Film Noir Journal

11/19/08

I've just finished watching Blade Runner and The Maltese Falcon, so I now have a pretty good idea of what film noir really is. It's not a genre, per se, of film making, but a style. It can cross genres easily, from the classic whodunits of The Maltese Falcon and Double Indemnity, to the futuristic science fiction of Blade Runner. After careful analysis, here's my list of what makes a movie film noir:

Required (or at least highly desirable):

• Very dark (lighting), with lots of shadows
• Very dark and somber mood or feel
• The hero or protagonist is either a cop, ex-cop, or private investigator
• The hero usually becomes involved in the situation against his will or better judgement
  
• The hero narrating the film in a flashback voiceover
• Murder, or some other sort of crime
• Some sort of plot twist
• All nonessential dialogue is very short and to the point
• The characters (or at least the protagonists) all smoke and/or drink rather frequently
  

Optional (but preferable)

• All the men wear fedoras and trench coats
  
• Corny dialogue (between characters in love, anyway)
• Liberal use of the words "dame" and "baby"

In my opinion, out of the four films I've watched, only Double Indemnity is a true example of film noir because it meets the most of my requirements, and not just that the film feature a flashback narration by the hero (The original cut of Blade Runner had such a narration). Granted, the other three films all featured characteristics of film noir, but only Indemnity seemed (to me) to fully embody and embrace the style of film noir.


11/15/08

Two films down, and I'm getting a better idea of what film noir is. It's beginning to seem less like a genre to me and more like a style of filming. Touch of Evil and Double Indemnity are both gritty detective films, but only Indemnity seems (IMO) to be noir-ish: Touch is just too bright and "happy" at times.

With that in mind, here's my updated list of what makes a film noir movie:

Required (or at least highly desirable):

• Very dark (lighting), with lots of shadows
• Very dark and somber mood or feel
  
• The hero narrating the film in a flashback voiceover
• Murder, or some other sort of crime
• Some sort of plot twist
• All nonessential dialogue is very short and to the point

Optional (but preferable)

• All the men wear fedoras and trench coats
  
• Corny dialogue (between characters in love, anyway)
• Liberal use of the words "dame" and "baby"

11/12/08

So, yesterday was my first real exposure to film noir. I was right: I like this genre. However, my exposure is (as I said) extremely limited, so I'm still trying to figure out what makes a film into film noir . Here's what I've got so far:

• Very dark (lighting), with lots of shadows
• The hero narrating the film in a flashback voiceover
• Murder
• All the men wear fedoras
• All nonessential dialogue is very short and to the point
  
• Corny dialogue (between characters in love, anyway)
• Liberal use of the words "dame" and "baby"

It's not much so far, I know, but I've still got 3 more (and hopefully) different films to watch, possibly along with some outside research, so I'll definitely be able to expand my knowledge of film noir over the coming weeks.