As my readers are fully aware, I have reviewed several movies here, belonging to the Film Noir genre. I think it is important to be clear about what I mean. In this series of articlse, lets try to pin down the definition and the motivation behind noir. In subsequent articles, we will take a detailed look into their guts. This article may take my readers by surprise. The series will not be sequential but interspersed among my regular articles.

What do I mean by looking into the guts of film noir? We will look at their origins, where they get their plots, the characters, both men and women who inhabit their universe and how they influenced modern cinema. We will look at the forerunners of film noir like pre-code and melodrama movies. We will also look at how cheap literature like crime fiction inspired their plots. Hopefully, while it may start slow, it will be a wild interesting ride.

By no means, am I an expert on noir. Film noir has grabbed my fascination recently and I am only a tyro seeking to learn more. Hopefully, you my readers will join me as we explore this style of movie making.

What is Film Noir?

Let’s break down the words. The word ‘noir’ is the French word for black. This should give us our first clue. 

• The movies of this genre have dark undertones.  For one thing, all of the classic noir was filmed in black-and-white. While the jury is out on this statement, for my purposes, I’ll stick to it.
• Besides, their plots are dark, or as we progress into the movie, become dark. They almost always end in tragedy. As Ebert put it, ‘[a film noir movie is] a movie which at no time misleads you into thinking there is going to be a happy ending.”

• Most of the stories happen at night. The locales are dark apartments, mansions, bars, diners or restaurants. Outdoor locales are usually dark alleyways or streets under neon signs of a city. If there are shots of the outdoors during the day, the technology was not adequate enough to conceal the fact that most of these scenes were shot indoors with a facade.
• The site Studiobuilder defines noir as follows: “Film noir is a stylized genre of film marked by pessimism, fatalism, and cynicism. The term was originally used in France after WWII, to describe American thriller or detective films in the 1940s and 50s.”

Here are other definitions I found online.

Let us look at Encyclopedia Britannica’s definition

“film noir, (French: “dark film”) style of filmmaking characterized by such elements as cynical heroes, stark lighting effects, frequent use of flashbacks, intricate plots, and an underlying existentialist philosophy. The genre was prevalent mostly in American crime dramas of the post-World War II era.”

Good old Wikipedia has a short, sweet definition:

“Film noir is a cinematic term used primarily to describe stylish Hollywood crime dramas, particularly those that emphasize cynical attitudes and motivations.”

Also check out my idol, Roger Ebert’s guide to noir.

When were they made?

• Though many movies, even made today are referred to as Noir, many critics consider film noir movies to be made during the 40s and the 50s. The 40s were considered the period of classic film noir.

What was it like in the 40s and 50s?

To understand the mood and pessimism that impacted the period of classic noir, we need to answer the above question. So let us look at Historical events at this time.

• America was just coming out of the Great Depression(1929-1939).
• The official start and end dates of World War II are September 1, 1939 and September 2, 1945. Many noir movies feature characters, often their male protagonists, returning from a stint of serving in the war. One can understand their pessimism and the impact it has had on their lives.
• The cold war officially said to begin in March 1947 and continue well into the 90s. Many noir plots involved the threat of a nuclear bomb. (‘Kiss me Deadly‘ was one.)
• There was the ‘Red Scare’ that caused mass paranoia that America may fall into communism and that communists will infiltrate our government, our institutions, our corporations, and even our citizenry.
• Interestingly, even Hollywood felt vulnerable with the rise of television. Vague Visages has this to say about the classic noir movie, Sunset Boulevard. “Sunset Blvd. is an anxiety dream of obsolescence. Hollywood’s fear of irrelevance is embodied in washed-up silent film star Norman Desmond (Gloria Swanson). Death and dissolution hang over the milieu that writer/director Billy Wilder and co-writer Charles Brackett create, framed by the body in the opening scene.”

Maybe by understanding all these factors, we can get an idea of why characters in noir(mostly men) were cynical.

There were limitations to movie making too.

• Cameras were bulky objects, As a result, movement on scene was quite limited to a single space.
• In the absence of special effects, fights had to be limited to a few blows, or in most cases, a single punch.
• There were limits to the plot too.
  • Crime needed to have legal consequences. Unlike modern plots, anyone who committed a crime had to be punished.
  • Films needed to abide by the Victorian moral code. Gender roles were well defined, chastity, sexual propriety were imposed by society

One thing is certain. It was all these fears and restrictions that brought out the best innovation in film making.

• It challenged cinematographers to innovate by using light and shadow. We will examine film noir lighting in a forthcoming article.
• It challenged writers and directors to write compelling plots and riveting screenplays. It seems that as time progressed, modern movies became more oblivious to the screenplay and as a result suffered the consequences. Many modern filmmakers try to remake the Noir movie and their plots to fit in contemporary times. Sometime this works well and other times, the strategy fails.
• It brought out some of the best talent in acting in both men and women. This period is often considered the golden age of Hollywood.
• Many film noir directors took the risk of breaking the moral code and push the limits of censorship

I think this is a good place to stop for now. The next part of this series will be here soon enough. I will return to my customary review of movies tomorrow. I also warn my readers in advance, I do plan to take diversions and may end up surprising you. Let’s wait and see.

Here are other posts in this series.