[Pelham]

A second Chronicles blog on film noir

[a fool in paradise]

“One responder to my previous post, “Notes on noir”, asked why so many movies are called film noir when, by my lights, they’re not. The simple, somewhat cheeky answer is “brand creep”: film noir is a bankable label for a crime movie, so it’s come to be liberally applied.”

I thought Citizen Kane was long regarded as a pioneer vehicle for film noir in America (it’s a bio-pic melodrama, not a crime film). And the German expressionist film before that included fantastic elements (the sort found in Sci-Fi, Fantasy, or Horror films).

[Usagi_yo]

Film Noir to me are dark and brooding with seriously flawed and conflicted protagonists, often scratching and clawing to stay even. And then there’s the Dames ... can’t forget the Dames.

Many can list the classics, but how about the more contemporary

I’’m no expert but I would like to see others list some of their own contemporary Film Noir.

Chinatown — Too bad it was in color.
Bladerunner — They managed to do it with dark and brooding atmospheric color. I don’t consider it dystopian more than I consider it Film Noir.
Dark City — The reverse of Blade Runner, more Dystopia than Film Noir.
L.A Confidential — barely registers as Film Noir in my book.
Basic Instinct — would have been great without Jennifer Lopez
The American — Clooney for the win — unless it’s politics.
Body Heat — I’m still angry.

[P.O.E.]

D.O.A.

‘nuff said :)

[JennysCool]

Good article. Thanks for the post!

[Huskrrrr]

“Double Indemnity” Best noir in my book.

[a fool in paradise]

More to the point is that professional film critics by and large don’t use as restrictive a definition of noir—viz., that the form tells stories “about little guys and gals getting a raw deal in a world that never gives them an even chance”—as mine, preferring film-stylistic rather than literary-dramatic criteria to establish what’s noir. They’re perfectly entitled to do so, of course, though the characteristics of cinematography, acting, dialogue, and music so important to them I like to think of not as essentials but as “highly welcome complements.”

Sounds more like a hijack of the term "film noir" which at its core is defined by film technique, not story elements.

The elements under discussion are more of a dime-store paperback trade than pulp or the crime films of the 30s (which focused in the pre-code era on the rise and fall of gangsters).

Paperback fiction (whether the books were originally hardcover or not is irrelevant) can be typified by Mickey Spillane and other crime novelists.

Even Mike Hammer's Kiss Me Deadly wouldn't fit the blogger's definition of film noir.

I find this image to be both noir and the embodiment of a dimestore paperback cover.

[Huskrrrr]

A GREAT READ ON THE SUBJECT

[lonevoice]

Here’s a thread you might enjoy