What is neo-noir?

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 Sin City 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: Sin City (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 Sin City 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.