Angels with dirty faces”, directed b
Michael Curtiz, is another exemplary display of
noir, starting with the ambiguous crime as the after math of
his essential crime. This film inspired a multitude of pop
culture witch is shown in an episode od Batman: The
Animated series in “Its Never To Late”. As well as been
used in the critically acclaimed “Home Alone”
franchise, which elements created the a spoof of the film
“angels with filthy souls” and created the iconic phrase;
“Keep the change you filthy animal”.
6. Orson Welles
In the 1950‟s Orson Welles, maker of the
infamous “War of the Worlds”, created a classic
known as “A touch of evil‟, a stark perverse story
of murder, kidnapping and police corruption in a
Mexican border town, a very much a classic noir
film.
7. Common Characters In
Noir
The typical noir film is unlike any other genre with
their strong men with morals and innocent girls
they have confused, gullible, rash men who are
played like puppets by manipulating back widows
of which they crave. The genre has many iconic
characters that still hold up by today‟s
standards, with films like “Drive” continuing the
genres characters.
8. The Anti-Hero Protagonist/The
Private Eye
Typically in noir films your main character is either a
detective/cop playing by his own rules to get the villain and
save the girl often meeting with a bitter end. This character
is often a private eye with a trench coat, fedora and a
dangling cigarette. He is one of the few things relatable to
a hero in noir films as he is an often courageous “though
guy‟ who shows impeccable physical capability‟s from
fighting, to endurance chasing and is often accompanied
by a loyal male partner and is often infamous for his taste
in women.
9. The Femme Fatale
She is the black widow of the noir franchise. She often has
a dark past that has made her grown to despise men and
think very little of them. She knows that she wants and she
knows how to get it, through any means often enticing then
with an exhale of a cigarette. She is never as she seems
and is often introduced emerging from darkness often to
indicate the instability in her mind.
10. The Noir Criminal and/or
Psychopath
This is no typical roiled up brash all talk guy; they are
elegant so to speak, riddled with riddles. Especially in the
later noirs, it went from a change or syndicate to a single
person bored of the current way of life. The psychopath is
often very complex who often only finds please out of
destruction and the delight of causing pain to others
especially the protagonist and plays mind games with
then, even going as far to kill the love interest. (E.G. Kevin
Spacey from the neo-noir Se7en)
11. The Female Victim
Unlike the femme fatale she is in genuine
distress, often with paranoia and is often strange
and behaving irregular when the protagonist
meets her. She often has little relevance to the
story herself, but she works as a good way to
continue the plot.
12. The Male Victim
Then there are the „others‟ characters that
accidentally end up in scenarios enticed by the
prospect of money or women often through the
flirty enticement of the femme fatale. Often weak
willed and easily duped by the femme fatale.
13. The Rouge Cop
A figure trained to kill; skilled in covering up his
tracks, this figure often a high-ranking officer is a
corrupt sleaze ball who turns his head for a quick
buck.
14. Noir Sub-Genres
Neo-noir is a sub-genre of noir films, they are still noir
films following the mise-en-scene, characters etc. of
noir films, but are not in the time period, they come
after the 1950‟s+ of noir films.
Films like this include “Brick” which is a neo-noir take
on a crime, love, tragedy story. Others such as
“Zodiac”(2007) in where a San Francisco cartoonist
becomes an armature detective obsessed with
tracking down the zodiac killer. Then there are foreign
neo-noirs such as the South Korean movie “Mother”
about a mother searching desperately to find the killer
that framed her son for murder.
15. The Re Invention Of NoirQuentin Tarantino
This film director, producer and actor has created numerous neonoir style films. His films such as Kill Bill, Pulp Fiction, Inglorious
Bastards, Reservoir Dogs etc.
The features of noir he uses is the long civilized conversations
between 2 or more of the characters; talking for up to 10 minutes
resulting in the eventual climax of violence an aspect also found
in classic noir films such as “my sweet lovely” in which that
characters have a conversation resulting in a bloody massacre.
16. Examples Of This Include:
Watchmen” (2009) a mystery revolving around a hero who died and the rest of the hero‟s job to
solve it, despite their judges against each other.
“Brazil” (1989) In a futuristic society where society is needlessly convoluted a harried technocrat
seeks to fly away from the troubles of his time.
“The Big Lebowski” (1998) Jeffrey "The Dude" Lebowski is the ultimate LA slacker, until one day
his house is broken into and his rug is peed on by two angry gangsters who have mistaken him for
Jeffrey Lebowski, the LA millionaire, whose wife owes some bad people some big money.
“Fight Club” (1999) A story about a guy seeking more out of life, he meets a man named Tyler with
big ambitions, but nothing is at all as it seams.
“Sin City” (2005) when a city becomes corrupted by the police and prostitutes, 3 protagonists make
their way through with blood and bullets.
“Se7en” (1997) when a strange strand of serial killings begins to emerge it is up to an old time
detective and his newly transferred rookie sidekick to solve the mystery before more lives are
claimed.
“The Matrix” (1999) When our character begins to question reality be is tracked down by police
being charged with being a terrorist hacker by the government and wakes up in a post apocalypse
world, etc. in general many of the biggest Hollywood movies have some derivative for of noir in
them.
The key feature about neo-noirs is that they are bringing a new attractive twist on the noir genre.
17. Detective and Mystery
These films are considered to be sub-genres of noir films. Considered to be
suspenseful and dark films that usually center around a crime, either
kidnapping of a character or theft; with the central character often being a
hard-boiled detective meets a quest and faces it in a cold methodical pursuit
to solve the crime in question. Films that follow this sub-genre are:
“Se7en” (1997)- When a run of serial killings begin its is up to two opposite
detectives to solve this case before they are completed.
“The Sixth Sense” (1999) Malcolm Crowe is a child psychologist who receives
an award on the same night that he is visited by a very unhappy expatient, who then goes to see a young boy with the same illness as his expatient.
“Psycho” “1960) A woman leave town to start a new life but stays over at a
motel where she meets a quiet young man named Norman who is heavily
controlled by his mother.
“Gone Baby Gone‟ (2007) When a child goes missing, her aunt hires two
detectives to find her.
18. Gangster and Crime
These crime films center around the sinister actions of a criminal or
mobster type people, in particular mob bosses or under world figures who
throughout the movie will kill and steal to reach their ultimate goal. Films
like this include:
“The Godfather” (1972) the aging patriarch of an organized crime dynasty
transfers control of his clan to his adamant son.
“Public Enemy” (1931) A young hoodlum rises up through the ranks of the
Chicago underworld, even as a gangster's accidental death threatens to
spark a bloody mob war.
“Public Enemy‟s” (2009) The Feds try to take down notorious American
gangsters John Dillinger, Baby Face Nelson and Pretty Boy Floyd during
a booming crime wave in the 1930s.
19. Thriller and Suspense
Thriller is on the broader section of film, and it works well with noir
films as it works by adding suspense and more mental horror
than actual, forcing you to realize what has happened in a either
an immediate or drawn out fashion. This styling makes you think
and that‟s why it works.
“In Bruges” (2008) Guilt-stricken after a job gone wrong, hit man
Ray and his partner await orders from their ruthless boss in
Bruges, Belgium, the last place in the world Ray wants to be.
„Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang” (2005) when an actress is murdered, it‟s
up to two friends to uncover her murder whilst on the run
themselves…
20. Iconography Of Noir Films
Aspects clear to the noir genre are the moody cigarettes of both the
hapless protagonist and the flirty femme fatale. The dark shadowy visuals
that create as sense of mystery. The often heavily orientated dialogue
scenes, which only at climax reveal to have a startling ambient nondiegetic soundtrack bust to show the feeling of suspense.
Other elements way include the rain that only ever seems to disperse at
the end of the film. And often most recognizable icon of film noir, the
private eye detective with his long trench coat and mounted fedora with a
no nonsense attitude.
21. The Usual Themes In Noir
In Noir, (These may include neo-noir, thriller/ hybrid genre etc..) there is a universal theme of Good
vs. Evil, but often at the end it amasses down to a lesser evil versing a greater evil; as often in noir
there are very few “good guys”. Many of the characters are corrupt, and those who are not often
end up dead by the end of the first act, giving us the themes of death, murder and tragedy. But in
saying that that also mean many noir protagonists are influenced by either love or lust, their desire
for the girl or even money by the end drives the characters motives thought the film.
Other themes may include the feeling of isolating and longing for purpose especially in the
protagonist who‟s one fixation had once drives them, though they may now may feel purposeless
and long for something new and exotic to them. These factors play an important role in the
characters development throughout the film; often there could be a menacing secret about out
protagonist until the films climax.
The antagonist is often one of the
most interesting characters, such as Kevin Spacy‟s character “John Doe” in “Se7en” in which he
was caught at the beginning out the final act, and he slowly reveled his schemes in a elegant
manor that resulted in his victory, the puppet master antagonists are no stranger to the genre.
22. The Style Of Noir Films
The style element refers to the way in which the certain
icons are presented within the genre, through
cinematography, editing special effects and colour. We
associate noir with long almost drawn-out dialogue
scenes, in often an unsettling atmosphere. With scenes of
rain at night representing loneliness but also sinister
intensions of characters.
23. Setting Of Noir Films
This aspect is often set in an gloomy city, riddled with corruption.
The main hosts of noir films are city‟s like New York, Chicago etc.
They have ambiguous dark allies, more abandoned warehouses
than anywhere else in the world and a warring crime gang on
every block. Keeping in mind that the noir setting in during
wartime the people typically have a short-tempered attitude and a
growing number of people in desperation, people became more
prone to crime. Leaving a glum often-solemn setting.
24. The Usual Narrative Of
Noir Films
In defining the narrative elements we can that most Noirs will follow the
conventional structure of film theorist Todov: we begin in the Equilibrium
where our protagonist is doing their hob, without much thrill to their
life, when suddenly the antagonist (either criminal or feme fatale) enter
leaving their essence (e.g. a murder) thus entering the disequilibrium
stage of the narrative. It then falls upon the protagonist to resolve the
problem, catch the crook, save the girl and repair the damage etc.
Eventually resulting in restoring balance. One achieved we then enter the
new Equilibrium, though it is often ended upon a bitter sweet note…
