I think that THIS SPORTING LIFE gets the atmosphere it has by
not focusing on the popular "wholesome" image of sport, but
the political aspect of it and an unscrupulous but callow
character driven to win out of an ulterior motive. That's
what makes the story noir. Had Harris' character chosen a
woman who was not deeply depressed and contemptuous of him;
had he seen the big picture in which he fit into the local
football team instead of being totally self absorbed and
driven by inner desires instead of team spirit, the story
would not have been noir. I've recently read Eric Clapton's
autobiography and let me tell you about an absurdly noir
life. A noir novel based on this guy's life would be very
effective. It reminded me throughout reading it of THIS
SPORTING LIFE, substituting rock & roll for football, and
you have an even more disturbing noir example. Any backdrop
can be noir. It's ripping failure from the jaws of success
that makes the genre.
Patrick King
--- Charlie Williams <
cs_will@hotmail.com> wrote:
> Which brings us back to rugby (or whatever
wholesome
> team sport you
> care to pick), which represents the antithesis
of
> alienation, which
> is maybe why there is a dearth of noir
and
> hardboiled stories in that
> area. Of course, all you have to do is get one
of
> the team alienated
> and you have a story. But I still think there
are
> other factors at
> play that stop rugby going all noir.
>
> Charlie.
>
> ----------
> charliewilliams.net
>
>
> --- In
rara-avis-l@yahoogroups.com, Steve Novak
> <Cinefrog@...> wrote:
> >
> > In other words, I mean in other word, noir
and
> harboiled are
> stories of
> > alienation (as in Œcrime¹)....
> > How¹s that?
> >
> > Montois
> >
> > On 2/20/08 6:48 PM, "Patrick King"
<abrasax93@...>
> wrote:
> > I'd say much more than "class,
colour,
> money,
> > > education, status and sex," the clashes
that
> occur in
> > > noir and hardboiled fiction are between
the
> lucky and
> > > the unlucky in life. Most stories
concern
> someone
> > > who's been very lucky or unlucky, and how
their
> luck
> > > shifts and then shifts back. Sometimes the
shift
> > > occurs due to hard work and intelligent
planning
> > > (Mildren Pierce, The Godfather), Or
criminal
> activity
> > > (The Grifters, Postman Always Rings
Twice), but
> > > suddenly something that looks like great
good
> fortune
> > > fails, or a gravytrain that looked like it
would
> run
> > > forever is routed out, or someone who's
never
> had a
> > > bit of luck fianlly sees an opportunity.
Class,
> > > colour, money, education, status and sex
are
> really
> > > just the underpinning of the story. You
could
> reverse
> > > any of these in a well-written noir story,
and
> still
> > > have just as good a tale as long as
the
> reversals of
> > > fortune hold true.
> > >
> > > Patrick King
> >
> >
> >
> > [Non-text portions of this message have
been
> removed]
> >
>
>
>
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