Memento Film Noir

Film noir, popularized in the 1940’s, can be defined as a type of crime drama, normally in black & white, with a somewhat depressive tone to it. Themes such as sexual deviance, promiscuity, crime, and all around pessimism were prevalent in these types of films. Film noir reflected the societal attitudes of the time as people were recovering from events like the great depression, and World War II, all while dealing with the anxiety of the cold war. These events all contributed to the popularization of film noir until the social revolutions of the 1960’s changed the general attitudes of American people. The film Double Indemnity can be defined as film noir for a number of reasons. At the most basic level, Double indemnity is a 1940’s crime drama,

Film noir has distinct traits: the films are aimed at male audiences, men are the protagonists, and women play sexually alluring roles that lead the protagonist into danger or use them for a selfish deed. Scenes from film noir are shot in big cities, dark alleyways, and in sleazy bars. North by North West was a late film from the post war era with film noir traits. The protagonist Roger Thornhill is lead into danger by the

A film noir is defined by Webster dictionary as: a type of movie about crime that uses dark shadows and lighting to show the complicated moral nature of the subject. Sunset Boulevard is an excellent example of this type of film due to the intense atmosphere, the suspenseful and melancholy background music that coordinates with the scenes, and also other things.

Film noir stemmed from American and English hard-boiled detective novels, originating in 1925 (Borde 15). These intriguing books captivated readers and remained popular for many years. A popular noir writer is Dashiell Hammet, whose work inspired the widely known film noir The Maltese Falcon (1941), which is a book originally written by Hammet in 1929 (15). Around 1940, film noir became wildly popular due to the Great Depression. Several films were released between 1940 and 1942, including The Maltese Falcon, that defined the genre's thematics, visual style, and moral ambiguity (Borde 29). Each film resonated with American audiences because the darkness within film noir provided catharsis. Due to their suffering during the Great Depression, they needed an outlet in which to place their feelings of frustration.

The dark allure of film noir is an artistic style all its own and a radical departure from conventional filmmaking. In their book A Companion to Film Noir authors Andre Spicer and Helen Hanson state that, “deep shadows, clutching hands, exploding revolvers, sadistic villains and heroines torment with deeply rooted diseases of the mind” (Spicer, Hanson 8). Known as the very first film noir, The Maltese Falcon, showcases all the primary elements that make up the genre such as the three main character types composing of the wry private eye, femme fatale, and memorable violent criminals.

The cinematic conventions of Film noir became prevalent in the Pre-Code Hollywood era of the 1930s, and as well as influencing generations of filmmakers across the decades it has remained a genre to which directors and writers keep coming back.

Noir films dealt with the underbelly of a city from gangsters to criminals. Neo-noir is a style of filmmaking that began in the early 1970s and is still present in today’s movies, the word Neo means “new” therefore “new noir” was the term given to the extension of the film noir style. Neo-noir brought its own qualities to the noir style; due to the

It is considered Noir Cinema those made between 1940 and almost 1960 in which very inner characteristics were the individual against the whole, nihilism, dark environment, unusual prospective, shadowed protagonist… The main character use to make a bad choice that would mark him forever like gangster activities (antagonistic behavior) or getting trapped by a femme fatale as is another classic element (like in Double Indemnity). Not all of these elements are always involved but surely some of them. Noir Cinema was developed under a particular style of high contrast dark-light too that was very identifiable. Some examples of this period are Touch of Evil or The big Sleep. Some European Directors of Photography like Michael Curtiz or Fritz Lang helped out in the early grown up to develop this shadowy lighting cliché that still inspires dark stories.

Film noir- meaning “black film” or “dark film” in French- is an established genre of film which normally comprises the elements of crime, mystery, and drama. These films were produced from the early 1940s to the late 1950s.

Film Noir is a movie of which, at no point in time, will lead to a happy or perfect ending. The corrupt social criticism, American isolation, greed and last but, not least, the young and beautiful femme fatal, all create the Film Noir. Often filmed in black and white, Film Noir is about the “dark side” and alienation in the modern American city manifested in psychosis, criminality, and paranoia. The American society created a world full of fear, resentment and betrayal.

Memento tells the story of Leonard (Guy Pearce), a man who used to investigate insurance claims. He doesn’t do that anymore, though, since the rape and murder of his wife (Jorja Fox). In the “incident,” as Leonard refers to it, Leonard got hit on the head. Now, he suffers from anterograde amnesia, meaning he cannot form new short-term memories. Nonetheless, Leonard relentlessly searches for the man who raped and murdered his wife and stole his ability to live a normal life. Aiding (or hindering?) him in his quest for vengeance are a bartender named Natalie (Carrie-Anne Moss) and his friend (?) Teddy (Joe

The term ‘film noir’ stems from the French meaning ‘dark film’ with ‘dark’ meaning sinister or dreadful. The term originated from French critics such as Raymond Borde and Etineene Chuameton. Before the outbreak of World War Two french film goers were used to films like The Wizard of Oz coming from American studios so you can imagine their shock when post war cinema from America were full of films such as Double Indemnity, The Postman Always Rings Twice, Vertigo, Murder My Sweet. Most French critics noted that several of these films that were realised were based on hard boiled detective fiction crime novels by writers like Raymond Chandler, Dashiel Hammett and James M. Cain. In France, books by these writers were published under the heading

In the book, “Film Noir Reader 3: Interviews with Filmmakers of the Classic Noir Period” Alain Silver states that “like its protagonists, film noir is more interested in style than theme, whereas American critics have been traditionally more interested in theme than style.” The aesthetics of film noir are synonymous with German Expressionism. In the film The Cabinet of Dr. Calgary (1919), the use of

“Film Noir” is a term that has been up for debate for an extended time period. Film Noir is French for “Black Film”, it was used to describe a proportion of American films that reached a French audience for the first time after World War II. These American movies depicted or expressed the feelings of this time period. The world was going through a dark and gloomy time. It analyzed the social aspects and it was evident in films in various ways. The movies characterized as “Film Noir” shared themes of social failure, fatal attraction, and criminal perversity. Casablanca, Double Indemnity, and Postman Always Rings Twice are just a few films known as Classic Noir. Although Film Noir can fit into many categories of genres like: crime genre, thriller,

Leonard is in crisis of his rare case condition of amnesia which crafts the difficulty for him to bear in mind what has occurred to him in the urgent past, even though he can recollect his life previous to the accident. Leonard’s situation was a result of an attack when his wife was murdered and his mind was injured.