The
femme fatale
in
film noir.
What is film noir?
Film Noir
• Style of film making which
developed in America from the
European noir films – or black films
• Represented increasing pessimism
in society post WWII – crime on the
increase
• Initial excitement following end of
war was being replaced by fear of
internal and external threats to the
US
Cinemagraphic
techniques
•
•
•
•
Low level lighting
Extreme photographic angles
Chiaroscuro effects
Common use of streetlight
spotlighting, venetian blind
shadows, half lighting on faces.
Common moods &
themes
• Flawed hero
• Hero often an outsider to
society
• Domestic rather than external
crime
• Subjective point of view
• Temptation – offers of money,
favour, personal gain
Gender in Film Noir
One of the most
recognizable, and
both loved and
despised, visual
representations of
film noir is the femme
fatale.
2 types of femme fatale:
1. Can be the male nemesis, the
danger to the male
0r
2. Can be someone to turn to in
difficult times - as shown by
Lyn Bracken in LA Conf.
Type 1:
The femme fatale
represented, to some,
a break down in
moral values.
To others she
showed that women
could break away
from the powers of
patriarchal society –
but the cost of doing
so was huge.
Type 2:
• a male image of the female, particularly the sexuallyattractive female.
•usually a mystery woman - the façade is not the real
person
•a symbol of womanhood and of the battle of the sexes
•an empowered woman using her charms and intelligence
to get what she wants
•the equal of her male protagonist, and someone to be
very wary of.
Characteristics of the
femme fatale.
•
•
•
•
•
verbally clever
manipulative
sexy
dangerous
and - maybe even lethal to
men
The Femme
Fatale
was defined
by her
sexuality.
The visual style associated with
the femme fatale is of shadows
and silhouettes, dark underlit
scenes where mirrors and
reflections suggest the woman
is a doppelganger or "distorted
side of man's personality which
will emerge in the dark street at
night to destroy him" (Place,
1998, p.53).
Double Indemnity
Starring
Fred McMurray
Barbara Stanwyck
movie stills
This is a perfect
opportunity to ask
students to tell you the
story.
Who is in control?
What dominant readings
of gender are being
reinforced and
challenged?
A brief introduction
to the movie.
And now to meet
Phyllis.
Audience is being positioned from instant
Neff drives up in car to home.
House is crumbling stucco home in suburb
which is now home to the suburban
middle class. There is a suggestion that
there was money once.
Maid answers door – she is everything
that femme fatale is not
• Overweight
•Common
•Unattractive
•Money pinching
•Concerned about proprieties of life
Phyllis is dressed in a white towel –
suggesting innocence and
availability.
She knows, immediately, that she has
found her man. She is unnaturally
confident for a woman who has been
caught, dressed only in a towel, by a
strange man.
Camera gives Phyllis the position of
power, looking down on Neff, halfhidden by the railings.
As Phyllis walks downstairs, Neff’s gaze
and ours, is on her legs. She is dressed in
white, and is still buttoning the front of
the dress as she enters – or is she about
to unbutton the dress.
The connotations of the dress are
innocence, femininity, willingness and
availability as well as control and
gracefulness.
Phyllis automatically walks to the
mirror, not actually looking Neff in the
face. This use of the mirror reinforces
the suggestion of “the other”.
It also reinforces Phyllis’s utter selfinvolvement. Neff should heed this
message – whatever she does is
ultimately for her alone.
The film went into
production in September
of 1943 with a harshly
made-up, brassily blonde
Stanwyck. The blonde wig
was Wilder’s idea, He used
it, as he said “to
complement her anklet. I
wanted to make her look as
sleazy as possible”.
Technical Details.
• Camera focuses on Neff
but our eyes follow Phyllis
• Neff does not remove his
hat when he talks to
Phyllis, reinforcing the
idea of male superiority
• In towel scene,Lighting
appears to come from
behind, but Phyllis’s face
is softly lit
• Lighting downstairs is
darker
• Only half of Phyllis is lit,
but her legs are in perfect
light and focus
• Phyllis sits in corner of
chair while Neff perches
on edge of couch like a
predator – reinforcing
construction of male
dominance.
The next image we see of Phyllis is
alluring and overtly sexual – what many
automatically identify as the true femme
fatale.
Phyllis attempts to show domesticity –
suggestion that we (and Neff were
wrong).
But discussion moves to insurance.
Film is about breakdown of family
•destruction of family values
•power of female over male
As discussion gets darker,
so too does the lighting.
Lighting of Phyllis’s face
changes from light, bright
and angelic to shadowed
half-light.
Discourse of Family.
•Rarely young children
•Older husband
•Outwardly content
•Neff as an intruder – interloper into
happy family
Close-ups
We, the audience, get to know Phyllis
quite well.
We watched her face glow as she saw
her husband sign the insurance
forms.
At times her expressions appear
childlike.
But Phyllis and Walter rarely look at
each other.
Contrasting readings.
• Some argue that Phyllis smiles as she
realizes her husband has been strangled.
• Smug grin
• Grimace of acceptance – that what she had
done was irreversible
• Relief at impending freedom
No longer the
temptress.
Phyllis must now focus of surviving –
and pulling off the deceit.
Clothing
• Widow’s weeds only for a day – an
alluring peep hat to influence
insurance investigators
• Workman-like – shirt and skirt
• Dark glasses – to hide eyes
• Trench coat to hide behind
It can’t be that easy.
The final showdown.
• Drawing room of home –
showing the happy home that
neither will now have.
• Phyllis with a gun – final
attempt to take control?
• Soft flowing satin gown –
remembering how she
controlled Neff.
•Lighting is soft and ethereal
•Walter sits on arm of chair –
automatically assuming position of
dominance
•Viewer’s gaze remains focussed on
Phyllis – although she is in almost
complete darkness
•Lighting comes up on Phyllis as she
realizes her situation – and darkens on
Neff
•Neff taking control
• shadows of venetian blinds across
Phyllis’s face suggest there is still a
choice – prison or death – but the
choice is not hers to make
•Phyllis starts to disappear into the
shadows
•The camera looks down on her
•Viewers are positioned to feel sorry
and sympathy for Phyllis – and to
dislike Neff even more.
Phyllis chooses not to shoot the second
time.
Final close-up – she sees and accepts 2
things :
•Her humanity
•And what she has lost
An interesting closing debate:
Have Phyllis’s actions challenged and won
against the traditional masculine patriarchy by
showing that women can be strong, courageous
and take control of their own destiny
Or
Does the fact that Phyllis did not shoot the
second time suggest that she was unable to
take on board the responsibilities of the
dominant masculine discourse, showing that
women are unable to live up to the phallic
demands of society?