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Film Noir1941-1958???
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Film Noir “Black Film”» Discovered and coined in
postwar France» During German Occupation of
France (1940-1944):» No American films in French
Theaters» In 1945, backlog of American
films hits French screens.
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“Black Film” cont…» Prewar moviesRationalSymmetricalOrdered
» Postwar moviesGrimmerBleakerBlackerDominated by:CrimeCorruptionCruelty“Unhealthy” interest
in the erotic
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Film Noir: 3 different ways to look at it
» As Genre
» As Series
» As Mode
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Film Noir as Genre» Conventions and expectations» Iconography: Low-key lighting,
dark city, character archetypes, predictable narrative patterns (p. 227-228)
» What kind of character types would you expect to encounter?
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Film Noir as Series» Aesthetic movement?» No body of conventions to
follow, people didn’t necessarily set out to make films noirs
» Generic story lines in films noirs don’t make them noir, but more the stylistic effects within the story lines (p. 228)
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Film Noir as Mode» Produces a certain emotional
response in people: anxiety, uneasiness, distress (p. 229)
» Only needs to be “noir” for a moment or two, whatever it takes to create an emotional disturbance
» Thus, mode is the particular way in which noir is conveyed
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Quick Write» Given what you’ve learned
about the differences between genre and series, where do you think film noir fits in? Should it be known as a genre of film, or a series? Both? Explain in a full paragraph.
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Noir Aesthetics, Themes, and Character Types
» Aesthetically: Shadowy, low-key lighting; deep-focus cinematography; distorting, wide-angle lenses; sequence shots, etc…(p. 230)
» Thematically: existential issues such as futility of individual action; alienation, loneliness, and isolation of the individual in industrialized, mass society, etc…
» Noir heroes: antisocial loners, tramps, drifters, subject to existential angst due to faceless anonymity in a larger, dehumanizing work environment
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American Expressionism» Soft, evenly distributed, high key
lighting style of the 1930’s that existed to glamorize stars quickly turned into harsh, low-key lighting in the 1940’s, which obscured the action, deglamorized the stars
» Use of expressionistic devices: For example, highly subjective voiceover narration, hallucinatory sequences
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Disturbing Conventions to Conventional Disturbances
» Noir stylistics showed up in sleazy detective films, low-budget crime pictures, but even typical genre films developed psychotic tendencies, which was frightening to the public at the time
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Noir and the Production Code
» In 40’s and 50’s, strict limits existed to what you could show in movies, so noir aesthetics left a lot up to suggestion and the audience’s imagination (p. 234)
» Filmmakers used the dark shadows and inventive narration to suggest what was happening
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Literary Origins of Film Noir» Spirit of noir can be traced back to
thematic and stylistic elements in popular fiction from the 20’s and 30’s
» Hard-Boiled Fiction: New tradition of realism, heroes lived on fringe of criminal world
» Set in back alleys, grungy offices, etc…
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Women in Film Noir» Independent, aggressive, and sexual
(p. 239)» From the proletarian tough-guy
perspective, he achieves his toughness by repressing any signs of weakness, and weakness is associated with the feminine
» Ex. Maltese Falcon: Sam Spade struggles between his feelings and loyalty to professional codes…and rejects his “feminine” side
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Women cont…» Threat posed by women to the
noir hero on two different fronts
» Socioeconomic
» Psychoanalytic
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Socioeconomic» Changing status of American
women during WWII and post-WWII challenged male dominance
» Entered workforce, which violated order of sexual relations (took over “male” roles)
» Posed threat to traditional values…
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Socioeconomic cont…» Noir registered antifeminist backlash by
showing a postwar America in which family doesn’t exist
» And if it did, family is portrayed in a negative light:
» As claustrophobic, emasculating trap» Women abandoned or neglected domestic
responsibilities» Women as willful creatures intent on
destroying their mates and the institution of family
» In noir, the world of crime and family overlap
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Women as Psychological Terror
» Psychic threat to insecure hero» Hollywood supported male
dominance and patriarchy» Alleviated anxiety about threat
through disavowal of women» Done through fetishization,
devaluation, or both
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Fetishization» Women overvalued» Portrayed as objects» Ex: Lingering close-ups » Glamorous costumes
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Devaluation» Viewed as guilty object» “Castration” serving as the symbol of
her punishment
» Remember: Women in film noir characterized as femme fatales, intent on “castrating” or otherwise destroying the male hero
» Devaluation seen as their punishment, existence as female seen as punishment
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Critique of Populism» Destabilization of sexual
relationships: symptomatic of larger social disorder
» Noir reflects transitional stage in American ideology and identity, what do you think that transition is?
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New culture, Old myths» Prior to WWII, society held together by
various myths that structured America’s identity
» Jeffersonian democracy: fundamental equality based on ownership of property-->drove 19th c. expansionist ideology
» Promise of cheap or free land to frontier settlers served as motivation for Western settlement (realization of America’s manifest destiny)
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However,» Rapid industrialization in the late 19th
c. began a process of social change» 1920-more people lived in urban than
in rural areas» New middle class dominated by hourly
wage earners, who owned neither land nor houses
» Millions of laborers, but they still subscribed to the old, pre-industrial era myths
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Myths cont…» Post depression- old myths
began to waiver as the economy boomed during wartime
» This identity crisis led to a feeling of instability, and ultimately contributed to the development of film noir
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Double Indemnity and Identity Crisis
Walter Neff» Corporate worker» Lives alone in apt.» Goes bowling for
fun» Has affairs w/
married women
Quick WriteHow is this profile
representative of a new American ideology? Would you agree that America was in the midst of an identity crisis? Explain.
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Double Indemnity cont…» Neff’s profile reflects a chaotic
period in which old myths began to crumble and now new myths took hold, just as for many people, America’s national identity was in crisis
» Film noir captures the emptiness of his world