RARA-AVIS: Re:On James Bond and noir

From: JIM DOHERTY ( jimdohertyjr@yahoo.com)
Date: 23 Aug 2007


Chan,

Re your comment below:

"But in Casino Royale Bond wins the big baccurat game, and that's when I realized he was not noir, despite what else goes on in the books."

The question of whether or not the Bond series passes muster as "noir" doesn't hinge on his status as a
"winner" or a "loser," but on whether or not the novels and stories possess the dark, sinister atmosphere, what Chandler called "the smell of fear," that defines noir.

There are all kinds of "winner" protagonists in noir. Many of them, including, IIRC, Bond himself, have appeared in books published in Gallimard's "Serie Noire" line. Many of them have appeared in films routinely listed as "film noirs."

JIM DOHERTY

       
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