In French, the term “noir” means black or dark. Film noir is a filmmaking style that is characterized by the elements of using cynical heroes, distinct lighting effects, frequent flashbacks, complicated plots, and existentialist philosophy (Encyclopaedia Britannica, n.d.). This film movement often applies in crime film or mysterious films which features the theme of darkness and downbeat. It was started after World War II when women began to be independent, have power and social status.
Theory Discussion
The story in a noir film usually involves a male character who is cynical, hard-hearted, and disillusioned who encountered a female character who is beautiful but seductive femme fatale. The female character will usually use their sexuality to manipulate the male character to fall for her and fulfill her desire, which then leads the men to corruption and a downfall (filmsite.org, n.d.). The male main characters in film noir who are hard-hearted are usually detectives or investigator who solve the case and reveal the truth or plot of the femme fatale. This is to portray the independence and the job-earning power of women after the war that was being a threat to the men in the society and to preserve the masculinity, dominance or status of the men.
Moreover, the mood of a film noir is normally dark, pessimism, alienation, and the tones of the film are often hopeless and desperate. The narrations mostly relate to criminal motives and murders. The protagonist or the anti-heroes in the film are usually morally-ambiguous in nature which the bad side of them will usually lead them to corruption and downfall. They are normally cynical, insecure and obsessive which will cause them to fall for the femme fatale. This had also portrayed how men were corrupted because of the dominance of women in the post-war era.
Furthermore, the storylines are usually nonlinear and twisting. As it is a criminal or mysterious film, the plot is often meant to be complicated and indirect. The reason why for this is because the case that is going to be solved by the protagonist detective or investigator is often misled by the femme fatale so that she will not be found guilty. This could further enhance the hopeless mood and bring out the chaotic feel of the film.
Last but not least, film noir is actually an influence on expressionist films. Film noir films will also use low key and high contrast lighting to create a gloomy appearance. The shots are usually taken at night with a low lighting as it can bring out the sense of danger in the narration and the characters also tend to have a very huge and sharp cast shadow to show the morally ambiguous trait of the character. The shots are also often taken in low angle as another way to create the distortion feel for that particular scene without using an unnatural distorted background that can be seen in an expressionist film.
The Maltese Falcon (1941)
Synopsis
Sam Spade and Miles Archer were approached by Ms. Wonderly to follow Floyd Thursby. Unfortunately, Miles was killed while he was following Floyd Thursby. Then, Sam meets Brigid O'Shaughnessy and she seduces Sam for help. However, her identity had been revealed by Gutman to Sam. Sam turns over Brigid O'Shaughnessy to the police when he realized that she was the one who killed Miles.
Analysis
The Maltese Falcon (1941) is actually one of the famous film noir films. One of the film noir’s traits that we can find is the role of the cynical and hard-hearted man with a beautiful yet seductive femme fatale. Sam Spade is a detective who is cynical and hard-hearted. We can see him showing his traits in the movie. We can see a lot of time that Sam hardly falls for any of the women and his role had also dominated any of the women in the story. Besides, we can also see Brigid O'Shaughnessy to be the most obvious representative of a femme fatale in the film. She tried to seduce Sam a lot of time. It is pretty effective at the beginning but once the truth is known by Sam, her sexuality is no longer work for a hard-hearted detective, Sam who turned her over to the police even she tried to get the sympathy of Sam.
Besides, the setting of this film is also pretty much influenced by the expressionist. Some shots are taken at a low angle in this movie to show the distortion of the shape of the character. Other than that, we can also see a lot of scenes are being shot in a low key and high contrast lighting. For example, the scene where Miles is being killed is shot in a really dark but high contrast lighting. This is to show the darkness of the plot in this scene and also to give the sense of mystery for the person who killed him.
Lastly, this story is using a dark and pessimism tone throughout the film. As this is a crime film, this tone is suitable to show the mysterious feel of the story. It also involves murders, lies, and attacks which we couldn’t see any cheerful element in this film.
Conclusion
As the industries of the film slowly developed, film noir is also evolved as the time change. A lot of film noir films are shot in color but still featuring the femme fatale in the film. Besides, some films had started to use female as the anti-heroes or the protagonists. Modern noir films are using different cultural perspectives and involve women’s liberation in the narration. Regardless of how film noir had changed, the issues of corruption, greed, and lust still remain.
References
Encyclopaedia Britannica. n.d. Film Noir. Retrieved from https://www.britannica.com/art/film-noir.
filmsite.org. n.d. Film Noir. Retrieved from http://www.filmsite.org/filmnoir.html.
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