It’s funny how all these years I never figured out that one of my favorite movies, Memento, just happens to be a film noir. The film centers on our protagonist, Leonard Shelby, who is in pursuit of his wife’s killer. What takes this film out of the norm and into a neo-noir setting is that Leonard is unable to make new memories. This is due to a condition called Anterograde Amnesia, which he got trying to save his wife. It all seems like pretty a nihilistic film, because you can’t see this ever possibly working out. Too bad Leonardo doesn’t see it that way. Instead he believes that he is doing things in a very precise manner, such as taking Polaroid pictures to keep track of the people he meets and the places he visits, and tattoos of the facts as a reminder to what his mission in life is. While watching it with my newfound knowledge I can definitely see how this film fits into the criteria. The connection to film noir is shown in a number of ways. For one, many of the characters in film noir cater to the idea that the protagonist suffers from an identity problem. Another connection is the story plot and use of low-key lighting, and finally the most important aspect of this movie that ties it to many of the classic noir movies watched in class is the idea that male protagonist is an unreliable narrator. “We all need mirrors to remind ourselves who we are. I’m no different.” This quote was given to us by Guy Pearce’s character, Leonard Shelby, who I believe is saying this in relation to the fact that he must write down, record, or document his life and case through body modification and photos with notes on them. Leonard then adds the “I am no different”, to that as if to try and hold onto his tiny grip on the res... ... middle of paper ... ...t is given or kept as a reminder or memory of somebody or something. The movie Memento holds true to this definition with many symbols like tattoos, and polaroid photos that the films protagonist uses to remember incidents around the death of his wife. Momento provides a disturbingly familiar yet unconventional and clever twist to the classic film noir by starting from the end of the story. Despite the divergent story telling twist Memento is none the less a film noir with all of the archetypal characters (i.e. a suffering protagonist, an alluring and sexy femme fatale) and a visual style and mood which includes low-key lighting, the use of blinds; the play on black and white scenes and a story line based on a violent death. Memento is complicated, timely, thought provoking and subversive yet it is still reminiscent of the classic hallmarks of the film noir.
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.
In the classical Western and Noir films, narrative is driven by the action of a male protagonist towards a clearly defined, relatable goal. Any lack of motivation or action on the part of the protagonist problematizes the classical association between masculinity and action. Due to inherent genre expectations, this crisis of action is equivalent to a crisis of masculinity. Because these genres are structured around male action, the crises of action and masculinity impose a crisis of genre. In the absence of traditional narrative elements and character tropes, these films can only identify as members of their genres through saturation with otherwise empty genre symbols. The equivalency between the crises of genre and masculinity frames this symbol saturation as a sort of compensatory masculine posturing.
Janey Place and Lowell Peterson article “Some Visual Motifs of Film Noir” establishes noir as a visual style and not a ...
stated, “In a culture where we were taught socially to be seen not heard, Alan was our mirror.”
...ory telling tie it all in together. J.P. Telotte, author of “Voices in the Dark: The Narrative Patterns of Film Noir”, states by, “grounding their social commentary in a factual context, by aligning narrative with the newsreels of the day, these films also challenged the way audiences saw their world. (Telotte 155)
The Godfather is most notably one of the most prolific films of its time. This "gangster" film displayed many transformations of permeating color to give the viewer observable cues in its mise en scene that drew one right into the movie. The dramatic acting set the tone of the film with a score that lifted the viewer right out of their seat in many scenes. The directing and cinematography made The Godfather ahead of its time. The nostalgic feel of family importance and the danger of revenge lets us into the life of the Mafia. Even though no other techniques would have given the viewer a feeling of inside the mob like the mise en scene of the power the godfather held, the characters are reinforced literally and figuratively because the story views the Mafia from the inside out, and the cinematography of the film gives it a dangerous and nostalgic feel.
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.
A Different Mirror is the first chapter of the book “A Different Mirror” by Ronald Takaki. The chapter begins with the author, Ronald Takaki, describing an interaction with a cab driver. Takaki, an Asian-American, was asked by his cab driver what country he was from implying that because of his appearance there was little chance that Takaki was originally from America. This sets the tone for chapter indicating that some people do not share physical characteristics that are deemed “American,” but they very much are Americans.
The only real way to truly understand a story is to understand all aspects of a story and their meanings. The same goes for movies, as they are all just stories being acted out. In Thomas Foster's book, “How to Read Literature Like a Professor”, Foster explains in detail the numerous ingredients of a story. He discusses almost everything that can be found in any given piece of literature. The devices discussed in Foster's book can be found in most movies as well, including in Quentin Tarantino’s cult classic, “Pulp Fiction”. This movie is a complicated tale that follows numerous characters involved in intertwining stories. Tarantino utilizes many devices to make “Pulp Fiction” into an excellent film. In this essay, I will demonstrate how several literary devices described in Foster's book are put to use in Tarantino’s film, “Pulp Fiction”, including quests, archetypes, food, and violence.
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.
This paper has attempted to investigate the ways in which Alfred Hitchcock blended conventions of film noir with those of a small town domestic comedy. It first looked at the opening scenes of the film in which the two conventions were introdruced. It then went on to analyse the film with the aid of Robin Wood's article Ideology, Genre, Auteur. From these two forms we can see that film noir and small town comedy were used as a means of commenting on the contradictions in American values.
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.
I spent a lot of time considering what movie I would watch to write this essay. I listed off the movies that I would like to watch again, and then I decided on The Notebook. I didn’t really think I could write about adolescence or children, so I thought that, maybe, I could write about the elderly. The love story that The Notebook tells is truly amazing. I love watching this movie, although I cry every time I watch it. The Notebook is about an elderly man that tells the story of his life with the one he loves the most, his wife. He is telling the story to his wife, who has Alzheimer’s Disease, which is a degenerative disease that affects a person’s memory. She has no recollection of him or their life together, or even her own children. She wrote the story of their love herself, so that when he read the story to her, she would come back to him. There are three things that I would like to discuss about this movie. First, I would like to discuss their stage of life and the theory that I believe describes their stage of life the best. Second, I would like to discuss Alzheimer’s DIsease and its affect on the main character who has it and her family. Third, I would like to discuss how at the end of the movie, they died together. I know it is a movie, but I do know that it is known that elderly people who have been together for a long time, usually die not to far apart from one another.
Entrails torn from the body with bare hands, eyes gouged out with razor blades, battery cables, rats borrowing inside the human body, power drills to the face, cannibalism, credit cards, business cards, Dorsia, Testoni, Armani, Wall Street; all of these things are Patrick Bateman’s world. The only difference between Bateman and anybody else is what is repulsive to Bateman and what is repulsive to the rest of the world. Bateman has great interest in the upper class life, fashions, and social existence, but at the same time he is, at times, sickened by the constant struggle to be one up on everybody else. On the other hand Bateman’s nightlife reveals a side of him never seen during the day. Bateman is relaxed, impulsive, and confident while torturing and killing. He doesn’t have to worry about being better than anyone else. The only competition he has is his last victim. Torture and murder are the two true loves of Patrick Bateman.
Klein, Andy. “Everything You Wanted to Know About Memento.” Salon.com ArtsEntertainment June 2001. Mar 2004