Okay.... Steve - just in case you're not pulling our leg, I'll cut and paste part of my review which gives a rather brief overview of what many consider to be common elements of noir - and there are plenty that I haven't even included.
Quote:
“Film Noir” (meaning black or dark film) is a term that was coined by French film critics who noticed a trend of how dark and black the themes were of many American crime and detective films released in France following the war. Generally, these films became prominent during the post war era and are generally thought to have lasted up and until 1960. Having said that, you’ll find many who classify true film noir titles between the timeframe of 1940 through to 1960 having evolved from the crime/gangster genre of the 30’s with such films as Public Enemy (1931), Scarface (1932) and I Am a Fugitive from a Chain Gang (1932). Asking somebody for a specific definition of “film noir” is similar to asking ten different people about buying a computer – you’ll get ten different responses. Generally, you won’t get any wrong answers as to what the genre is, but you will get differing views and opinions as what elements should be inclusive and whether or not a specific film fits that criterion. Film noir might be the only genre that is defined by the mood or the atmosphere of the film rather than the specific plot itself.
The principle mood of classic film noir is generally that of bleakness, pessimism, disillusionment, morally corrupt, and generally contain characters that are corrupt themselves, in some facet of life i.e. hard-boiled detectives or private eyes, small time criminals, and murderers. These protagonists (usually “chumps”) are quite often smitten and usually lack morals leading to theft, quick-get-rich schemes, extortion and even murder. Another common element is the presence of femme fatales who frequently possess one of two traits; the dutiful, reliable, trustworthy and loving women or the mysterious, duplicitous, double-crossing, gorgeous vixens.
More often than not, the protagonist in the film makes a decision based on his feelings for the female character, which inevitably is a fatal error. The overall appearance of a film noir usually possesses characteristics of dark lighting rendering various shadowy images, off center camera angles, low rent/flop house/seedier type accommodations and plumes of cigarette smoke. Many of these stories are told by way of a series of flashbacks or reflective voice-over narration and tend to contain repartee of sharp witted barbs, heavy on sarcasm.
Some don’t consider color films to be true examples of film noir. If such were the case, films like Slightly Scarlet, Niagara, Leave Her To Heaven, House of Bamboo and A Kiss Before Dying would all be wrongly excluded. While the biggest ingredient in common with the genre seems to be the element of crime, even that quality can be noticeably absent from time to time. There are a number of modern day titles that possess many of the qualities found in classic noirs such as Blade Runner, Chinatown, L.A. Confidential and The Man Who Wasn’t There, these are usually referred to as neo-noirs. There is often discussion as to whether certain western films classify as noir. Films such as Pursued, The Return Of Frank James and even Winchester ‘73 often find their way onto various noir lists. However, I have a hard time buying into a western being noir, but that’s just me. Don’t get me wrong, I love westerns I just have a hard time thinking of them as noir. |
A couple of years ago, I started working on a
Film Noir list of titles as I became more interested in the genre. It became increasingly clear that regardless of how many books I read or sites I visited, there was no clear cut definitive definition as to what film noir is or how it is defined. In fact on one of the sites was a list that another enthusiast had compiled where he stated that "none of the films came with certificates of authenticity", which is so true when trying to describe the genre.
Using my own list for example which consists of almost 1000 titles, probably only half of those are considered true classic films noir. My reason for their inclusion was to (hopefully) mention or bring attention to films that do indeed contain elements of the genre itself. Chances are if you are a fan of noir, you'll have an appreciation for the vast majority of what is listed. Two really good examples are
On The Waterfront and
The Lost Weekend. Both are great films and both have many elements common with the genre, but rarely do they make the "final cut" of true film noir lists. However, more often than not, you will see them both listed on lengthy noir lists. Personally I have included
The Lost Weekend, but I have been undecided as to whether I want to include OTW on my list.
Looking over these lists certainly reinforces my thoughts on the picks of the WB boxed set. I have to wonder if the five choices were merely examples of elements that were in great shape (thus, an inexpensive package for WB to sell since major restoration wouldn't be required - and I have no idea what the elements were like), or if somebody on the ball thought to go through the library and pick out 5 excellent, yet varying styles of the genre. In both cases, they succeeded, which is why this boxed set is so special. You have a clear cut heist film, a noir with a rather impulsive and almost comedic protagonist in MMS’s Marlowe, one of the best (if not
the best) “B” pictures ever made in GC, a femme fatale that is every bit an equal (Greer) to the oft compared performance of Stanwyck’s Dietrichson in
Double Indemnity, and a film with little to no criminal activity
and a fight film in TS-U. Truly brilliant choices.
As for the dates of true film noir, quite often (if not most of the time) you’ll see a span from 1940 through 1960. It seems as though most of the experts consider
The Maltese Falcon (1941) to be the first true film noir, while Welles’
Touch Of Evil (1958) was considered the last true noir to have been made, thus the dates spanning from ‘40 to ’60. Sure, there are quite a few good films that I consider to be true noirs that were made in the late 30’s and some in the early 60’s, but personally I don’t
feel (literally and figuratively) anything made after that period to be true film noir. That’s not to say films can’t have many of the elements or even all of the elements i.e.
Chinatown, but when I watch that classic specifically (and I love that film), I’m not left with the same inner feelings as I would be if I were to watch
The Killers or
The Maltese Falcon. So personally I would prefer to refer to the contemporaries as neo-noirs. I firmly believe the feeling or mood of the film is every bit as important as the list of so-called elements it
should contain. Films that were produced after the early to mid 60’s (at least while describing noir), fail to evoke that specific feeling or emotion. To look at things from the opposite end,
The Night Of The Hunter and
Kiss Me Deadly are two films you’ll see listed on every single noir list in the history of film – neither of which did it for me. While I really enjoy TNotH as a film (Mitchum is one of my favs), I personally just don’t feel it’s that nourish. KMD on the other hand was truly noir but one I really didn’t care for.
The truth of the matter is that many of the purists or staunch diehards exclude many great titles for a number of reasons i.e. films with happy endings, films with no criminal element, films that lack a femme fatale, color films, films that lack shadowy images. If we were to stick to the strictest so-called definitions of the genre, we’d have a list that consisted of about 25 films, and frankly, there are far too many great films that hit the target for fans to exclude.
Time for bed… I just got in from
F911 and my head is still spinning…
