Film Noir

I was absent Monday, so I did not have the lecture or discussion.  So, I took the bull by the horns and watched Film Noir, Bringing Darkness Into Light.  I loved the way James Ellroy stated what Film Noir is to him in the beginning of this documentary.  “Your BLEEP!”  Henry Rollins also summed up Film Noir, “Evil triumphs over good.”  This documentary explained so much.  I did not understand what film noir was until after this documentary.  It went through everything, from the basic thoughts and feelings, to lighting, character placements, film score (soundtrack), locations, and character progressions.  I like that Noir is realistic, gritty, and sexy.  Not the sexy of sexually arousal.  The sexy of being exciting and appealing and interesting.  The scripts were low on dialogue compared to non-noir films.  They relied on everything else: lighting, sound, and acting.  I agree with one commentator who stated that noir was a revenge on the woman by the men who came back from the war.  The woman are fem-fatales in most noir films and many are in a place of power.  The woman had assumed so many of the roles of the men while they were at war.  When they came back from war, the women were no longer in the house and domesticated.  They were in positions of power which upset many people’s ideas of the way America should have been.  Americans were depressed, displaced, and confused with the new world after the war.  Film Noir allowed their dark thoughts to be seen on the screen, to imagine for just a moment that someone had it worse than them.

Back in the late eighties I saw the movie D.O.A. with Dennis Quaid.  The original D.O.A. was a film noir.  The eighties film was a dark and sad movie, filled with crime, intrigue, perhaps a fem-fatale.  There was not a lot of action, which was very popular in the late 80s.  I never saw the original D.O.A. but my dad said that the newer one was very similar.  I guess what they say is true.  Everything old is new again.

One individual in the documentary stated that not everyone thinks of Casablanca as a Noir.  I can see why they would think that.  Casablanca had the fem-fatale, the greedy Politian (or banker), the down trodden or loser, the man who you are not sure is good or bad.  It was dark and gritty, and very intriguing.   But depending on how you view the actors and actresses it could have just been a great movie.

I found that the movie Casablanca started in a way that pulled you in.  A map of Africa with the music going from a slightly oriental France anthem (I believe) to Pomp and Circumstance (at the time Pomp was a very American song). https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FbjjraucbIA

The next thing that stood out to me is Rick’s Café American.  There were nationalities from across the globe in Café American, which was very similar to what was happening in America.  The last thing that stood out to me in this movie was the Dear John letter that Rick received at the train station.  The rain fell on the letter and washed the way the words, as if he was crying.  Someone like Rick wouldn’t cry.  🙂