Etienne,
Re your comments below:
> I suppose that nobody here will again try to
prove
> that Noir is strictly a
> kind of expressionist crime film produced during
a
> certain time frame by
> the American cinema (roughly 40's and
50's).
Then you suppose incorrectly. First of all, I didn't TRY to
prove it. I DID prove it. And, having proved it, I wasn't
going to bring it up again, but since you have, I'll be more
than happy to go over the old ground one more time.
> That's
> a false and obsolete view.
It's a true and valid view.
> Noir film is a genre. And it's
international.
It may be international. Certainly many of the
"American" filmmakers associated with the form (Robert
Siodmak, Fritz Lang, even Edward Dmytrik) were born and
raised in places other than the US. And crime films with
noir-type visual flourishes certainly were produced in
countries other than the US (Clouzot's JENNY L'AMOUR, for
example).
But it's not a genre. It's a style. A visual style. A visual
style that communicates a dark and sinister atmosphere. And,
in its heyday, a visual style that was largely
unconscious.
MURDER, MY SWEET is a private eye picture. It's also a film
noir.
HE WALKED BY NIGHT is a police procedural. It's also a film
noir.
LAURA is a romantic suspense/whodunit. It's also a film
noir.
THE CIRCULAR STAIRCASE is a period women's suspense film.
It's also a film noir.
MINISTRY OF FEAR is a spy movie. It's also a film noir.
That's five different genres (or anyway, five different
SUB-genres). But what they all have in common is a visual
style that eventually, in retrospect, marked them as film
noirs.
There is no such thing as noir content. There is only a
common visual style that can be used for a variety of
different kinds of plots and characters.
In fact the same story could be filmed either as a noir or a
non-noir, depending on the visual choices made by the
director. 1948's THE STREET WITH NO NAME is a film noir,
because it's filmed with the kinds of shadowy contrasts
between light and dark that marks film noirs. The 1955
remake, HOUSE OF BAMBOO, a color film in wide-screen with
lots of daylight scenes, is not a film noir, though it uses
the same plot, and, with some changes in setting, the same
script.
Here's an easy way to tell:
1) If it's made before (roughly) 1940, it's not a film
noir.
2) If it's made after (roughly) 1963, it's not a film
noir.
3) If it's in color, it's not a film noir.
Film noir, by the way, is not an indication of quality, nor
is NOT being a film noir and indication of meretriciousness.
There are movies that pass muster as film noirs, but which
aren't particular good films. There are all sorts of movies
that aren't film noir, but which are, nevertheless, very good
movies.
JIM DOHERTY
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