American Cinema
 Today
– finish Black Hawk Down –
Film Noir notes – time to work on
War reviews
 Tomorrow – War unit due
– Notes
– African Queen
– Tora! Tora! Tora!
– Black Hawk Down
Film Noir
“Black Film”
Or
“Dark Film”
The film noir genre was born
Some film
from crime films:
noir films
 audiences grew bored with
have
the criminal protagonist
criminals and
 wanted more of a hero
private eyes,
during war times
but not all
 more intelligent: German
private eye
Expressionists heavily
influenced by mise-en-scene or crime films
are film noir.
 Lasted from 1945-ish to
1950-ish
There is no true definition of a
film noir, yet many contain
similar characteristics
Darkness represents two ideas:
Darkness of setting
Darkness of humanity
Humphrey Bogart in The
Maltese Falcon (1941)
Darkness of the Setting
Cities:
Mean, nasty places where anything can
happen at any moment
 Violence and crime occur often, usually
randomly
 Sex: strip clubs, bars, sultry women
abound
 Cities are grimy, dirty places with lots of
shadows.

Darkness of the Setting
Fog:
 Fog obscures, makes unclear and
unknown.
 Fate, mystery, future .
Casablanca (1942)
What Lies Beneath (2000)
Water:
 What lies under the water?
 Rarely can the audience see below
the surface of water
 Sometimes choppy and tumultuous
 Film
Lighting
noir uses high contrast lighting with
lots of shadows.
 Sometimes props are the only source of
light
 This
is called low key lighting.
– Little key lighting (principle source of light)
– Mostly fill light (lights from side or back)
– Comedies, musicals use high key lighting to
create uniform light with little contrast
What do you see
for lighting in this
image of Bogart
from Casablanca
(1942)?
Notice the Brox Sisters
in 1929’s Singing in
the Rain. What do
you notice about the
lighting?
Darkness of Humanity:
It’s a world of paranoia and entrapment
 Male protagonist feels trapped and
overwhelmed by a situation
 Chance plays a larger role than fate
 Heavy use of mise-en-scene to show
craziness and entrapment:
–
–
–
–
–
Bars or lines in front or behind character
Tight framing
Odd angles
Slow tracking shots
Backward tracking shots
Femme Fatale


A “dangerous woman” who traps or pulls the
male protagonist (usually a common, everyday
Joe) into a world of crime and danger
She is sexy, dangerous, often filled with “mad
love,” greed, or jealousy

Often, one or the other, maybe both, will die.

AKA – The Spider Woman
– Ensnares the hero in a web of danger, lies and
death
Other Symbols
 Fog,
water, cities,
shadows
– All show obscurity or
the unknown mystery
 Transportation:
– Used as a weapon or
a place of isolation
and escape
– Cars, trains, planes,
boats
Double Indemnity (1944)
Other Symbols

Clothing:
– Symbol of status, power,
innocence or guilt
The Lady from Shanghai (1947)

Mirrors and glass:
– Sharp and dangerous yet
fragile, like life
– Shows all people are the
same
– Something might be
hidden behind a mirror
Postmodern Film Noir
Even though film noir died out, it still
exists:
– Small details have been taken from the
classics (symbols, lighting, characters)
– Some feel film noir must be black and
white, others feel that high contrast can
be achieved through vivid colors
Examples: Blade Runner (1982), The
Usual Suspects (1995), Glengarry Glen
Ross (1992)
The Maltese Falcon
 1941
 John
Huston
 A private detective takes on a case
that involves him with three
eccentric criminals, a gorgeous liar,
and their quest for a priceless
statuette.
Double Indemnity
1944
 Billy Wilder
 An insurance rep lets himself be talked
into a murder/insurance fraud scheme
that arouses an insurance investigator's
suspicions.
 Double indemnity - a provision in a lifeinsurance or accident policy whereby the
company agrees to pay twice the face of
the contract in case of accidental death
