Film Noir

Film Noir is a cinematic term used primarily to describe stylish Hollywood crime dramas, it is also a French term for black cinema.  It is not a genre, it is more a: mood, style, point of view and a tone of a film. The genre was popularised in Hollywood during the 1940s and 1950’s. The classic film noirs’ were referred to as melodramas (define melodramas: A) a drama such as a play, film or television programme characterized by exaggerated emotions, stereotypical characters and interpersonal conflicts. B) A dramatic form that does not observe the laws of cause and effect and exaggerates emotion and emphasises the plot or action at the expense of characterization.)

Film Noirs’ are a range of plots, always with a central figure:

-      A private eye ( The Big Sleep)

-      A plainclothes policeman ( The Big Heat)

-      An aging boxer ( The Set-up)

-      A hapless grafter ( Night and The City)

-      A law abiding citizen lured into a life of crime ( Gun Crazy)

-      A victim of Circumstance ( D.O.A)

Film Noirs’ have a low key black and white visual style which is emphasized by low lighting and unbalanced compositions filmed with unusual camera placement, similar to German expressionist cinematography. The films evidence a variety of visual approaches which fit comfortably within the Hollywood mainstream. In the 1940s and 1950s Film Noirs, led audiences to understand and build a relationship with the protagonist or anti hero.

Other categories that come under Film Noir are:

Neo Noir is films set in contemporary modern times, but showing characteristics of a Film Noir, in plot or style. These details were typically absent or unimportant to the plot of classic Film Noir. Neo Noir is aware of modern circumstances and technology. Neo Noir films, post 1970’s, often reverse the role of the understanding and building a relationship built between the protagonists or anti hero. Unconventional camera mounts and plot progression remind the audience that they are merely watching a film and not partaking in the film.  

Example of Neo Noir film: China Town