Shadows, lamps and criminal underworlds: Why film noir.
Film noir is not a clearly defined genre (see here for details on the characteristics). Therefore, the composition of this list may be controversial. To minimize dispute the films included here should preferably feature a footnote linking to a reliable, published source which states that the mentioned film is considered to be a film noir by an expert in this field, e.g. () () () ().
Definition Edit In its modern form, noir has come to denote a marked darkness in theme and subject matter, generally featuring a disturbing mixture of sex and violence. While related to and frequently confused with hardboiled detective fiction, the two are not the same.
The need for attending to the handling of perspective in film noir is concisely summed up in Fritz Lang's explanation of his subjective camera work: 'You show the protagonist so that the audience can put themselves under the skin of the man'; by showing things 'wherever possible, from the viewpoint of the protagonist' the film gives the audience visual and psychological access to his.
In close competition with his 1979 epic Alien, Ridley Scott’s Blade Runner is perhaps the director’s most iconic, career-defining film.A grand, indulgent and densely layered feature which explores the murky underbelly of a futuristic, dystopian LA, the film owes much of its sombre philosophy and pitch-black aesthetic to 1930s and 40s film noir.
Imogen Sara Smith gives an excellent on-camera interview about director Lewis’s place in the Hollywood studio system. Farran Smith Nehme joins the always-savvy Glenn Kenny for a well-researched and enjoyable commentary track. Finally, there is a first-rate essay included with the package written by Scottish film noir authority David Cairns.
It's the reason why film noir is so difficult to define, and why so many people disagree about what movies are film noir, and which ones aren't. To this day, movie critics are divided over the film noir status of beloved classics like Notorious with Cary Grant and Ingrid Bergman, 1950's Sunset Boulevard, and one of the most well-respected classic movies of all-time, Casablanca.
Jon Tuska argues in Dark Cinema: American Film Noir in Cultural Perspective that because film noir is a style and narrative structure, not a genre, it cuts across generic lines.8 Evidence of film noir is often noted in gangster films such as White Heat (1949), westerns such as Pursued (1947), and comedies such as Arsenic and Old Lace (1944).