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.
