Film Noir

• Literally “Black Film”

• Evolved in the 1940’s although
M, 1931 the roots can be traced through
German Expressionism,
French films of the 1930’s and
the stark American
gangster/crime films of the
1930’s
• Answer to the optimistic and
The Public Enemy, 1931 patriotic escapist fare
• Reflected change in attitude
after WWII
• 1941-1958

Pepe le Moko, 1937

Film Noir
• Literary tradition
• Pulp Fiction
• Writer-driven genre
– Raymond Chandler
– Dashiell Hammett
– James M. Cain
 Film Noir
• The “Look”
• Stark black & white
• chiaroscuro (Italian for
light-dark)
– Physical effects of light
T-Men, 1947 on surfaces
– Dark and light with little
gray
– Excessive shadows
– “Low key”
– “High Contrast”

Out of the Past, 1947

 Film Noir
• The “Look”
– Disorienting visual
schemes
– Ominous shadows
T-Men, 1947
– Skewed camera angles

He Walked by Night, 1948 Pickup on South Street, 1953

 Film Noir
• Night in the city
– Wet
– Dark
– Murky
• Claustrophobic interiors
– Cheap hotels
– Abandoned warehouses
– Low rent apartments

The Big Combo, 1955

 Film Noir
• The Heroes or anti-heroes
– Cannot escape their past or
human nature
– Conflicted
– Morally ambiguous
– Protagonist often doomed
to repeat past mistakes or
pay for recently made
mistakes

The Big Sleep, 1946

 Film Noir
• Female archetypes
– The Good Girl
• Trustworthy
• Loving
• Reliable
– The Femme Fatale
• Duplicitous
Out of the Past, 1947
• Predatory
• Tough
• Gorgeous
• Independent
 Film Noir
• The Stories
– Elliptical and twisting
– Cynical
– Doomed love
Sunset Boulevard, 1950 – Dark side of human existence
– Nobody emerges to triumph
– Often told in the past tense or
flashback
– Voice-over narration - subjective,
flawed narrator

Scarlet Street, 1945

 Film Noir
Modern Film Noir
Film Noir
• Brute Force (1947)
• Directed by Jules Dassin
(1911-2008) who had 2
careers after moving to
Europe after being
blacklisted in 1952
• Based on a real incident
at Alcatraz
• Examination of abuses of
institutional power
Film Noir
• Was an apprentice w/ Hitchcock &
Garson Kanin
• Referring to the work he did as an
MGM contract director in the first half
of the ’40s, Dassin said, “I specialized
in shit.” When he received a career
retrospective tribute at the Museum of
Modern Art in 1995, he requested that
his MGM work not be included.
• Films include
– Rififi
– Thieves Highway
– Never on Sunday
– Naked City
– Topkapi