The standard noir plot is, in broad terms, best summed up as centering around a protagonist who, usually by pure chance, is placed in a complex and dangerous situation completely beyond their control where they are pitted against an adversary whose identity and motives are not immediately obvious. Protagonists in films noir are often normal people (classically, but not necessarily, a Private Detective) who get involved in crime, and the motivations are no longer just social or circumstantial but psychological and personal. These movies differed from the crime movies of the '30s, the Depression Gangster films such as The Public Enemy (1931) or Scarface (1932), in that criminal behaviour is no longer relegated to gangsters or ethnic ghettos, and the plots don't usually revolve around turf wars or police clampdowns. That said, daytime scenes can be harshly bright.įilm Noir is not really a genre in any sense, rather it reflects a tendency in certain American films of the '40s and '50s where crime and gangster stories are infused with an excessive visual style, a modern urban sensibility and a powerful sense of moral ambiguity. Also, the rain makes it plausible that no one else is around. It rains most every night in Film Noir filmmakers admit that this is entirely because at night wet pavement looks cooler than dry. The contrast between light and dark is sometimes used in the cinematography to reflect the difference between the villain and the protagonist(s). Camera angles are often very creative and unusual, heightening the viewers' sense of unease, adding to the atmosphere. Scenes are often filmed on location, and night scenes are shot at night. This visual motif is so iconic that homages and parodies are almost universally Deliberately Monochrome, using a transition between colour and black and white where necessary. Noir, in the classic and stylistic sense, is visually darker than your average gangster picture, playing with light and long, deep shadows instead of bright, documentary-styled camera work. Complicated plots may be further convoluted by flashbacks and flash forwards, with the narration tying everything together - assuming we can trust it. Use of the double-cross and cigarette smoking are mandatory. Common plots of noir films include murder (and subsequent murder investigations), heists, con games, blackmail schemes, and (mostly) innocent men or women wrongly accused of crime. Whether works since then can be accurately classed as Noir is a subject of much debate among film critics.įilm Noir, and the literature from which it is drawn, is the progenitor of several modern genres, particularly cyberpunk. James Lileks, The Bleat, "Black & White World"įor added effect, play one of these songs while reading the article.įilm Noir (literally "black film" in French) is a genre of stylish, gritty crime dramas, difficult to define, but the 1940s and '50s were the classic period.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |