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Evolution of film noir
Evolution of film noir
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Neo Noir Film Neo noir genre of film production is a style that has existed in the world of film production since the 1940s. Neo is a French word for new while noir means black. Noir film means black film although it does not literally incorporate the racial orientation of the black people. Rather it is the mood and attitude of the film in terms of different styles. Neo noir is an updated version of noir films of the 1940s. Noir films today have updated content, visual elements, style, themes or media that was not present in the 40’s and 50’s films. Nino Frank is said to have coined the term film noir in 1946 to denote to the overflow of American crime. This introduced a new filming style that incorporates antiheroes, criminal element and desparate characters (Cobb, 211). The cinematic style in noir films is characterized by dark places like deserted and creepy houses, wet streets at night and low key lighting. There is a dramatic contrast between light and shadow. The Se7en features a black detective (Somerset) as it was in the 1960’s when the noirs featured black detective characters. Whites and blacks are racially featured in noir where equality is achieved as Brad Pitt and Morgan freeman are partners in the film. There are more white criminals and black detectives (Covey, 61). This is visible in the Se7en film where the setting of the film is in a city that is constantly raining. There is high crime rate and urban decay. There is plenty of dark areas and places in the film especially where the victims are found. For example, the sloth victim was found in a dark house without any source of lighting. There are inverted frames that represent the inner thoughts of John Doe. Se7en is an example of a neo noir film. It has a lot o... ... middle of paper ... ... Somerset’s girlfriend represented a better life for him but he choose to let go out of fear of emotional connection that family brings. Doe envy’s Tracy because she represents a life he would want. He kills her after he is unable to play husband with her. This is an element of noir sex with female fetale in noir films. Most noir films are for adults only. They have few to no female characters as in the case of Se7en. This is probably because not child can be subjected to such violence and crime. The plot twist and reversals are visible in the film Se7en. First Doe hands himself over to the police. He fails to shoot detective Mills when the audience expects him to shoot. It is a twist that at the end of the film Tracy mills is killed something that the audience cannot sense from the beginning. Doe being shot dead by Mills is also a twist that the film introduces.
Throughout the history of filmmaking, many different genres have thrived such as the romantic comedy, giving us such classics as Bringing up Baby and His Girl Friday. The war film gave us All Quiet on the Western Front and Paths of Glory. The western gave us Stagecoach and The Searchers. Film Noir gave us such films as Sunset Boulevard and Chinatown. The one modern film genre not existing prior to 1959 was that of the modern action film whose entrance as a genre was inaugurated with the release of Hitchcock’s psychopolitical thriller North by Northwest, starring Cary Grant.
Film Noir, as Paul Schrader integrates in his essay ‘Notes on Film Noir,’ reflects a marked phase in the history of films denoting a peculiar style observed during that period. More specifically, Film Noir is defined by intricate qualities like tone and mood, rather than generic compositions, settings and presentation. Just as ‘genre’ categorizes films on the basis of common occurrences of iconographic elements in a certain way, ‘style’ acts as the paradox that exemplifies the generality and singularity at the same time, in Film Noir, through the notion of morality. In other words, Film Noir is a genre that exquisitely entwines theme and style, and henceforth sheds light on individual difference in perception of a common phenomenon. Pertaining
destructive, exotic and a self-determined independent who is cold hearted, immortal and less of a human. The females portrayed in the noir were primarily of two types - either projected as ethical, loyal loving woman or as ‘femme fatales’ who were duplicitous, deceptive, manipulative and desperate yet gorgeous women. In
While there are many different ways to classify a Neo-noir film, Roman Polanski’s, Chinatown captures many. The 1974 movie consists of many of these elements, including both thematic and stylistic devices. One of the main themes of neo-noir film that is constant throughout the film is the deceptive plot that questions the viewers’ ideas and perceptions of what is actually happening in the film. Every scene of Chinatown leads to a twist or another turn that challenges the practicability of the film’s reality. All of the never-ending surprises and revelations lead up to the significant themes the movie is trying to convey in the conclusion of the film.
Film noir, by translation alone, means dark film, and by that measurement Sunset Boulevard certainly fits the genre. A gloomy story that follows a jaded and sarcastic protagonist, Joe Gillis from his initial dire circumstances to his untimely death, Sunset Blvd. earns the description “dark” several times over. But there is more to film noir than crushingly depressing plotlines. There are common motifs and icons that are found in most film noirs, such as crime, dark alleys, guns and alcohol. Deeper than this, film noir features certain visual elements, character archetypes, and themes that create a unique style of film. Although some have argued that Sunset Blvd. fails to represent some of these elements, it has become known as one of the most iconic film noirs ever made. Sunset Boulevard (1950), written and directed by Billy Wilder exemplifies the film noir style through its use of visual elements (lighting, shots and angles), memorable characters, themes and overall structure of the film.
Films that are classified as being in the film noir genre all share some basic characteristics. There is generally a voice-over throughout the film in order to guide the audience's perceptions. These movies also involve a crime and a detective who is trying to figure out the truth in the situation. This detective usually encounters a femme fatale who seduces him. However, the most distinctive feature of the film noir genre is the abundance of darkness.
Film Noir is a genre of distinct and unique characteristics. Mostly prominent in the 40s and 50s, the genre rarely skewed from the skeletal plot to which all Film Noir pictures follow. The most famous of these films is The Big Sleep (1946) directed by Howard Hawks. This film is the go to when it comes to all the genre’s clichés. This formula for film is so well known and deeply understood that it is often a target for satire. This is what the Coen brothers did with 1998’s The Big Lebowski. This film follows to the T what Film Noir stands for.
The genre of the film is how we know what kind of film it is. Genre is a French word which literally means type; it shows what category a film comes under. There are certain factors in a genre which will identify it. Things like settings, characters and themes can all be similar in one specific genre.
The term film noir means, “black film” and was originally coined by French critic Nino Frank in 1946.. The author of “Film Noir”, Bruce Crowther, points out that “in some cases, the movies were based upon the work of such novelists and short-story writes as James M. Cain, Raymond Chandler and Dashiell Hammett. The work of these and other American writers of the tough-guy and hard-boiled schools were published in France…The prevailing atmosphere of pessimism and doom in these new romans noire translated with ease to the medium of film and prompted the coinage of the term film noir.
Film noir (literally 'black film,' from French critics who noticed how dark and black the looks and themes were of these films) is a style of American films which evolved in the 1940s. " The Internet Movie Database LTD. Film noir typically contains melancholy, and not so moral themes. Another characteristic of film noir is just because the main character has the title hero, that does not mean that he will always be alive at the end of the book, or that the hero is always "good." Marlowe in The Big Sleep is a prime example of this concept.
In the period between 1943 and 1950 Italian cinema was dominated by Neorealism which became the most significant film style of post-war Europe. Formation began back in 1936 when propagandists opened modern Cincitta studios and the film school name ‘Centro Sperimentaledi Cinematografia’. Along with the opening of schools such as this was a movement that placed a group of cinematographers under full-year contracts, among them was Carlo Montuori who used his classic techniques in creating ‘Bicycle Thieves’ (1948) one of the most well known films produced during the Neo-Realism movement. Perhaps also one of the most influential directors was Roberto Rossellini who directed Rome Open City at the end of WWII. Many directors and influential films such as this began to change and shape the way Italian films were made and what their relation to society was like.
Film noir is not a genre of film but rather defined through its subtle qualities of tone and mood. Noir was also a specific period in Film history, mostly sprouting in the 40’s. Numerous amount of films helped contribute to the popularity of film noir, but there were some that innovated the way we portrayed it. Maltese Falcon was one of the pioneers of film noir that influenced many more noir type of films such as The Devil in a Blue Dress. With plots being different but yet a similar feel towards the movie. Similar character roles are very common in noir, like in the Maltese Falcon and The Devil in a Blue Dress. Both films use very alike characters that help give it a better noir feeling. In the Maltese Falcon, Sam spade is the main character but unlike regular plots. Sam is an anti-hero that works
Fatalism. These are some tropes of film noir. These tropes were born during the war, and post the war, to show a growing societal changes of mistrust and cynicism. Few cinematographer were able to grasp such themes such as Billy Wilder.
In watching Star Wars IV, the film display element from several genre’s that I recall which include Film Noir, Western, Science Fiction, Action and possibly others. In this essay I’m going to discuss Film Noir and Western. When we think about Film Noir, which I feel was resembled frequently in terms of the lighting aspect and characters. The lighting in this film did have some color but it was lower keyed during some scenes and dark at times. While the movie was not in black and white, it did seem to have some low angled and many wide angle lens shots. It also has an essence of the character traits that we frequently see in the Film Noir movies. We had the heroes and villains who in this case were Han Solo and Luke Skywalker. Our villains