Film Noir

                          

Film Noir 

Intro to Film Noir:

• Black film refers to the mood or atmosphere of film. ( Bleak and pessimistic )
• Distinctive look - contrast between darkness and light.
• Visual style - an aesthetic or genre stylish crime drama.
• French film critic Nino Frank in 1946 used it to describe the bleak but stylistically expressive films emerging from Hollywood in the early 1940s.
• Made by European film makers who fled from Europe due to World War 2.
• They were influenced by German expressionism.
• Pessimistic outlook due to the brutality of the war.
• Classic period: 1941-1958.
• First film noir: The Maltese Falcon directed by John Huston
• Last film noir: A Touch of Evil directed by Orson Welles.

Film Noir's unique visual style:

• Light and darkness
• Shadows
• Silhouettes 
• Blinds and bars
• Strange camera angles 
• High contrast
• Black and white  

Narrative Elements:

• Use of flashbacks.
• Use of voice over for the main protagonist to give the voice to inner feelings and alienation.
• Complicated and twisting plots and subplots.
• Sudden reverse in fortune.
• Circular narratives 
• A network of minor characters.
• Tragic Ending.