Femme Fatale Analysis

Film Noir was extremely trendy during the 1940’s. People were captivated by the way it expresses a mood of disillusionment and indistinctness between good and evil. Film Noir have key elements; crime, mystery, an anti-hero, femme fatale, and chiaroscuro lighting and camera angles. The Maltese Falcon is an example of film noir because of the usage of camera angles, lighting and ominous settings, as well as sinister characters as Samuel Spade, the anti-hero on a quest for meaning, who encounters the death of his partner but does not show any signs of remorse but instead for his greed for riches.

This genre is typically modern, perky and upbeat, but the common narrative in all of them is that it features a woman who is strong and she overcomes adversity to reach her goals. There is also a message of empowerment that also struggles with a romantic predicament and using comedy to poke fun at the male characters. Industries are still producing soppy romantic comedies for the female audience but the divide between the standard chick flick and romantic comedy is slowly disappearing. Similarly to the beginning of this essay it is evident that institutions are moving in the direction of women’s place in culture in relation to this film genre; women are usually shown as the super power since they are made to appeal to the female audience. However

Film Noir, a term coined by the French to describe a style of film characterized by dark themes, storylines, and visuals, has been influencing cinematic industries since the 1940’s. With roots in German expressionistic films and Italian postwar documentaries, film noir has made its way into American film as well, particularly identified in mob and crime pictures. However, such settings are not exclusive to American film noir. One noteworthy example is Billy Wilder’s film Sunset Boulevard, which follows the foreboding tale of Joe Gillis, the desperate-for-success protagonist, who finds himself in the fatal grips of the disillusioned femme fatale Norma Desmond. Not only does the storyline’s heavy subject matter and typical character

This paper will discuss various elements of mise-en-scene, specifically; character development, lighting, performance, costume, makeup in the film "Casablanca".(Michael Curtiz,1942) The setting of the story sets the tone for the entire film. Shots of tanks and planes show the violence of war that coincides with the cutthroat city that is Casablanca. From there, those sentiments are reinforced when a man is shot in the street while another man pick pockets someone whom is distracted. The mood of the movie stays on the dark side of things when we enter Rick's Café, where we meet our protagonist played by Humphrey Bogart. In this scene we are treated to the jaded portrayal of night club owner. We see his utter disregard for a French woman

After World War II, a new genre in film titled film noir became popularized in America. With its name literally translating to “black film” or film of the night, pictures in this genre featured dark undertones such as crime, post-war woes, cynical attitudes and sexual motivations. These are likely shot in black and white, and if not, they still give off a gloomy feel that black and white would give. Classic films considered to be film noir also often feature the femme fatale character, a promiscuous woman who manipulates the main male character through seduction to get her way. These women, who are portrayed as being independent, not only represent the way women were viewed at the time, but demonize women for their change in economic status

Film noir, directly translates as “black film” from French due to the dark nature of the film which includes its use of low key lighting in all films in this particular genre. Inspired by German expressionism, the genre developed around the time of World War II when musical and comedies were in bloom. But due to the war, people grew weary of the optimism and humour in these films, thus causing the popularity of film noir to slowly grow. Film noir reflected the issues people at the time were going though; fear and paranoia took over the hearts of these people. The story often revolves around an anti-hero, whom usually is a wise cracking tough guy. He would encounter a femme fatale, who is more often to be seductive and promiscuous; she is never who we would think she is. The dynamics between both characters often balances out each other. For example in Double Indemnity, Walter Huff, an insurance agent meets and falls in love with his client’s wife Phyllis Dietrichson. They both plan a murder together to get rid of Mr. Dietrichson. Unlike Hollywood’s musical and comedies, happy endings don’t exists in film noirs. Low key lighting plays a huge part in film noir. It’s a major element that represents the film and its style, with the help of shadows, it creates a shroud of mystery surrounding the characters, for example, whenever we are around Phyllis, there will always be a slight shadow around her face and yet the shadows around her eyes are less visible.

There are women in classic film noir with a similar defiant attitude, to whom the male hero often experiences a sexual attraction: the femme fatale. These women are studied as symbols of ‘peculiar’ power: carrying guns, smoking cigarettes, and going after what they want, similar to the men in these narratives (Gledhill, 1998, p. 24). The femme fatales are mysterious, ambiguous and most significantly: deadly. These women and their power are however mainly defined by their sexuality and the men often still hold the voice of authority – mainly through voice overs and flashbacks (Gledhill, 1998, p. 24). They are both desirable and dangerous to men (Kaplan, 1998, p. 16). The film noir’s femme fatale has for a long time served as a record for anxieties about female sexuality and power, which will be discussed more deeply later in this chapter. The femme fatale fights against the male domination and often ends op losing her life or freedom. “The resistance of these femme fatales are always fatal, if not to herself, it will be to the men who fall for her” (Wager, 2005, p. 4). With the dangers that her sexual performance causes, the classic genre exposed the limitations of a female heroine. It suggests that terrible things would happen if men let these sexual women distract them from their quest, and that the power that these particular women hold, is profoundly dangerous. The sex and gender issues that derive from the femme fatale’s presence supposedly trigger the inevitable demise of herself and the hero, but it is nonetheless important to notice that these early film noirs offered audiences a female character that, although destructive, is not weak, but

Film noir is described not as a genre, but as a specific style. It was the primary style in Hollywood between the 1940’s and mid-1950’s due to the increase in pessimism towards humanity after the second world war began. The films primarily expressed this attitude through a voiceover, also known as a “voice of God”, from the main, brooding protagonist. They often narrated their opinions and thoughts on the events surrounding and circumstances them. These opinions were dark in nature, with a sense of no hope and constant despair.

I believe that the 1990’s era communicated that women are more than just housewives, which is something that modern television still communicates today. For example, in your blog, you mentioned that Olivia from Law and Order: SVU is portrayed as a strong female detective. This is something audiences would not have witnessed in the 1950’s. This shows that the 90’s had more tolerance in portraying working women, since in the 90’s working women were far more common than in the 50’s. Additionally, this is still shown today. Since women are still portrayed as strong in The Killing, it is nice to see that almost three decades later women are still portrayed as strong and independent, and that society and television has not gone backwards.

The beliefs and sentiments of society are often reflected in films of the time. Films noir and the prominence of a femme fatale character first became readily apparent

I’m not an avid TV watcher, but I do love a good crime show, and my favorite one is “Deadly Women” on the ID (Investigation Discovery) channel. This show features dramatic reenactments and in-depth analyses, complete with a panel of lawyer, reports, and criminal profilers giving their opinions, of female murderers and their crimes. As to what type of audience this shows attracted in general, I was at a loss, I’ll I could guess was that the shows target audience would be adults, but as for the gender of those adult I hadn’t a clue. But, according to broadcastingandcable.com “With series such as True Crime, Catch My Killer, Dark Minds and Blood, Lies & Alibis, the network has always seemed more likely to appeal to men. But ID also boasts series

The movie genre of 'femme fatale' was a genre that explored the psyche of female murderers and was popular in the 1940s. The morals of the femme fatales are a complicated topic, but it is obvious that out of three movies (Double Indemnity, The Lady from Shanghai, and The Post Man Always Rings Twice), Cora Smith (The Postman Always Rings Twice) is the most immoral female Protagonist. This may seem surprising when only considering the actions of the three women, but a person's morality is more complex than the severity of their actions. The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines moral actions as something "sanctioned by or operative on one's conscience or ethical judgment" by this definition, it is not the action, but how one understands the harm an action may cause that decides a person's morality. So, to understand the reasoning behind why Cora Smith is so immoral, even if her actions were not as harmful as the actions of others, understanding all three women and the choices they made is necessary.

For the Rhetoric in Practice project, I created an online website called learn2femmefatale, which looks at the basics of being a Femme Fatale. Following the idea behind a mensfitness.com article on doing a workout, the website had to follow genre convention of the website and the Femme Fatale. The focus of the website is towards women between the ages of 18 and 55. For website conventions, an HTC blog talks about the basic website genre conventions, which require a Logo in the top left, an easy navigation, and clearly defined buttons and links. Keeping with these guidelines, I researched Femme Fatale traits and following the mensfitness web site, was listed out in concise sentences that explained the different parts. John Blaser talks about the main points to the femme fatale, describing, “She exudes a unique sexuality, which she uses to define herself and manipulate men”. I chose noir color scheme for the website. The age of Film Noir was a time of female empowerment, helps reach out to women looking to break free. I also included famous actresses in their roles of playing various types of femme fatale. This provides examples for the female target audience to follow as well-known role models that succeed in their roles. Finally, visual examples of what a Femme Fatale look like are weaved into the website. This helps cement ideas about the audience should be aiming for, while makes it easier to see the noir, and implied strength of becoming a femme fatale. Following these

Film noir, though difficult to formally define, is a type of film whose elements of style, narrative, and overall tone are most easily characterized by darkness—both literal and metaphorical. This style first appeared and had its heyday within American Cinema during the forties and fifties. The term itself was first coined by French critics when, as Paul Schrader described, “noticed the new mood of cynicism, pessimism, and, darkness that had crept into the American cinema” (Schrader, 265). Indeed, films like Billy Wilder’s Double Indemnity (1944) and Joseph H. Lewis’ Gun Crazy (1950) explored themes of fatalism and nihilism (among others), all the while making use of stylistic—expressionist-inspired lighting, stylized framing, use of shadows—to enhance them. As dark as these films could be, almost laughably so when viewed by audiences today, they were meant to communicate the very real societal anxiety and disillusionment of a post-World War Two America. One manifestation of these fears is through the creation of the femme fatale or “fatal woman.” According to Jack Boozer, “they are meant to appear beautiful but also treacherous, criminally depraved and castrating in their desires” (Boozer, 21). The femme fatale did not first appear in noir, in fact she even appeared as far back as the biblical figure Salome, however forties Hollywood defined the character (Barnes-Smith, 3). Gary Harris, as quoted in “Fatal Woman, Revisited: Understanding Female Stereotypes in Film Noir,”

Perhaps, one of the most iconic figures of our time, Delilah has been portrayed to be the front face of the dangerous femme fatale. Her story alone in Judges 16 raises questions about her faithfulness towards Samson. Over the years, we have seen the gaps of her story be filled in through the use of popular media; such as songs, artwork and films. Specifically, a film with great cultural impact has been Cecil B. DeMille’s 1949 hit Samson and Delilah. He brings his own perception of the story through his own life experiences with culture and religion, as well as values that are to do with the time of the release. Through the chosen example, we will explore how Delilah is shaped into a femme fatale, and how her definition brings about change for the label to popular culture. We will discuss the surrounding factors of not only the gender expectations of 1949, but also the portrayal of Samson, done by the director to fill in the gaps to Delilah’s story.