Title.
Film Noir Commentary
In this unit of work we have been studying Film Noir. We have learnt a lot of things in this study and have worked on all the conventions which involve film noir. Film Noir is a term used to describe a certain type of Hollywood Crime Dramas. It is a style of film from the years 1940s to 1950s and the first film noir film to be created was by a French critic Nino Frank in 1946. Movies of this genre were shot in, black and white and featured stories involving Femme Fatales, doomed heroes- anti-heroes, and tough yet cynical detectives. Film Noir is French for 'black film'. We studied a lot of Film Noir films and also did a lot of research to help us when we came to our coursework. We looked at pictures from Film Noir films and listed down conventions we saw from these pictures. We also looked at a lot of films and compared the two and put down all the similarities and why each film was film noir. Film Noir contains two main things, strong visual style and dark characters and storylines.
Firstly with strong visual style we looked at a lot of different styles there were and how each one linked to Film Noir. First we looked at Venetian blinds and saw in how nearly every film there was a scene with a person or object in front of blinds had a casting shadow reflected onto them. This effect creates a shadow on the person or objects body leaving stripped shadow lines. An example of where venetian blinds are used is when we looked at the Film, Double Indemnity. A stripped shadow was left on the character Walter Neff, as he visited Phyllis Detrictions house. Plus another scene where there is venation blinds, is when Walter Neff is with Keys Barton, in the office. As u can see the picture above. The second piece of visual style which we looked at was Chiaroscuro lighting. Italian for 'black and white' lighting. Chiaroscuro lighting only uses light from one light source. Chiaroscuro is a type of extreme lighting used in film noir to create distinct areas of light and dark. It creates long shadows and a moody atmosphere which often reflect the events of the film. An example of where chiaroscuro lighting is used, s in the film, The Third Man, we watched the trailer, and saw a close up shot of a man called Harry, where we saw chiaroscuro lighting. As chiaroscuro lighting is from only one light source, it lights up only one side of the characters face, and leaves the other side dark. This, shows makes us feel uneasy and, we sense that the character has two sides to its character.
We also looked at another visual style, called the Dutch angle. The Dutch angles are often used to portray the psychological uneasiness or tension in what is being filmed. This shot is achieved by tilting the camera to the side on an angle. The shot has the horizon at an angle to the bottom line of the frame. An example of the Dutch angle is in the film, The Third Man, with the shot of the street with Harry standing in front of on a tilt.
Most film noir films are normally non-linear. They start from the end, and the film turns into a flashback. An example is in the film Double Indemnity. Walter Neff tells the story from the end, where he is talking through the phone as he has been shot in the shoulder, and tell the story from a flashback from where it started.
Most film noir film, use voice over’s, which a convention of film noir is. There is a voice over in non-linear narratives. Walter Neff, in double indemnity, is the voice over throughout the film talking into the phone to Barton Keys.
There are two main influences on film noir style, artistic influences and historical. I will start with artistic influences. I’ll start with German Expressionism, which consists of dark and shadowy films. A film which we looked at was Nosferatsu and ‘M’. In both films we saw all the conventions of Dutch angles, a lot of dark alley ways and shadows. A German film movement from the 1920s. Following World War 1, the German film industry found it hard to create movies that could compare with the extravagant features coming from Hollywood. German filmmakers developed their own style by using symbolism and artistic mise en scene, to add mood and deeper meaning to a movie.
Next I will explain the gangster films, which mostly involve crime murder and guns. The gangster films mostly were made throughout the years 1930 and 1940. A gangster movie which we first looked at was, Scarface. This was the first gangster movie which was made in 1932. Al Capone became the Scarface as he had a scar on the top of his eye. The film contained chiaroscuro lighting, and was filmed in black and white. It was filmed in an urban setting and used a light from only one source, meaning there were longer shadows and more chiaroscuro lighting. This film is film noir because it contains the conventions, Trilby hats and guns. Film shot in black and white.
The next artistic influence is the Universal horror movies. A universal movie consists of horror, science fiction and suspence. This type of film sometime leaves the viewer on a cliff hanger thinking what will happen next.
The last artistic influence is Hard Boil novels. This type of film noir is about suspense and murder. A film we looked at was Pulp Fiction. (1994). This was an American crime film and the film is known for its rich, eclectic dialogue, ironic mix of humour and violence, nonlinear storyline, and host of cinematic and pop culture references.
The other influence is historical. I will start with World War 2. This war went on from September 1, 1939 – September 2, 1945. The total death range of world war two was, from 50 million to over 70 million. As men were away as soldiers, women were left at home by themselves lonely. This lead to insecurity and women turning into femme fatales.
The Cuban Missile Crisis started in 1962. Russia was prepared to use nuclear weapons against the USA. USA had the better weapons than the Russians. The Russians were prepared to use Cuba to fire missiles a USA. Russia's missiles could not reach USA from Russia so it was easier to fire from Cuba because it was closer to USA. USA could have fired all the way to Russia but Kennedy held back and waited for Russia to make the first move.
Kennedy then announced the discovery of The Missile Institution to the public. He decided to spy around the Cuba Island, by using Spy Planes to check on Cuba and see what they were up to. USA then put up a Naval Quarantine so nothing could shoot to USA from Cuba. Every two hours spy planes would go and check on Cuba and report back to Kennedy in the USA. Russia exported missiles to Cuba so they could shoot USA.
Tensions finally began to ease on October 28 when Khrushchev announced that he would dismantle the installations and return the missiles to the Soviet Union, expressing his trust that the United States would not invade Cuba. Further negotiations were held to implement the October 28 agreement, including a United States demand that Soviet light bombers be removed from Cuba, and specifying the exact form and conditions of United States assurances not to invade Cuba.
Our key text was Billy Wilder’s, Double Indemnity (1944). The film is about an insurance salesman who has been shot. This film is non-linear and tells the story as a flash back using a voiceover. Walter Neff narrates the story. He falls in love with a femme fatal called Phyllis Dietrichon, who controls Walter Neff by her looks. We knew Walter Neff liked Phyllis, as he flirts with her the first time he meets her.
Its tagline was It's Love and Murder at First Sight! It was nominated for 7 Oscars. Double Indemnity had a lot of main characters that made the film what it is. The film was a non-linear narrative because it starts from right at the end of the story all the way to the beginning through flash backs. Walter Neff is the Narrator of the film as he talks through a recording device telling the plot of the story. The plot was complicated at first; Walter Neff was a sales man selling insurances to people. While he was trying to find a man called Mr. Dietrichson he met his wife called Phyllis Dietrichson, who he then fell in love with. We saw how Walter liked Phyllis because of him flirting with her about her clothes and insurance. Phyllis asks Walter for accident insurance for her husband because she doesn’t like the way he treats her. She wants to kill him and get his money from insurance. Walter doesn’t miss a trick, and figures out straight away what her plan was. Because he likes Phyllis very much he tell her about Keys and how he will catch her out. Walter then agrees to help Phyllis kill her husband and comes up with a clever, cunning plan. Because Walter works for an insurance company he will know how to kill Mr Dietrichson without getting caught. Walter makes Mr Dietrichson into signing an accident insurance contract. He comes up with a better plan which will get Phyllis double her money back called 'Double Indemnity', which happens if there are any unusual ways which people die, like off a train. Walter plan was to kill Mr Dietrichson in a car and then jump onto a train leaving the dead body behind on the track.
The plan all goes terribly wrong and they end up shooting each other leaving Neff trapped and dying. This film was film noir as, it contained Trilby Hats, Chiaroscuro lighting, Venetian blinds, Femme fatales, shadows, cigarettes with matches, smoke, long shadows, protagonists, different camera angles and smart dressing.
My first impressions of Double indemnity were, boring and black and white. I have seen many black and white films on television and watched something else straight away due to thoughts that they were classical and not like modern films I would go and see in cinemas. But when I saw Double Indemnity I was thrilled on how interesting and exiting they were. I wanted to watch more and more of it to see what happens next. The film leaves you on a great cliff hanger, one scene which left me on a great cliff hanger was the scene when they were going to actually carry out their plan and I wanted to see how their plan actually was going to be carried out. Another cliff hanger which was also my favourite scene in the film was when Phyllis and Walter had just carried out their plan and was about to escape but Phyllis could not start up the car.
