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Film noir (/ n w ɑːr /; French: [film nwaʁ]) is a cinematic term used primarily to describe stylized Hollywood crime dramas, particularly those that emphasize cynical attitudes and motivations. The 1940s and 1950s are generally regarded as the "classic period" of American film noir.
- United States
- early 1920s – late 1950s
Jun 27, 2021 · 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. Though, Hollywood’s film noir stretches back to the 1920s.
Dec 16, 2019 · The term “film noir” is typically credited to French critic Nino Frank, who apparently coined it in a 1946 essay published in the magazine L’Écran français to describe four American crime...
Jan 15, 2024 · Film noir is a term used to describe a genre of films that emerged in the United States in the 1940s and 1950s. The term "film noir" is a French term meaning "black film" or "dark film," which refers to the dark and moody themes and visual style of these films.
- The History of Film Noir
- Film Noir Style
- Neo-Noir/Modern Film Noir
- Classic Film Noir Examples
Film noir had its beginnings in the 1930s, but didn't really take off until the 1940s. Its origins are often attributed to attitudes of pessimism and anxiety that arose from World War II, but film noir wasn't inspired by any one cultural event. One contributing factor was literature. At the time, hardboiled detective stories and crime mysteries wri...
What made telling these stories so difficult was the Motion Picture Production Code, a set of moral guidelines that affected all American movies beginning in 1930. Back then, there was no MPAA, or a rating system to give films age restrictions like "PG-13". The Production Code forced all films to obey the same rules. Under the new rules, there was ...
The golden age of film noir is over, but its influences are still present in modern cinema, hence the rise of "neo-noir." The newer films don't have to go by the same rules, since the Production Code ended in 1968. A film that's considered "neo-noir" can be characterized by the same elements found in the older films, such as femme fatales, anti-her...
Among the most notable examples of classic film noir are Double Indemnity, Laura, Vertigo, and This Gun for Hire. One of the earliest -- and most famous -- is The Maltese Falcon. Directed by John Huston, the 1942 film starred Humphrey Bogart as Sam Spade, a private eye who gets dragged into a mystery that revolves around the whereabouts of a pricel...
2 days ago · Initially coined by Italian-born French film critic Nino Frank, he used the term to describe a wave of American films made in the 1940s with dark themes and highly stylized cinematography.
Nov 7, 2023 · Film Noir: Meaning. Burt Lancaster and Sam Levene in The Killers, dir. Robert Siodmak, 1946, via IMDb. Film Noir is a type of thriller film that focuses on psychological dimensions of crime and uses heightened, stylized mise-en-scène. That is the simple definition, but things are not so straightforward.
