The Origins and Culture of Film Noir

Film noir developed in the early 1940s during World War 2. The term film noir was adopted from French film critics (e.g. Nino Frank) who were shocked by its dark, cynical and seductive style which was very unusual during this time. After World War 2, films often reflected the dark, gloomy, bleak mood that was present in America. Depressive narratives were frequent with the protagonist always following a downward spiral journey. The endings of these films were rarely happy, revolutionary or optimistic making these films highly unique to usual films that serve as a purpose to entertain, aspire or gratify the audience. The majority of Film Noirs are shot in black and white to connote the gloomy mood and themes of death, doomed love and unhappiness. Newer Film Noirs, known as Neo-noirs, are occasionally shot in colour. There has been much conflict over the origins of the culture and genre of Film Noir. Three different theorems involve identifying Film Noir as a STYLE, a SUBGENRE or an INDEPENDENT GENRE in its own right. An example of some well known Film Noirs are: Body Heat (1981), Detour (1945), D.O.A (1950), Double Indemnity (1944), The Third Man (1949) ,Sunset Boulevard (1950), Notorious (1946) And Neo-Noir examples: Brick (2005), The Dark Night (2008), Batman Begins (2005), LA Confidential (1997)

Film noir: Narrative

Film noir narratives are often complex and non-linear. The storyline is dramatic, tense, twisting and often relatively unrealistic. The plot can be convoluted to audiences. The protagonist (nearly always male) is often seen attempting a journey, usually lead on by the femme fatale character(s) present and this journey almost always goes downhill with inevitable bad things happening to him. The narrative is based around an ordinary, anti-hero, everyday man who fell victim to temptation (usually a manipulative woman after his money or for sexual intentions). Narrative themes often involve the following: detectives, crime, disease, psychological, punishment, adultery, one singular wrong decision, downward spiralled journey, murder, money, drugs and sexual obsession. Flashbacks are another common convention of film noir narratives. E.g. when Al Roberts is sat in the Nevada Diner in Detour. The narrative itself can be simply unfolded through the convoluted scenes however often the protagonist or occasionally a third-person voiceover is used throughout the film. This adds to the tense mood as rhetorical questions or unnatural nondiegetic voices can be unsettling to the viewer. Voiceovers often help lead the audience through the narrative and inside the characters thoughts due to the storyline being so complex. There arent usually many main characters either, so a voiceover helps the story flow more.

Film noir: Characters

Archetypal characters involved are: A cynical, ruthless and fooled male protagonist who gets caught up in the cunning plot of a femme fatale.. A seductive, attractive and manipulative femme fatale who uses her sexuality to take advantage of the man. These women are usually mysterious, predatory, desperate and cunning. She aims to bring the male hero to their downfall and usually intends to obtain their money who use their power to kill or hurt another male. Some people have argued that these somewhat evil/bad femme fatale representations are actually positive as they portray women as strong and active rather than passive and submissive. The other opposing type of female are loving, trustworthy, doting wives or partners. She is presented as the girl-next-door type character Male characters were often presented as smart and slick however they were thought to be anti-heroes as they often had dodgy or mysterious pasts they were not as innocent, clean and clear cut as they appear to be. Other typical stock characters that feature heavily in film noirs are: detectives, police men, agents, socio-paths and fillers.