Picture yourself as a woman in the 1940s. Life is rather mundane, you’re nothing but a housewife. You cook, clean, raise children, and dote upon your manly husband, your behavior is reinforced through film – an industry dominated by the patriarchy which stresses what a woman should do, and how a woman should act. Now, imagine you’re about to change all that. Picture yourself as the Femme Fatale. The Femme Fatale’s role in film, especially that of film noir became the ultimate reflection of the everyday defiant woman seeking equality. Therefore, in film noir, the femme fatale was able to significantly transgress the status quo of the societal norms of femininity and gave a voice to women which can be seen through her emergence post-WWII, the prewar norms of femininity and how she changed them, and her influence on women of the time. …show more content…
However, at the turn of the century during and post-WWII, as the women rose to the occasion to participate in the workforce due to the absence of men, the roles of women in film shifted slightly in film noir. Now, film noir, was described as a genre of Hollywood films that revolved around corruption and crime. (Schrader 54). However, in the post-war times, a subcategory of film noir made an appearance; post-war realism. This took film noir out of the melodrama setting and applied it to everyday people (Schrader 55), a perfect fit for the femme fatale. The femme fatale was the real show-stopper. She reflected the women’s lust for a career-oriented life. As stated earlier, because of the war, the women now occupied most of the white-collar jobs. At the beginning of the war, the women saw this opportunity as a temporary position, as they expected to resume their homely duties when the men got back. However, after 1944, more than half of these women wanted to keep their
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.
Imagine it – all the rules you were raised to follow, all the beliefs and norms, everything conventional, shattered. Now imagine It – Clara Bow, the It Girl. The epitome of the avant-garde woman, the archetype of the flapper, was America’s new, young movie actress of the 1920’s. Modern women of the day took heed to Bow’s fresh style and, in turn, yielded danger to the conventional America. Yet Bow’s contagious and popular attitude came with its weaknesses - dealing with fame and the motion picture industry in the 1920’s. Despite this ultimate downfall, Clara’s flair reformed the youth and motion pictures of her time.
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.
These movies allowed female characters to embody all the contradictions that could make them a woman. They were portrayed as the “femme fatale” and also “mother,” the “seductress” and at the same time the “saint,” (Newsom, 2011). Female characters were multi-faceted during this time and had much more complexity and interesting qualities than in the movies we watch today. Today, only 16% of protagonists in movies are female, and the portrayal of these women is one of sexualization and dependence rather than complexity (Newsom, 2011).
DeMille's classic has become a much loved treasure of early American cinema because of its treatment of the daring subject matter. Rather than being condemnatory towards the `new woman', the film exposes the possible dangers that could befall such a character. Janet Staiger sums up the film accurately when she considers that,
It’s a dark and rainy night. Our hero is hiding behind a wall with a revolver in hand. A crack of light, illuminates half of his face. He’s shaking nervously because he only has one bullet left. He turns the corner, and a sudden gunshot hits our hero. Who shot him? None other than his partner, who’s secretly in love with the very same dame that our hero fell for. You can consider this an example of a classic film noir ending. Film noir is a term used in cinema to describe a visually styled crime drama. Where did it come from? What are the key elements in a film noir? Why did this kind of cinema emerge when it did? What affect did it have in the film world? And finally, where is film noir now?
In the 1940s, the film noir genre grew in popularity and unleashed copious standards for murder mysteries. One very stereotypical feature of film noir is it’s strong shadows cast in on the black and white screen, but for the film Leave Her to Heaven, directed by John M. Stahl and starring Gene Tierney and Cornel Wilde film noir masked a different look when it was made in Technicolor. Released in 1945, the use of Technicolor was still a big budget expenditure by Twentieth Century Fox. Without this distinct black and white element, the film relies on the other features. One writer describes the five features of a film noir as including “an investigative structure, plot devices such as voice-over and flashback, a proliferation of point-of-views, unstable heroines,” (LECTURE) and a distinct visual style emphasizing sexuality of women. Leave Her to Heaven takes stock of many of these, which gives it claim of the genre. Elements of film noir follow and move the narrative structure of the film, while also using costume styles and color to emphasize the extremity of Ellen’s diabolical nature to produce deep connections amidst the narrative and its characters. By doing so, the film generates a sense of ------ which ------- and ------.
Nearly half a century has passed since most films and texts in the Noir tradition were created, yet one may wonder how much is really known about these popular American products. Scholars remain fascinated by many aspects of Film Noir, yet it appears that its fictional precursors (such as the texts of Cain, McCoy and Hammett) may have been too quickly ignored within the canon. Many have enthusiastically studied, for example, Film Noir’s ground-breaking effects on lighting and acting techniques, as well as its value as a gauge of socio-political climate; couldn’t Noir texts, too, have initiated equally significant results?
The Film Noir genre is the product of the 1940’s which reflects the darker attitude of society representing depression, realism, and amplifying a new dynamic for women on screen. As World War II progressed, there was less money compiling in Hollywood. The little money collected affected the creative drive for the directors in how they were able to produce for their films. The smaller budget impacted money to spend on lighting, sets, costumes, as well as providing pay for extras to appear in scenes. In addition to the money limitation, the realism presented in this genre expresses the reflection on the darker tones in 40’s society. As War was active, many experienced turmoil in their personal lives. Serious situations stirring emotions were nigh. In particular, the dynamic on screen character of the femme fatale became a strong essential in Hollywood. The film noir genre representing darker moods produced a functional up and coming femme fatale to thrive on a being an interesting, sensual, dangerous, and a seducing woman for movie goers to follow. The first movie to mark this genre became known with the film Double Indemnity directed by Billy Wilder starring Barbara Stanwyck, Fred MacMurray, and Edward G. Robinson. The following films to adhere this striking new genre have varied far and few. However, three films The Big Sleep, The Postman Always Rings Twice, and Gilda all contribute to the promise of the film noir feel. These three films are in comparison to Double Indemnity by observation in their style, characters, and story.
The horror genre’s representation of women is often criticized and evaluated as being belittling and merciless. It is true that by perpetuating imagery of women in distress, horror films tend to provide no alternative to the subordination of these women and even take advantage of and capitalize on realistic concerns of women. Still, one might argue that, like the concepts present in many other genres, the prevailing themes of femininity in horror film are complex, contradictory, and fluctuating. In “Film Genre and the Genre Film,” Thomas Schatz describes film genre as “static” because it reexamines some basic cultural conflict and “dynamic” due to constant cultural changes. Robert F. Altman explains in his piece “Towards a Theory of Genre Film,” these films have a tendency to present themes that are both “cultural” and “countercultural” because genre films are expected to “simultaneously express desires and needs not provided for within the dominant ideology and reflect major tenants of that ideology.” For example, horror films such as The Shining and Rosemary’s Baby are reflective our society’s fascination with violence against women while also being critical of the existing patriarchy that allows such violence to occur. Furthermore, the variations in the presentation of these stories of female victims over time affect the efficiency and legitimacy of each film’s social agenda as well as the prominence of the genre’s sadistic appeal.
Throughout motion picture history, women have experienced more transition in their roles, as a result of changing societal norms, than any other class. At first, both society and the movie industry preached that women should be dependent on men and remain in the home, in order to guarantee stability in the community and the family. As time passed and attitudes changed, women were beginning to be depicted as strong willed, independent minded characters, who were eager to break away from convention. The genre of the crime film represents such a change in the roles handed to women. Two films that can be contrasted, in order to support this view, are: The Public Enemy by William Wellman (1931) and Bonnie &Clyde by Arthur Penn (1967).In The Public Enemy, women are portrayed as naive and/or objects of carnal pleasure by men. In this period, women were often categorized as mothers, mistresses, sisters, or ladies.
Film scholar and gender theorist Linda Williams begins her article “Film Bodies: Genre, Gender and Excess,” with an anecdote about a dispute between herself and her son, regarding what is considered “gross,” (727) in films. It is this anecdote that invites her readers to understand the motivations and implications of films that fall under the category of “body” genre, namely, horror films, melodramas, (henceforth referred to as “weepies”) and pornography. Williams explains that, in regards to excess, the constant attempts at “determining where to draw the line,” (727) has inspired her and other theorists alike to question the inspirations, motivations, and implications of these “body genre” films. After her own research and consideration, Williams explains that she believes there is “value in thinking about the form, function, and system of seemingly gratuitous excesses in these three genres,” (728) and she will attempt to prove that these films are excessive on purpose, in order to inspire a collective physical effect on the audience that cannot be experienced when watching other genres.
“There never was a woman like Gilda!” This American black-and-white film noir directed by Charles Vidor in 1946, starring Rita Hayworth, was showing indeed a new type of American woman: the independent femme fatale with a heart. The “film noir” is a “genre of cinematographic film marked by a mood of pessimism, fatalism, and menace. The term was originally applied (by a group of French critics) to American thriller or detective films made in the period 1944–54” (Oxford Dictionary). It usually includes the perspective of an antihero facing the violence of an urban and modern environment. The “femme fatale” is a stock character of noir films: “An attractive and seductive woman, especially one who will ultimately cause distress to a man who becomes
Johnston writes about, “The Myths of Women in the Cinema.” 2 She examines how women are often put into character molds and can only be written in four different
In the article Schrader illustrates how film noir reflect the dark side, like crime and corruption, that occurs within the world (pg. 214). He also demonstrates how the influence in Hollywood create film noir during the 1940’s. Influences like war and postwar disillusionment, postwar realism,