The editing present at the start of the film is firstly an establishing shot which shows a man walking towards a building the first edit shows the title of the film in dinstincitve huge bold 3D like writing which is eye catching to the viewer. The shot following this lasts for around a minute and a half and is of the man walking presumably inside the building walking towards to homicide division. During this long first shot the rest of the titles are displayed on screen in smaller type than the name of the film but in the same 3D like shadowed form. This font is likely to have been used as it was seen as looking in your face for the audience and makes the writing stand although in modern society this type of type is seen as out-dated and looks tacky. However the use of this font is interesting and the type does jump out at the viewer to grab attention. As the man goes through the homicide division door before the enigma of the start of the film which is so surprising to the viewer is revealed there are two edits. Both are continuity edits and are used as the man enters two rooms.
Cinematography is used with various lights in the building creating shadows and the floor and walls. This is particularly notable in when the man wlaks down the corridor with many lights used to light up the hall. During the talk between the main as the inspector he meets with over the shoulder shots and medium shots are used to keep fluency through the conversation. The film uses mostly medium and wide shots for the start sequence of the film with the medium behind-the-back tracking shot following the man – Frank (Edmond O’Brian) as he walks to the office. There is as I mentioned a notable establishing shot at the start of the film also. The man reveals is a twist when talking to the inspector in the homicide division that he wants to report a murder, when asked who has been murdered he says he has been murder which is a huge surprise to start the movie as you would expect that he would be reporting the killing of another, what this does as well for the audience is create an enigma and make them make to find out how he can possibly be reporting his own murder. Another surprising element to the opening is the reaction of the inspector who does not simply ignore the seemingly crazy reveal by the man but acts as though he expected him to come and say what he did which again creates a confusing situation for the audience. So therefore this is clever filmmaking in the way that the suspense of the man walking to the office is matched by what he reveals to the inspector and how the inspector reacts to this reveal.
The elements which make up Mise-en-scene that are shown in the opening sequence add to the suspense, set the scene and location of the film. One way in which this is done is by making the audience aware that the man is walking inside a police station, this is shown by the costume of the actors in the building as he initially enters as there as dressed as police officers, another way the audience knows the setting is a station is by the name of the room he enter which is ‘Homicide Division’. The props in the homicide division office e.g. the desks and office equipment also set the scene of the sequence as well as the fan of the wall in the inspectors office which itself creates an eye catching shadow which seems somewhat mysterious and in keeping with this thriller film. Moreover the use of these props allows the viewers’ realise the suspense of the sequence. The location is set by the man stating the murder was in San Francisco which immediately within the first five or short lines of dialogue notifies the audience of the location of the movie.
Sound is used to create suspense through the opening sequence it grows and dies and through different at different points. During the establishing shot at the beginning of the film the music is calm however as the man walks through the police station the music grows which create a sense of a man on a mission, it is very frantic as he reaches the office then then is a sudden jump as the doors shows ‘Homicide Division’ on it. After this though the music dies down again as enters the office and stays the same until he reveal he has been murdered to which there is another sudden jump in the music for it to go calm once more after. So sound is important in the opening scene of D.O.A as without it the audience would not be aware that the movie is a crime thriller which the sound to an extent itself reveals by creating a sense of mystery throughout and the sudden jump at the homicide division reveal which shows it has importance to the film.
ECMS is important to the start of D.O.A as it makes the audience want to continue watching the film and understand what the film is going to be about i.e. the enigma of the man saying he has been murdered although he is clearly still alive and how to inspector can be aware of the murder before told.
The opening scene of the classic film noir Double Indemnity (1944) directed by Billy Wilder achieves in keeping a constant level of suspense throughout the first two minutes. It achieves this by cleverly using different techniques in order to intrigue the viewer.
Moreover the editing used in the scene is a mix of fade editing, along with straight cut continuity editing as well as more notable cut edits also. Additionally the fade out of one shot into another is what film noir use frequently, with the next shot slowly overtaking the screen of the previous shot, and this is used when to as an editing technique when the car is shown on the road and then fades to being parked. The titles are bold and stand out on the screen with each letter having shadows underneath to create a 3D effect. Another use of editing on the titles is shadows of the man walking with the aid of crutches which again is used as an eye catching tool for the audience. It is interesting that further into the opening the man (Neff) is seen walking with some discomfort but not with crutches as in the title. The crutches are linked to later on in the film and part of the double indemnity plan however viewers would not be aware of this when first watching the film so it is a clever technique to slightly confuse the viewer.
The cinematography used in the opening is very much dark lighting and sets the scene for night time. The streetlights being on further this at the beginning of the film. Much of the opening minute following the titles is shot using long and wide shots although there is an establishing shot of the car approaching at the very start. Furthermore the high pace action with the car weaving past other cars and through a red light works well in setting up and exciting high action start to the film which sets the theme for the rest of the movie. Another thing which a film opening like seen in Double Indemnity achieves in doing in surprising the audience as in a scene set at night you would not expect a car to be driving dangerously and this in turn tells the audience that the driver of the car is central to the scene and perphaps film straight away just over a minute into the movie.
Mise-en-scene is used in the opening sequence to establish the location of a city at night and the streetlamps are used to further so the time of day although the dark lighting does this also. After the credits shows there a worker roadside shown on screen with the car approaching, the beam of light from whatever the workers are doing is clever used to show the viewer the location of the film, the beam reveals are sign saying ‘Los Angeles Railway Corp’. So this makes the audience aware of the setting.
Throughout the titles and the every part of the film opening there is music playing which changes in mood as it goes on. It starts off with a very bold sound which continues through to the start of the film where it gets more frantic and the car weaves through traffic then begins to die down as the car is parked at a building. The sound used keeps the viewers interested even through the opening titles. As well as doing this the frantic music playing in the background which is non-diegetic sound also suggests that the film will be a thriller type film as by having this music that is the suggestion to viewer.
In addition one thing which the elements of ECMS create is an enigma through the narrative in the opening. The audience wonder why the man is on crutches and also why the car is driving dangerously. So this is a clever opening to the movie.
Probably one of the most famous ever film noirs was Double Indemnity (1944) directed by Billy Wilder. With the lead characters being Barbara Stanwyck and Fred MacMurray who was best known for the film although he went onto star in over one hundred films during his acting career. The film is regarded as possessing the classic characteristics of film noirs and it was released at a time when the genre of noir was beginning to enter its best years. The title “double indemnity” refers to the clause in a life insurance contract which states in certain instances such as a railway accident as in the film, there can be a double payout of insurance, this is key to the central murder which starts the downfall in chain of events in the film. Double Indemnity is portrayed using a non linear narrative with the end of the film being shown at the start before a flashback to how the main character, Neff, got into the mess, before the flashback catches up to the end at the start of the film.
The film starts of with the main character Walter Neff (played by MacMurray) walking with some limp to an office where he picks up a Dictaphone and recalls how he got into the mess he is in. Not long into the flashback Neff first encounters Phyllis Dietrichson (Stanwyck) as he calls round her house to speak to her husband who is at work and does not appear. The visit is just a custom renewal visit for Neff to attempt to get Phyllis’s husband to renew his automobile insurance. They exchange in flirtatious talk before Phyllis asks Neff if it is possible to take out a life insurance policy for her husband without him being aware of it. It is at this point that Neff decides to leave as he is aware that Phyllis is considering murdering her husband of which he wants no part. Over time however Phyllis wears Neff down after visiting him at his house, he agrees to the sinister plan which involves killing Phyllis’s husband in unusual circumstances, so that the double indemnity clause will be triggered in his life insurance policy.
However through his experience in insurance Neff is aware that for the plan to be a success and the double payout to be received there must be no flaws in the killing. The first problem which is facing Neff and Phyllis is that they must get Phyllis’s husband to sign the insurance policy without him knowing that it is a life insurance policy. To do this Neff arranges to visit the Dietrichson house and the plan is to make Mr Dietrichson think he is signing an insurance contract to renew his automobile policy when in fact he is signing a life insurance policy on himself. Neff shows composure to keep his cool and no allow Mr Dietrichson to see what the contract really says. The signing of the contract goes smoothly and Neff takes a fee from Mr Dietrichson for signing the contract.
After a series of secret meetings Neff and Phyllis carry out their plan. They drive Mr Dietrichson (who has obtained a broken leg which unexpectedly moved their plan forward) to the train station. On the way Phyllis who is driving takes a turn of the route and Neff strangles to death Mr Dietrichson. The next scene shows Neff entering a train impersonating Mr Dietrichson with crutches pretending to have a broken leg. Neff jumps off of the back of the train and later Phyllis and Neff drop the body of Mr Dietrichson onto the train track making it look like an accident that he fell off in order to claim the double indemnity clause for an unexpected accident.
After the body is found on the track the firm where Neff works are ordered as expected to payout the double indemnity to Phyllis. However Keyes (Porter Hall) who is Neff’s boss is suspicious about the death although the police treated it as an accident. Keyes claims to have a knack for knowing when something is not right in an insurance claim and decides to investigate before paying out the money to Phyllis. This worries Neff, so he decides that he and Phyllis cannot meet for a while during investigation, although Neff believes that Phyllis truly has feelings for him and that they could be together. It later emerges through Keyes’s observations of Phyllis that she is seeing her dead husband daughter’s boyfriend Nino (Byron Barr) which Neff discovers and decides to attempt to frame Nino as Phyllis’s accomplice which is Keyes theory to the killing. To do this Neff plans to kill Phyllis and make it look like Nino killed her and this will act as revenge for Phyllis leading him on.
Neff arrives at the Dietrichson house and is invited in, Phyllis pulls out a gun to Neff’s surprise before he could and shoots Neff, in a sudden turn of events Phyllis declares that she never loved Neff “until a minute ago, when I couldn’t fire that second shot”. A wounded Neff does not believe her however and as the two go to hug Phyllis facial expression changes as she feels a gun pressed against her and Neff shoots her twice killing her.
The movie then reaches it climax which is also the start in the non linear narrative style which Double Indemnity employed. Neff is shown talking into his Dictaphone before Keyes walks in to hear enough of the story to realise that Neff was behind the elaborate plan although with Phyllis. Upon seeing Keyes, Neff pleads to him to be allowed the chance to attempt to flee to Portugal, to this Neff makes his move out of the building but before long he collapses to the floor. The final scene shows Keyes lighting Neff’s (who is in evident pain from the gunshot wound Phyllis inflicted on him) cigarette before the credits play out.
As I mentioned previously Double Indemnity is seen as one of the best known noirs of all time and thus shows typical characteristics which noirs are noted as having. One of these characteristics is the non linear narrative employed which tells the story with the end at the start and the audience slowing are made aware of how the events occurred before the story catches up to the start scene. This type of narrative was common to film noirs and is used among other things to draws the attention of the viewer immediately and make them want to find out how the sitituation in the start scene occurred which Double Indemnity effectively achieves.
Another characteristic of typical types of film noirs which is evident in Double Indemnity is the characters used in the storyline. There is Neff who is the everyday working man trying to earn an honest living and happens to meet the wrong person in Phyllis who persuades him to attempt to cash in by breaking the law and murdering. As with many noirs the anti-hero which is often the central character to the storyline makes one mistake and thus goes on a never ending downhill spiral. A further typical noir character is Phyllis she is a classic femme fatale, attractive, deceiving and deadly. Phyllis uses her charm and level of deceit to lure Neff into her cunning plan before betraying him and showing a killer instinct shooting him at the end of the him though she does show some compassion which in the end leads to her death. This is in fitting with many femme fatales which have appeared in noirs over the years but perhaps it may be argued that Barbara Stanwyck as Phyllis Dietrichson was the best example of fatales. Stanwyck was already one the leading actresses in America and the film was somewhat a risk to her career as it was so low budget. However it was a success for both the creators of it and the actress herself due to its success.
A typical noir scene in Double Indemnity is the face off between Phyllis and Neff. It is common for noirs to end with the main characters (man and woman lead) breaking up in some way usually death or being caught by the police. It was inevitable that there would not be a happy end for Phyllis and Neff as is the values which film noir brings the audience. The common messages shown in film noirs is that making one wrong decision can cause things to spiral for the characters involved, crime doesn’t pay and do not trust anyone with betrayal being a feature in many noirs. These messages are shown clearly in Double Indemnity which is part of what makes it known as one of the best examples of film noir.
The atmosphere of Double Indemnity is quite on edge with many parts of it being nervy for the main characters following Phyllis’s proposal to Neff to help her kill her husband for money. There are several examples of this throughout the film, one is the meeting with Phyllis and Neff’s insurance company, another is the killing itself the music picks up before the attack on Phyllis’s husband, these scenes help to create a tense atmosphere to the film throughout.
Moreover the cinematography in Double Indemnity makes use shadows from the blinds of windows many times in order to cut the actors faces into pieces in typical noir fashion. Noirs were famous for their femme fatales and making woman characters appear dominant and in Double Indemnity the cinematography is cleverly used to make Phyllis seem powerful an
d demanding. One example of this is the high angle shot of Phyllis on the balcony with Neff below with Phyllis being the much more imposing figure and very much in control.
Double Indemnity throughout in typical noir style goes from shot to shot using a dissolve edit to do this. The shot from the previous scene slowly disappear and the next shot comes into focus. An example of the film using this is at the start as Neff starts his flashback to how he got in the mess he is in, the shot of Neff talking dissolves from the screen with the flashback shot taken over the screen, this is a technique commonly used in the editing of film noirs. The film uses dissolve along with more convectional editing styles such as straight forward cuts and jump shot to transition between shots.
Furthermore one distinction between classic era film noirs and other types of movies is the mise-en-scene they use. Film noirs were known in their classic period to be crime thrillers which were dark, deadly and sometimes seductive with their femme fatales. This stereotype is largely down to the how noirs make use of the black and white pictures by using shadows to effect creepy type setting and using tall buildings with huge shadows. The clothing of the male characters was usually formal suits and trench coats. While the female characters were dressed attractively to lure male characters in before later showing true killer instincts.
Additionally Double Indemnity follows these mise-en-scene principles of noirs. Phyllis (Barbara Stanwyck) is a dressed a you would expect femme fatale to be while Keyes and Neff were formally dressed as insurance salesmen. The props the film uses are very much in keeping with creating the darks shadows and lamps, furniture and stair banisters are used to do this. Different shades of dark colours are used for lighting throughout the film to create a mysterious visual for viewers.
The music the movie employs is mostly of a frantic nature and plays continuously through much of the nervy scenes for the characters involved. Examples of this being used are in the killing of Mr Dietrichson and the meeting between Phyllis and Neff’s work colleagues. In other scenes there is calmer music played this is mostly after the killing of Phyllis’s husband.
Film noirs such as Double Indemnity were well known for there success from their era and the film itself achieved good feedback from audiences. When it was brought to cinema it main target audience would be people who were affected by the war and who were angry for different reasons as an effect of the war. This was the audience that many noirs were aimed at and the violence and law breaking behaviour reflected the feelings of many around the time, they felt frustrated and the type of actions in noirs where more real to them than movies which tried to make life seem as a happy ending, when this was not the case for many of the time the movie was released.
Finally Double Indemnity has includes many of the ingredients which helped noirs spring to prominence during the 1940s and 1950s. It has many traits you would expect a film noir to have including a downhill spiral for the everyday man and a non linear narrative. These types of traits which were put together to create the film along with the leading actors in the film helped it to be remembered and the film was ranked at thirty eight in the top one hundred 20th American films by the American Film Institute which shows the success which it achieved.
Memento (2000) is a neo-noir made in America and is a physiological thriller which involves a clever plot. The film directed by Christopher Nolan and starring Guy Pearce has received following its success great reviews as well as being nominated for an academy award in both original screenplay and film editing. Along with being known for its success, the movie has also been known for making a distinction between story and plot, and this is largely down to the film making use of a non linear narrative which was popular in classic noirs. This type of narrative is employed intelligently through the movie to confuse the viewers as well as to slowly reveal to them how the events which they first see in the film occurred and the reasons behind them. The movie is based a great detail around ‘Memento Mori’ which is a short story by Christopher Nolan’s younger brother Jonathan and is adapted from this story.
As I previously mentioned Memento uses a non linear narrative but this however is not used in the conventional way. The movie switches between two different storylines throughout – one in colour and one in black and white. The black and white story is portrayed to the audience in chronological order while the colour story is in non chronological order. By the end of the film the two separate storylines are brought together and the full picture of what had occurred at the start of the movie using non linear narrative is revealed to the viewer.
At the start of the film the main character Leonard (Guy Pearce) is shown killing a man. It becomes clear as the story thickens that Leonard suffers from anterograde amnesia which means that his brain does not store memories of his recent events but these events are remembered by him at a later time. The movie is very much based around Leonard’s search to find the killer of his wife, at the time of the killing Leonard hit his head causing his mental condition to occur as a result, there is because of this is a close relation between Leonard and the viewer as he remembers details from his memory as the audience is shown them. Learning to cope with his mental illness throughout the film, Leonard has tattoos printed on himself to remember important details of his investigation before they are forgotten. The two storylines are switched constantly throughout the film. The black and white storyline told chronologically is based one a phone call Leonard has in a motel room in which he compares his condition of amnesia to that of a client he once knew while the colour story is told backwards (non chronologically) is based on his investigation to find he killer of his wife.
Near the end of the film the two storylines meet as Teddy (Joe Pantoliano) reveals to Leonard that due to his memory issues he has confused his own life with Sammy’s (who Leonard refers to in the phone call) and that Leonard’s wife is already dead. Teddy says also that he and the Jimmy G, the man who is shown dead at the start and is near death on the floor at the point, had previously killed the man (John G) who is reasonable for Leonards’ wife’s death. However Leonard denies this as a possibility and vows to continue his search for John G, who Leonard believes killed his wife, at this point Teddy reveals that his real name is John G and there are many people of the same first name and initial for it to be an almost impossible search. In the final scenes of the film Leonard is shown in the queue for a tattoo of Sammy’s licence plate, which suggests to the viewer he is Leonard’s next target for the killing of his wife, and that the story may not ever reach a resolution.
The movie is an example of how some of the classic elements which contributed to the success of film noir as a genre can be brought into a more recent society. Typically as with the classics there was a sense of the audience being drawn to support the anti-hero as through the film they grow to understand his problems after the quick reveal at the beginning and the gradual unravel of how the death occurred. Memento can also been seen as showing some traits which are common in neo-noirs such as the memory loss which is a feature in neo-noirs at times and the mix of colour and black and white to create effect as well as remind the viewer that they are watching a movie. This is a trait which is not seen in many of the classics which were portrayed in dark and mysterious way where lighting was used greatly and not colour though it was available in the classic film noir era.
Another interesting factor to Memento is that it is constructed like classics noirs such as Double Indemnity using a non linear narrative. This immediately draws the attention of the viewer and they are encouraged to find out how the situation in the future has arisen. It is a factor however that there is a switch between the storylines rather than just a having either chronological or non chronological storyline as this helps to create to the reaction which is intended for the viewer when watching the film.
As I touched on at the start Memento can be used to distinguish between a plot and a story as there can at times be confusion. The film shows this as the audience is not made aware until the very end of the whole situation and only at this point does the story make sense for the viewer. Memento therefore shows that the story is what happens in the film, as well as showing the plot is how it is revealed to viewers i.e. the order of the story being told, which is non linear.
One of the central traits of Memento which can be easily linked to both neo noirs like SinCity and film noirs such as Double Indemnity is the use of black and white. In the chronologically told story where Leonard is on the phone, this is portrayed in black and white, which adds to the effect and mystery of the story. A scene from the phone call where the tattoo is revealed saying ‘never answer the phone’ uses different close ups and high angle shots to create the effect of almost isolation in the bedroom of Leonard. The scene is as the rest of the phone call is in black and white and shows the only source of light in the room as coming from the window which in turn creates shadows similar to the ones used in classic noirs.
One example of a contemporary film noir or neo-noir as they are also known is L.A. Confidential 1997. The film was directed by Curtis Hanson and was centred on the crime fiction novel by James Ellroy of the same name from 1990 which makes it similar to classic noirs such as the ‘The Killers’ and ‘The Big Sleep’ also based on novels. It is also important to note that the movie was based in Los Angeles 1950s as this is also around the time many of the classic film noirs were made and was the peak time for noirs. The name of the film arose from the 1950s scandal magazine Confidential. After release the film received great reviews from critics and became a success.
The storyline is based on three LAPD cops, Ed Exley (Guy Pearce), Bud White (Russell Crowe) and Jack Vincennes (Kevin Spacey), who end up investigating the same case of a multiple murder at a coffee shop called Nite Owl. This leads to a vast amount of corruption being uncovered as the officers try to find out who is being the murders with drug, organised crime and prostitution all being linked to the case. As the story deepens it becomes apparent that there is conflict between the political leaders within L.A. and the LAPD which eventually results in a showdown.
L.A. Confidential because of how it is set as well as the technology available to it when compared to classic noirs; is a great example of a contemporary noir. A thing which is evident in the movie is the setting of it, not just in the 1950s but also in the more rural areas of L.A. and the more threatening parts of life in the city behind the glamour, this was an aspect which made noirs well known as they were very real for the audiences of their time as they showed harsher reality of living in the big cities which many people faced from day to day.
The corrupt police officers are very much reminiscent of classic noirs and this is accompanied by the high amounts of murders which were also a typical feature of the most famous noirs. The twists and turns of the story further complemented the classic noirs with this a crucial elements to surprising audiences in the classics. All of these elements contribute to making the film seem as though it is itself a noir rather than a neo-noir.
One scene in the film which is perhaps typical to noirs is the good cop – bad cop scene, where a guy is threatened firstly with his head being plunged in and out of the toilet and then by being dangled out of a window in order to gain information, this was the kind of scene which could be linked to classics. With the corrupt cop acting against his duty and level of violence is the scene is a possible to draw links to noirs of the classic era. A further thing notable in that scene was the comparisons with mise-en-scene of film noirs to the film. The three men which were in the scene were smartly dressed in suits and the office like environment draws further comparison with the view of tall buildings which were continual features in film noirs. Another thing to state of the scene was the friction between the two men being the attack, the was a edgy mood to the scene and then the sudden attack which is used to surprise the viewer, the frantic music starts around five or so seconds into the attack and lasts until the end of it. The music in itself can be seen as a direct link to the type of music frequent in the classics.
Along with in some ways drawing off elements of classic noirs, L.A. Confidential can also been as modernizing the genre and is a neo-noir for this as well as the release date of it, the movie is in colour throughout which is the first thing of note. Another thing is some of issues in the movie are not evident so much in film noirs such as pornography, institutional racism, prostitution and heroin. This may well be due the perspective of the writers etc. who made the film living in the 1990s looking back at the 1950s. Moreover this can be seen in parts of the film which reflect more what the 1950s are seen as forty or so years later and references are made in the film to life in the future. These in turn are perhaps more the messages and values which are created in the film to the audience.
You would expect that the audience of the movie due to its success and rave reviews would be more large scale than aimed at a specific sub section of society. However it could be argued that if you enjoyed the classic noirs or just crime thrillers in general then you would be more drawn to L.A. Confidential than if you did not. Many people may well say that if L.A. Confidential due to its striking resemblance to classics was not made in the 1990s but in the 1940s or 1950s and in black and white then it may well have been considered and classic noir itself. As it is though it is a neo-noir due to the time of its release but is a compliment to the director and creators of the film for much in many ways outdated values to be shown in film forty years in the future.
Since the decline of major productions of film noirs following the notable heyday of the genre in the 1940s and 1950s, there can be elements of film noir found in more recent films, which differ from the traditional productions but still have some of the same features as well. These types of films are often referred to as neo-noirs.
Simply translated neo-noir means new black; the term comes from the Greek term neo (new) and the French term noir (black).
Neo-noirs are different to noirs in that because of their time they have more resources available which film noirs did not. One of the main differences though in neo-noirs is that they are presented to the viewer in a different way than film noirs. The narratives in neo’s are based very much around making the viewer aware that they are watching a film rather than getting too attached to the storyline. This shows a progression from film noirs where viewers were encouraged to support the anti-heroes portrayed in them. Neo’s typically use camera movements and development in the narrative to create the effect of the viewer watching a movie rather than supporting a led character.
An evident redefinition or noir in neo-noir is the storyline which is employed which differs from the classic noirs. Unlike the classics where crime and betrayal was very much at the centre of the plot to noirs, neo differ and bring more modern subjects to light, this is much down to the changes in society over time. The storyline to neo-noirs is often based on identity crisis, technological problems and social problems. Though in some cases with films like SinCity and L.A. Confidential the crime is very much still the centre to the plot. In truth most widely known neo-noir will have a mix of genre with there being elements similar to film noir as well as another gene at the same time e.g. Blade Runner where film noir is mixed with science fiction.
It can however be argued that the term neo-noir is too broadly used and that too many films qualify as neo-noir. Despite this examples of neo-noirs from the 1970s to today include: SinCity (2005), L.A. Confidential (1997), Blade Runner (1982), Wild Things (1998), Memento (2001), Fargo (1996) and Against All Odds (1984).
In a film like Sin City which is largely held to be the most notable neo-noir, the comic strip pictures which are often shown in the film show and adaption of typical stylistics which noirs previously held, however with the film being in black and white for much of it there can be clear links to the classic film noirs because of this and the narrative the film has of crime. Some parts of SinCity reflect hugely on classic noir and are at times almost identical but with a modern twist for example there is a scene where a woman is shot after kissing her killer on a rooftop. In this scene there is an evident difference which was not present in classic noirs being her red dress being shown in colour while the rest of the scene and much of the film is in black and white. But the scene in particular shows the type of deceit and betrayal after gaining trust which classic film noir became famous for doing.
Laura is a classic film noir from 1944 and was directed by Otto Preminger. It portrays the story of a detective who is working on a case of the murder of an attractive and successful advertising Laura Hunt (Gene Tierney). As the film develops the detective, Mark McPherson (Dana Andrews) finds out all about Laura experiences from various sources and grows increasingly infatuated with her, gradually the infatuation becomes more of an obsession.
The film is known to be one of the classic film noirs and like many noirs in centred on a police officer. Also a suspicious death is the focal point of the story which is common for noirs. The killer is unknown until the end and the storyline brings twist to viewers when it is found that Laura is still alive.
Laura reflected in many ways the uncertainty around during the war and this was shown in the way in which everyone was a suspect to the apparent death of Laura.
Finally the use of shadows in particularly evident at the end of Laura, when Lydecker creeps up on Laura to try and kill her, the director cleverly uses large shadows which helps to create suspense.
Double Indemnity was a famous American film noir made in 1944. The title of the film “Double Indemnity” means a clause found in certain life insurance policies which can double the money given if death is seen to be accidental.
Directed by Billy Wilder the film portrays the story of an insurance salesman who on a routine calls meets a woman Phyllis Dietrichson (Barbara Stanwyck) who hatches a plan to take out insurance on her husband then kill him and claim the insurance.
At first the salesman Walter Neff played by Fred MacMurray wants nothing to do with the murderous scheme but eventually he agrees and together they go on to kill the Phyllis’s husband making it look like an accident in the process so the double indemnity can be claimed. Neff then finds out that Phyllis has been having an affair with the daughter of her husband’s boyfriend and that her husband’s previous lover had died in mysterious circumstances while Phyllis was a nurse at the hospital she was treated. Neff confronts Phyllis and plans to kill her but Phyllis then shoots him before he gets the chance to. In a sudden turn of events Phyllis declares that she loves Neff and hugs him but as she pulls out of the hug her face frowns. Neff exclaims “Goodbye, baby” and shoots her twice killing her. Then after confronting Nino (Phyllis’s lover) in outside where he shoots her, Neff tells Nino to not go in the room but go to his girlfriend instead, Neff then precedes injured back to his office.
At his office Neff picks up his Dictaphone (which goes back to when Neff starting telling the story) and confesses what he has done but an investigator (Keyes) hears enough of the confession to know what Neff has done. Lastly Neff explains to Keyes who is something of a friend of Neff that he will flee to Mexico rather than face a death sentence for the deaths however before he can reach the leave the behind he falls at a nearby door. Wounded from the shot wound inflicted previously by Phyllis he lays on the floor, pulls out a cigarette while in discomfort which the investigator lights for him, Neff has a few smokes of the cigarette at which point the credits play out.
Double Indemnity is regarded as one of the most successful film noir of all time. It was ranked at thirty eight in the top twentieth century American films by the American Film Institute. This shows how popular the low budget film became following its release despite only having a budget of marginally less than a million.
The film has many typical traits of noirs including a non linear narrative as Neff tells his story at the start through the Dictaphone which is continued at the end as the investigator comes in.
Barbara Stanwyck who played the lead lady was a classic example of a femme fatale, she killed her husband and appeared to have killed before, and this ruthless mentality was shown at first near the end when she shoots Neff. Also she was portrayed as being the dominant character in the film as she planned the original killing of her husband and used her looks to get what she wanted by misleading Neff.
Neff was also the typical hero in noirs. He was a man dragged into murder by the devious Phyllis and brought into a life of crime after previously being a regular insurance salesman.
Just as in many noirs there is no happy end for the couple in Double Indemnity as the one of them is killed by the other. This is a trend which is in many noirs in which the moral seems to be a life a crime leads down dark paths which the characters do not get out of.
Since the emergence of film noir into mainstream Europe during the mid-1940s and the rise in prominence which this brought, it has been continually argued whether or not film noir should be considered a genre, with no real judgment being made either way sixty years down the line. The reason why many argue that film noir is a genre is that it is very different to other films under the crime thriller category. This is due to the differences in them such as their use of lighting, narrative and visual in particular.
Film noir was created very in much the USA however in was not until the films reached the likes of France and other European countries that in rose to significance of a greater scale than the USA. Noir's are well known for being dark and somewhat violent films with often similar story lines of crime and betrayal in urban America. Directors of film noirs frequently used the black and white setting which was a custom to film noirs to create this cold, dark and nervy set for the films. The use of shadows in particular and contrast lighting helped to do this, with many shots of crimes about to take place using shadows to make the criminals grow when getter closer to their victims, again creating this tense feel in these scenes. Another way in which directors used lighting in film noir was to chop the set and characters in abstract shapes and stripes, this formed a shady appearance to the movies, and made the audience aware that something dodgy was going on thus forming a mood which was the basis to the representation of film noirs. Directors would often use abstract shapes and design in the layout of the background to noir’s.
Another effective tool for noir’s was cinematography. Noir’s were known for using low angle, high angle wide angle and skewed angle shots. These helped to create strange visuals of the characters which appear bizarre to the audience. Close-ups and extreme close-ups were used also as well as Dutch tilts to create the strange genre that is film noir. Also along with these mirrors are used to produce abstract shapes of characters. Special effects were used by directors to portray dreamy visual representation in some noir’s.
The Mise-en-scene of noirs was important to their personality. Actors especially male would often be seen in trench coats and suits essentially formal dress. Location shooting was introduced in the later film noir’s but this was after the peak time for the noir’s however and contrasted from the previous use in noir’s in which films where shots on only a few sets. A further tool which noir’s used unlike other films of their time was night-for-night shooting – where the parts of films which were meant to be the night time were actually filmed at night, different to many films which filmed scenes in the day and made them look like the night e.g. day-for-night. Much of film noir was set in dark cities with rainy streets and tall overwhelming buildings which generally was an urban setting. Moreover the lighting used for noirs would be seen to be low key and using high contrast images so that there were not many mid-tones used but mostly extreme black or extreme white. The lighting also was used to cut the characters faces in pieces using the props as well such as blinds. A feature which noir's were known for was the male anti-hero who was often central in storylines. He would be the everyday working man who wants to earn a decent living but by one mistake is drawn into an ever worsening spiral. The moral to noirs by using this type of character and presenting them to the audience of films is that crime does not pay and mistakes which you make will eventually catch up with you.
The narrative to film noir often painted a picture of dark shady characters in urban American. Story lines would frequently include betrayal, double crossing, characters unable to escape the world of crime which they had been thrown into i.e. sin and punishment, heists, murder, whodunit, gangsters and amnesia. Unlike many movies around at the peak of noir, there was commonly an unhappy end to noir’s as couples would rarely end up together, this differed from the usual happy ending of most films. Also a distinctive element to film noir was the dominant and deadly women which were in many plots, they would appear attractive and appealing woman to their prey, but end up being cynical killers, and these were women known as femme fatale which became a famous term relate to noir’s. This in itself was different to other crime around at the time were often this type of character would be male. The idea of deadly woman stemmed somewhat from pulp fiction in the early 1990s where noir has noted as taking many of its ideas from. Another source for the sort of plot film noir that is associated with is gangster films which are a clear link due to the violence both involved. Film noir was well-known for having a non-linear narrative.
Sound in noir's was intelligently used to add to suspense or just to make viewers aware of an important point in the film. Downbeat jazz would be used to add to the mood during certain scenes. Furthermore bizarre music would be used in situations such as dreams or during a killing to add effect. The sound in the location of noir's was cleverly used at times as well with noises from the urban cities acting as background noise through scenes. Further to this the characters would be used to add to the mood of films in certain scenes, sounds such as heavy breathing would be used, the anti-hero would voice over scenes during flashbacks in films making use of a non-linear narrative. More sounds that were used were unexpected noises to alert the audience as well as the use of silence and quiet in scenes where suspense in key which is an important feature to thriller as suspense is what they are based around.
Editing in noirs was mostly seen as jumps cuts and dissolves from one shot to the next. A feature in many noirs such as Double Indemnity (1944) was the use of a non-linear narrative where the start is at the end. However continuity editing was used for many scenes as noirs were lower budget film and B films it is quicker and cheaper.
So with the many different and commonly occurring types of film labelled noirs it can be seen therefore as a fair assessment to say that film noir is in itself a genre rather than a subsection of crime thriller. Due the personality noir's partake which are very much part of their own identity; noirs are clearly apart from other genre of the crime thriller genre.
Film noir is the name given to films which were often crime thrillers with similar plots of a seamy or criminal underworld and cynical characters. The films were best recognized in the early 1940s to late 1950s. The term film noir itself is French and was first introduced to these types of film by French film critic Nino Frank in 1946, when translated into English Film noir means black film/black cinema. Frank along with other French film critics had not seen the films due to the war and watched them following the end of World War 2 in 1946. The critics realised that many films they watched after the war possessed similar dark moods and feeling, crime thrillers set in underworlds usually in major American cities, upon viewing these films Frank named them film noir due to these similar characteristics.
The German Expressionism of the 1920s influenced the mood of film noirs and was a factor in the dark feel to the movies. Noirs were produced as B movies for Hollywood films which had a-lists stars and were A movies so Film Noir would be the inferior films produced at the time. This meant however that the dark and visual interpretations of reality which film noir created would be less monitored by producers in Hollywood as they focus more on A movies which left directors able to make movies which reflected the mood at attitude of people around the time in which film noir’s were first released.
Moreover this attitude of which the public had at the time was one of somewhat anger and frustration as the Second World War was at large. Film noir were very much influenced by European film makers who fled to Hollywood to escape the war and expressed their feelings in this type of film. However due to the war the early film noir movie were only available in America as much of Europe was under threat from the Nazis, so it was not until after the war that the Europeans were able to first see film noir’s, and it was at this time in the mid 1940s that Nino Frank defined the crime thriller from Hollywood as film noir’s. Filmakers such as Billy Wilder, Otto Preminger and Fritz Lang were part of the escape to America.
The narrative of film noir’s were along with being crime thriller very much based around a gangster environment and had many cynical characters who were more seen as working class criminals rather than gangsters seen in previous movies. Many of the central connections or romances seen in noirs ended in disaster, lust motivated wrong decisions made by the characters would spiral downhill, characters were betrayed frequently with murder being a continual inclusion in the movies with bent police officers involved also.
Also film noir’s are known for introducing femme fatales who were feisty female characters both attractive as well as confident and predatory killers which different from the naturals view of this type of character being male. The creation of this type of character made it reflect society during the war where many women were working in the working as the men were at war and many women not wanting to give up the workplace jobs after the war either. At the time of the war women took on greater responsibility and this feel is shown by the fatales in the noirs as they are not seen as weak characters but quite the opposite.
As well as the narrative film noir’s are well known for their use of stark, expressionistic lighting, special camerawork and was usually portrayed in the movies in an urban environment. Also for the very early films which were in black and white this lighting and camerawork combined together to create a dark feeling to the films. The use of the setting in the films backed this up further with rainy streets and alleys, long imposing shadows and tall buildings being used as the setting for noirs.
Much of the idea behind film noir came from what are known as pulp fiction private eye crime books sometimes referred to as hard boiled books which where earlier than the film noir’s and had similar plots to them. Other sources where it is believed the mood for film noir’s revived from are gangster movies of the early 1900s which accounts who the violence in them.
Lastly there has been great deliberation over whether film noir should be considered as I film genre or not. Some argue that it is simply the mood, style, point-of-view or tone of the film rather than it being in a separate category of its own but under the crime genre. However due to the differences of this type of film compared to other crime film it is maybe justified that film noir should have its own sub category in the film genre but it is certainly not the view of everyone towards film noir.
Examples of film noir’s include: The Maltese Falcon (1941) Murder, My sweet (1944) Double Indemnity (1944) The Woman in the Window (1944) and Laura (1944).
