History and Development
History
The history of Film Noir can be tracked
back from the early 1940’s stretching to the late of 1950’s. Firstly, we need
to grasp the understanding of what Film Noir is really about. According to
Susan Hayward in her book, she stated that many critics said that Film Noir is
a movement rather than a genre. It can be identified as the mood, style, point-of-view,
tone of a film or it refers to a distinct historical period of film history. Film
Noir emerged from the political instability, during the war time period, after
war time period, similar to other film movements like German Expressionism and
French New Waves Period.
Film Noir, known as "black film”
was first introduced by a French critic, Nino Frank in 1946. This era of Film Noir
is unknown by numerous American film industry professionals in that classical
era. As mention above, the classic film Noir developed during and after the war
period, taking advantage of the post-war ambience of anxiety, pessimism, and
suspicion. Film Noir is characterized based on films that
reflected the resultant tensions and insecurities of the time period where it
is portrayed as the world of dark, greed, slick city streets and crime and
corruption. There were rarely happy or optimistic endings in film noirs. The
films are noted for its dark visual style. Many European directors used this
artistic style called German Expressionism in their films, which played an important
role in the development of film noir (Keaney, 2003) . As a result of World War II, there
were vast changes on the impressions and judgments made towards women. They
have changed their existing roles as individuals who stay at home without
education to having economic independence and moved into the workforce. They are
on par with men. Therefore, we can see the existence of power of femme fatale in
the films during this era. The films
often show the dark side and bad characteristics to reflect the people and
society during that period of time.
Development
Post Noir or Neo Noir is an evolution
from the classic Film Noir. It maintains the characteristics from Film Noirs
but with updated new elements in terms of the themes, style, content and
visuals. The later films which are called neo noir can be seen in the early
1960’s till 1970’s but if often said to be a part of Film Noir due to their
independent features. It began to be distinguished and separated from those of
the classic period in the 1980’s and started to become more noticeable and
matured from 1990’s to the present day.
Back
in the 1940’s and 50’s, audiences are led to understand and build a
relationship with the protagonist in the film but Neo Noir films often reverse
this role. The usage of unconventional camera movements and the way plot moves
from one point to another are reminder for audiences that they are not
partaking in the storyline but merely watching the film. Besides that, the
later films are most likely shot in colours and use modern technology, details
that were absent to the plot of classic film noir. Blade Runner is a good
example of film that incorporates aspects from the original Film Noir movies. It
contains many dark, urban scenes which is typically found in classic noir films
but at the same time it is different because it portrays futuristic type of
plot. The sexual content that is portrayed during the classic film noirs is
also different compared to Neo Noir films. Audiences get to watch more explicit
details on the sexual content in Neo Noir films. The lines between right and
wrong, good and evil are blurred in Neo Noir films.
Contemporary
film makers have to produce films that fit the audiences’ needs and wants at
the specific period of time due to the changing social and cultural
perspectives. They have to take up the challenge of classic Film Noir and
broadened the genre. Film Noir manage to reflect the society at that period of
time using its own elements in the classical era but Nero Noir films manage to
portray the storyline in different types of elements to the audience in the
modern era. Whatever said and done, the films are developed and constantly
changing to satisfy the audiences.
Characteristics of Film Noir
In a film noir, the reason of using the low key lighting is to show the high-contrast among the characters to give audiences a sense of corrupted characters, social malaise, pessimism, suspicion and also blurred morals that the characters have.
The characters in the film noir are usually unclear where half of their face or body is in shadows and another half is fragmented. Other than the low-key lighting, film noir also used German Expressionistic to give distorted effects on the characters by
creating a dark mise-en-scene and also lots of oblique vertical and horizontal lines. This visual has given the audiences know that the characters in the film are corrupted, they are cynical and pessimism.
In addition, in film noir there are always have locations such as alleyways, cramped corridors and the setting is city-bound, comprising of rain-washed roads and dimly-lit interiors. Most of the time, the shots in the film are tightly framed and often with extreme camera angles to show the abnormal and also to feature of the world of criminal, fearful and greed.
It was during the WWII when film noir was being generated where the men had to fight for the country and the women had start to go out from their house and working. Film noir is about power relations and sexual identity
On the other hand for male characters, film noir features men as very manly, greedy and they are suffered from psychological damages as their position in the society is changing because of the war. Film noir intention to send the women back to the home and not to work so that the men can continue their job as being the one who earn money to raise the family. The men in film noir are relying on female for his subjectivity. The male character(s) in film noir usually are hard boiled antihero who is very tough, street smart.
Film noir usually features a narration which it’s about which voice is going to gain control over the storytelling and control over the image of the woman in the end of the film.
Synopsis of 'The Maltese Falcon'
Sam Spade and Miles Archer are San Francisco's private detective agents. These two men are partners but Sam secretly doesn’t like Miles. Miss Wanderly approaches Spade and Archer to find her younger sister who ran off with Floyd Thursby.
These two men agreed to find Miss Wanderly's missing sister because the fees given by Miss Wanderly seem good, but Spade has the feeling that Miss Wanderly is trouble and isn't as innocent as she appears. Archer is shot dead during the search of Thursby and later Tursby is also found dead. Miss Wanderly is surrounded by dangerous mans and her only hope is Spade. Police suspects Spade for the murder of Archer, but there is no strong evidence against him. Archer’s wife visited Spade to clarify whether the murder of her husband was committed by him because both of them were actually having an affair.
Film Analysis
Film Noir is an amazing film style to analyse. The film that is chosen to analyse film noir is 'The Maltese Falcon'. Based on the characteristics of Film Noir, here are some examples of the traits of the film style in 'The Maltese Falcon':-
1) First of all In Film Noir the impression of night-time photography with low-key lighting, deep shadows and oblique angles are shown.
In the Movie 'The Maltese Falcon' shadows represent corrupted characters. For example at the end of the movie the Miss O'Shaughnessy's shadow is long besides her, reflecting on the wall. During the scene where Mr.Spade is on the phone with the police, he reveals the criminals to the police. Miss O'Shaughnessy is scared but in truth she is not as innocent as she seems as she killed Mr. Miles.
Reason of using the low key lighting in the film is to also show the high-contrast among the characters to give audiences a sense of corrupted characters, social malaise, pessimism, suspicion and also blurred morals.When Sam Spade returns home O'Shaughnessy, Wilmer, Cairo, and Gutman have a conversation or discussion. In this scene there is low key lighting representing an uneasy feeling and criminal motives to the scene. The high-contrast among the characters shows that they are all corrupted and only want to look out for themselves. Wilmer, Cairo and Gutman all want to pricy falcon. O’Shaughnessy wants to be protected from the police. Sam Spade wants to get the money for retrieving the Falcon. All of them are in greed. This scene contains blurred morals as we know all the characters are self-centered.
2) The next trait of film noir is having the character's face or body in shadows and another half fragmented.
This can be seen when Mr.Spade rings Casper Gutman's doors bell. He is facing the door and half of his face in the shadows and half cannot be seen. This is to show his intention is not pure, he is not just going to meet Mr.Gutman he intend to get some reward from it. He intends to find out what the falcon is worth and wants some money of it.
3) German Expressionistic to give distorted effects on the characters by creating a dark mise-en-scene and also lots of oblique vertical and horizontal lines. This visual has given the audiences know that the characters in the film are corrupted, they are cynical and pessimism.
German expressionism shows that the scene is cynical and dark. This is because German expressionism tries to convey the message that is messy, distorted and nothing is clear. This can be seen in the scene when Mr.Spade comes to Miss O'Shaughnessy house. Her walls have shadows of blinds and lines cutting through
the whole scene. Even her outfits have strips all over it. This is a trademark of German expressionism. This is to show that in this scene the truth is blurred. We know that Miss O'Shaughnessy is laying and she continues to lie throughout the scene. She lies about her having to protect her sister, when she doesn’t even have a sister there. The man she accused to be dangerous is actually her partner in crime that betrayed her. She says that she is scared of him but is a capable of committing murder as will be showed at the end of the movie. Not only that, she is not as innocent as she appears in the starting of the movie. She starts to smoke. Mr. Spade on in the other hand, takes a bribe in order to stop the police from finding out that she is the client. The scene filled with bad values is showed through German expressionism.
4) Locations such as alleyways, cramped corridors and the setting is city-bound, comprising of rain-washed roads and dimly-lit interiors is a must in film noir films. Most of the time, the shots in the film are tightly framed and often with extreme camera angles to show the abnormal and also to feature of the world of criminal, fearful and greed.
Sam Spade’s office is in the city as we can see no much cars and busy people on the streets. It also seems small and both his partner and him share the same room. This is to show that the city is small enough to easily kill a person and get away with crime. When Miss O’Shaughnessy kills Mr.Miles she gets away from it for so long. During the final scene in Mr.Spade house, Gutman and his gang is sitting in the living room. The room appears to be cramped and tightly framed. This is to show that all the criminals are seated in one scene. The truth unravels through the corrupted characters.
5) Next, would be the presence of female as femme fatale which represents strong women they are very good in personality that they can emotionally manipulating the man in the film and they are not under control by anyone but themselves. Not only this, film noir also features the femme fatale as a sexy and independent; and the femme fatale always gets punished in the end of the film.
In the movie the femme fatal is Miss O'Shaughnessy. She is a strong woman that lives on her own. And she is able to make her way through the stress on her own. For example, when she 1st appears on scene, she comes alone. She appears to be very attractive. Mr. Miles sees her and falls for her looks as he without hesitation agrees to protect her. She emotionally manipulates man as well. She acts as if she is afraid of the police and of her partner that betrayed her Floyd Thursby, in front of Mr.Spade. In the end of the movie when Mr.Spade is about to turn her in to the police, she says she loves him and tries to emotionally win him over. In Film Noir the femme fatale always gets punished for their crime. For example in this movie, Miss O’Shaughnessy, is taken to prison.
6) Male characters, film noir features men as very manly, greedy. The men in film noir are relying on female for his subjectivity. The male character in film noir usually are hard boiled antihero who is very tough, street smart.
In film noir the men are very greedy. Clear example can be seen when Mr.Spade asks for Miss O'Shaughnessy to give him all her money in order to keeps the cops away. He also gets involved in a criminal gang that is looking for a falcon worth a lot of money. When he finds out that he will not be getting any money, because the falcon was fake, he turns them all in to the police; being unloyal to the very people that were willing to give him the money for his discovery. When he discovers that he might be caught by the police, he turns in Miss O’Shaughnessy in order to cover up for his crime and save himself.
In film noir the main characters appear to be male antihero known for their tough, street smart. In the movie Mr.Spade in the main antihero. This is because he is not flawless and honest as should be. He is greedy, self-centered, devious and cunning. He is greedy as he thinks about himself 1st. when Miss O’Shaughnessy gives him money to find her so called sister, he knows she is lying but agrees to go along with her story in order to receive her money. He is also self-centered as he is willing to join in a plan to get a falcon, just so he can get a huge sum of money. He cheats on his partners wife. But when his partner is killed, in order to remove suspicion he never wants to see her again and tells her to go home. He is also very tough and street smart. He notices when he is being followed. He knows how to get rid of followers by hiding away. He is tough as he knows how to handle people with guns in their hands. He quickly takes away gun from the shooter when it is pointed at him. He is also able to knock out Joel Cairo even when he is holding a gun to his head.
The men in film noir are relying on female for his subjectivity. Mr.Spade relays on his assistant to get his work done. She keeps his secrets and even lies for him. She also agrees to look after Miss O’Shaughnessy when he asks her to. In return, he tells her everything. His affair to his partner’s wife, the falcon story and also his involvement in the falcon crime.
7) In the film, the woman seems to be the victim and seek for helping from the male characters, but she is the one who planned all the things and in the end she becomes the object of the male’s investigation. As a sexually femme fatale, the male characters will fall for her which threatens the male quest for resolution.
Mr.Spade’s investigation seems to be spinning in circles as he tries to find out who killed Miles. His main suspect Floyd Thursby is also found dead. The main reason he keeps getting confused is because Miss O'Shaughnessy keeps lying to him. Therefore, making it hard for him to find the resolution to the crimes.
8) Film noir usually features a narration which it’s about which voice is going to gain control over the storytelling and control over the image of the woman in the end of the film.
Film narration in Film Noir is to create a feel of empathy and to guide audience through the events that have happen. However, in this film there is no narration. The dialogues and actors actions and events guide the audience through the story. Film makers try to be more innovative and creative therefore, not all Film Noirs are the same.
Conclusion
In conclusion film noir is not a genre and it is suitable for all age group from the younger to older generation. Film noir is a ride into the underworld, an exotic and dreamlike passage through forbidden worlds. Viewers can enjoy the back basic of cinematography and crispness of the film. Directors also get inspire by the watching film noir movies and learn a greater deal from this unique style of film noir.
Reference and Appendix
Reference
Hayward, S. (2005). Cinema Studies. London and New York: Routledge.
Keaney, M. F. (2003). Film Noir Guide. United States of America: McFarland Company, Inc.
Appendix
- Elisha Cook, Jr. as Wilmer Cook
- Sydney Greenstreet as Kasper Gutman
- Peter Lorre as Joel Cairo
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