What is film noir?
Film noir is a style of film with similar codes and conventions. A group of films with pessimistic undertones and dark stylistics. Common settings for a film noir are rainy streets, dark alleys and seedy bars using long contrasting shadows against minimal light. A world full of wrong decisions, double crosses, crime, corruption, conspiracy and murder with the main characters generally being private investigators and femme fetales.
The origin of film noir
In WW2 the main concentration was the war effort. Therefore places in Europe couldn't get films from Hollywood. At the end of the war, the films finally arrived in France. After watching these films, french critics noticed a trend in these films, all having a similar dark tone and pessimistic attitude. Nino Frank was the one who coined the phrase "film noir" due to this fact. The depression and darkness of the war was expressed through these films.
B movies
In early Hollywood films, you would get 2 films instead of 1. An "A" movie and a "B" movie. The A movies would have all the famous actors, directors and big budgets. The B movie would be a cheaply made film using old sets and new actors. These movies were low budget and therefore werent watched as closely giving the directors more creative freedom, allowing them to create darker and illusive messages. This is where film noir was first created.
Pulp fiction
These were "hard boiled" crime books which helped influence film noir with dark tones, femme fatales, crime and murder. Common pulp fiction authors were: Raymond Chandler, James M Cain and Dashiell Hammet.
Gangster films
It is argued that film noir is not a genre itself but an extension of gangster movies and the sub-genre "crime". This is where film noir was adapted from, often using the same sets and crews.
Women during the war
Femme fatales were created because of the empowerment of women during these times. The women were now being able to work in the workplace as the men were sent to fight in the war. Before, women would usually be at home while the men worked. This was a big change from what the men were used to and the men felt threatened by the empowered women. This power is reflected through the femme fatales in the movies, being confident, provocative and attractive.
During the war, many of the eastern european film makers fled their countries to hollywood. It was these film makers that made some of the best film noirs made. All the emotions felt from the war, they brought back and expressed through their films and with them they brought new techniques and styles from europe.
German Expressionism
The style of german expressionism influenced film noir, using techniques such as the use of light and shade.
Red Threat
With the fascism of nazis and the cold war between the US and USSR, the americans gained an immense fear and hatred towards communism. This was known as "the red threat". Many of the directors grassed up other directors so that they would be blacklisted and could no longer work in hollywood. This created anxiety which was reflected in the noirs.
