Search results
May 20, 2024 · genre. film noir, 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.
- The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica
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.
Nov 7, 2023 · Kiss Me Deadly, dir. Robert Aldrich, 1955, via IMDb Film Noir was a product of the turbulent early era of the 20th century and an heir of many art movements of the 1920s and 1930s. Born in the 1940s, during the height and aftermath of the Second World War, Film Noir carried the cruelty and disquietude of the conflict, as well as the inherited traumas of the First World War and the Great
- The Maltese Falcon (1941) Though two prior adaptations of detective novelist Dashiell Hammett's The Maltese Falcon were made before this adaptation, John Huston's 1941 version remains a film noir classic.
- Double Indemnity (1944) Based on the crime novel by James M. Cain, Double Indemnity was directed by Billy Wilder, who also co-wrote the script with famed crime novelist Raymond Chandler.
- Sunset Blvd. (1950) Though Billy Wilder's Sunset Blvd. eschews many of the common narrative elements of film noir, it is unarguably one of the most important works of the genre.
- Sweet Smell of Success (1957) Director Alexander Mackendrick's Sweet Smell of Success follows New York press agent Sidney Falco (Tony Curtis) who is blackmailed by a famous newspaper columnist (Burt Lancaster) into framing a jazz musician for drug possession.
Nicholas Christopher, Somewhere in the Night (1997) While many critics refer to film noir as a genre itself, others argue that it can be no such thing. Foster Hirsch defines a genre as determined by "conventions of narrative structure, characterization, theme, and visual design." Hirsch, as one who has taken the position that film noir is a genre, argues that these elements are present "in ...
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. Film noir films often feature morally ambiguous characters, cynical and ...
People also ask
What is a film noir style?
Why is film noir important?
What are some examples of film noir?
What are the visual elements of film noir?
Aug 18, 2015 · In a epic infographic from the BFI , Adam Frost and designer Melanie Patrick break down the story elements and stylistic attributes that make noir such an essential and intriguing part of American cinema history. And as an added bonus, they even created a rubric in order to score the greatest noir films ever made and determine which one is the ...
