Pied-Noir

The 1941 film The Maltese Falcon directed by John Huston is a film adaptation of the 1930 detective novel written by Dashiell Hammett. The film showcases the cultural issues of the 1940s America, as well as the popular film noir style. Because the story revolves around a detective attempting to uncover a truth, many confrontational scenes occur throughout the film. One scene, in particular, that stands out is when Sam Spade visits Gutman in his hotel room to talk about the black bird. In this film

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

original film noir demands. Film noir is defined as a type of crime film featuring cynical and malevolent characters in an unflattering setting. Such settings may include an ominous atmosphere that is enforced by shadowy photography and foreboding background music (Dictionary). Accurate portrayals of the genre include, but are not limited to: Christopher Nolan’s The Dark Knight, Carol Reed’s The Third Man, and John Huston’s The Maltese Falcon. These films are perfect examples of film noir because they

Two of the first film noir pieces, The Maltese Falcon and Citizen Kane, share many structural and stylistic similarities. Their biggest similarities are use of the plant and payoff technique, and sending characters on meaningless quests. The Maltese Falcon opens with a description of a golden falcon statue, given as a gift from the people of Malta for their independence, lost en route. After these opening statements, the film jumps to a detective, Sam Spade, tasked with finding someone by Brigid

Music had a number of distinctive characteristics for film noir and especially played a huge role in Laura, a classic film in 1944 that was directed by Otto Preminger with music by David Raksin. The hauntingly beautiful Laura theme was composed by Raskin which became one of the most popular melodies of that decade. The melody was played in the opening credits with such rich materials that it provided essentially all of the musical material for the rest of the film. The film follows a detective, Detective

This essay aims to discuss the origins and traits of film-noir. The characteristics of film noir will be developed through methods of questioning, debating and arguing, in order to gain an understanding and knowledge of the characteristics of film noir. “We could make the case, as many critics have done, that film noir is, in fact, not a genre at all but merely a particular stylistic inflection of a crime drama.” (Nelmes, 2012.194) Film noir is not easily defined. However, the actual words came about

The specialties of Bonnie & Clyde 1967 Based on our research and understanding, we found that the movie ‘Bonnie & Clyde’ by Arthur Penn was the first French film of new Hollywood era which dare to be open and presenting sex and violence yet a bit comedy element. The narration on the opening was different from other movie, the narration sounds “they are young, they are in love, they rob the bank… and they kill.” Based on the narration, audience can find out the genre of the movie is interesting with

The main difference between film noir and the gangster film lies in the disposition of the protagonist. The protagonist in film noir often is more introverted and passive than the typical lead gangster. Additionally, it is typically the gangster who is causing conflict that moves the plot opposed to the film noir lead who is often the victim to his situation. Another importance distinction between the two genres is the focus on the past vs. the present. Film noir usually revolve around some past

Citizen Kane is a movie starring Orson Welles that is loosely based on the life of William Randolph Hearst and the media empire that he built in the late 1800s and the early 1900s. Mise en Scene is possibly the most important chapter that we have covered that pertains to Citizen Kane and shows numerous examples of it throughout the film to reinforce loss as a recurring theme. Citizen Kane’s non verbal strength is made evident through the use of not only intrinsic interest but through the use of

In this essay I decided to watch the movie Scarface (1932). This movie is directed by Howard Hawks and Richard Rosson. Its lead actors are Osgood Perkins, Paul Muni, Ann Dvorak, and Karen Morley. Scarface is a film about guns, gangsters, and pretty woman, it follows a story of a fast rising gangster who lives by the moto the world is yours, but once he finds himself at the top he is quick to find his world is tumbling down around him. Looking at scenes of sexual innuendo the film handled it with