Pied-Noir

Film noir, as part of the distinct branch of the crime/gangster saga, creates a world that consists of a dark, shadowy setting, a pessimistic perspective on life among the characters, and the typical private investigator paired with a femme fatale.These characteristic later evolved to create what is now called a neo-noir film; a distinct twisted film that leaves the viewer with bittersweet outlook. An example of the contemporary film noir is Kiss Kiss Bang Bang directed by Shane Black. This film

Rich blacks, dark shadows spread across the detectives face and dark roads slicked with rain. These are the hallmark elements of film noir but what is it? Merriam Webster dictionary defines film noir as, “A type of crime film featuring cynical malevolent characters in a sleazy setting and an ominous atmosphere that is conveyed by shadowy photography and foreboding background music; also: a film of this type. (Merriam Webster). But, it goes a little bit deeper than that. Why, Encyclopedia Britannica

The Maltese Falcon is a novel written by Dashiell Hammett in 1929. It was originally published by Alfred A. Knopf, Inc., New York, in 1930. Readers and critics see this book as one of the best detective novels ever written, but they also see it as a great piece of literature. With 217 pages, it is an easy read but is a stimulating story. The main character of this book is a private investigator named Sam Spade. The story revolves around him being lied to and interrogated constantly by people who

Dames, Coppers, and Crooks: A Look At Film Noir      Film noir is a style of black and white American films that first evolved in the 1940s, became prominent in the post-war era, and lasted in a classic “Golden Age” period until about 1960. Frank Nino, a French film critic, first coined the label film noir, which literally means black film or cinema, in 1946. Nino noticed the trend of how “dark” and black the looks and themes were of many American crime and detective films

With so much poetry coming out of Britain it can be hard for any of it to stand out from the rest, but “Porphyria’s Lover” by Robert Browning and “A Poison Tree” by William Blake manage to stand out from other poems. These two poems differ in structure, writing style, and voice but both have something that sticks them out from the rest; murderers without a moral compass. While murder isn’t new to poetry it is rare to find it as nonchalant as it is in these two poems. These killers were not killing

Other cool tricks used by the Fritz Lang include heavy use of shadows (largely in the style of the yet to come Film-Noir genre), and the use of setting to create darker moods (evidence that Lang was at the head of the German Expressionist movement). Lang used it sparingly and its silent sections are among the most dramatic. The purposeful sparseness of sound in the

The movie Casablanca tells the story of Rick Blaine, a bar owner in Casablanca. His heart breaks when Ilsa, his sweetheart, fails to join him in his escape from Paris before the Nazis invaded. Rick’s relationship fall-out begins the movie journey depicted in an authentic World War II time period. It was on a stormy night that Rick received a letter from Ilsa telling him that she wouldn’t be coming with him to Casablanca. Realizing he has been dumped, he sadly hops onto the train and rides off

The Hays Code in Film Noir The Motion Picture Production Code, commonly known as the Hays Code, was adopted in March 1930, though it was not truly enforced until four years later in 1934. This set of rules had tremendously influenced the way Hollywood movies were made for a number of years. This code was based on the ethics and norms if that time. There were three main principals of the Hays Code. The first was no picture shall be produced that will lower the moral standard of those who see it

The movie Out of the Past directed by Jacques Tourneur fits within the traditions of film noir because it has some similar themes associated with it, such as doomed love. Robert Mitchum plays the doomed, double-crossed , ex-private eye as Jeff Markham. The femme fatale is played by Jane Greer as Kathie Moffat, who is trying to escape her future. Kirk Douglas as Whit Sterling plays the ruthless gangster czar in the film. The formal cinematic elements in the movie are used to vividly describe the movie

Maltese Falcon, L.A. Confidential, and Chinatown are all considered a classic for noir films. Even though these films are not actually "black film" they are a Hollywood crime drama. Not all of them are in the Hollywood's classical film noir period from the early 1940s to the late 1950s. The Maltese Falcon is more like a classical noir film than the other two movies. Maltese falcon has all the traits a noir film should have. Like fatalism, the femme fatale, the male protagonists, shadows, gloomy,