Film Noir Commentary
In our second unit we have been studying all about Film Noir.We have watched many movies to give us an idea of what Film Noir is one of them being Double Indemnity. The word film noir is a French word for black films and also a term used to describe Hollywood crime/drama. Film Noir is a style of Film which first started in the 1940's to 1950's. It applied to Hollywood critics Nino Frank in 1946. The conventions used to make the film a Film Noir genre are usually Chiasrosucro lighting to create an effect on the character showing that the character has two sides to him/her. Dutch Angle to create an uneasy effect, Venetrian blinds to show the effect the Environment has had on him/her (makes it feel as if the character is locked in prison.) Flashbacks and voice overs often occur in Film Noir to tell the audience what is going on during the film.
In Film Noir there is usually a Protagonist and a Femme Fatale,the Femme Fatale is able to use her sexuality for her own means and the Protagonist is an anti-hero usually brought down by the Femme Fatale and his own greed. The audeince tend to like these characters even though they are dislikable characters.
There are two influences on Film Noir one being a German Expression and the other being Gangster. After the 1st World War the German Expression found it hard to continue making Film Noir Films the found it difficult to compete with the Hollywood Makers of Film so the German Expression choose to develop their own styl by using symbolisim and artistic Mise on scence to add mood and deeper meaning to the movie. The darkness and gloominess of film make the audience feel an uneasy effect.
The second influence is Gangster this normally means that it is related to crime/drama. The Producer normally makes the storyline up if it is related to crime/drama or it is a true story. It is often about Gangs or trouble with the Police. Gang members are normally characters who don't care about life, don't have family members, the always hang around with the wrong crowd of people on street corners at night time. Gang member are normally people who don't have manners for them self's and others.
The classic example of film noir is Billy Wilder's 1994 'Double Indemnity'. The film Double Indemnity was written by James M.Cain and screened played by Billy Wilder. The film was set in LA and then was later realeased in the USA on the 6th of September 1944 the genre was Crime/Drama film noir Thriller."It's love and murder at first sight" was the plot of the film noir Double Indemnity, the classic film noir was also awarded 7 Oscars.
What Made Double Indemnity A Film Noir?
The classic example of film noir is Billy Wilder's 1994 'Double Indemnity'. The film Double Indemnity was written by James M.Cain and screened played by Billy Wilder. The film was set in LA and then was later realeased in the USA on the 6th of September 1944 the genre was Crime/Drama film noir Thriller."It's love and murder at first sight" was the plot of the film noir Double Indemnity, the classic film noir was also awarded 7 Oscars. The film was about wounded insurance sales men called Walter Neff who talks about what lead him to wounded. He confesses in a microphone at the start of the film whats he has done and relives the moment(flashback). He talks about how he fell in love with a beautiful but deadly women called Phyliss Dietrichson. Who persuded him into killing her husband Mr Dietrichson for a life and accident scam so that she had enough money to start a new life with Walter Neff. He later found out that she had previously killed Mr Dietrichson's wife to get her hands on his money. He later came to the conclusion that Pyhliss didnt love him and that he was apart of the murder plan.By the end of the film they both end up shooting each other and are trapped dyeing lonely.Walter Neff and Phyliss Deitrichson are known as dark characters the Chiarosurio Lighting shows this effect because it uses one light source to show that the character has two sides to them. Although Phyliss never actually killed her husband she was the mastermind behind the crime and you could say she tricked Walter Neff in to the killing of Mr Dietrichson this is why Phyliss is known as a Femme fatale.Like most film noir films the film involves flashback story telling.
