Film noir

Film noir is a film style and mood primarily associated with crime films, that portrays its principal characters in a nihilistic and existential world. Film noir is primarily derived from the hard-boiled style of crime fiction of the Depression era, (many films noir were adaptations of such novels), and may first be clearly seen in films released in the early 1940s. 'Noirs' were historically made in black and white, and had a dark, high-contrast style with roots in German Expressionist cinematography.

Precursors

Film noir is a result of a combination of genres and styles, with origins in painting and literature, as well as film.

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The aesthetics of film noir are heavily influenced by German Expressionism. When Germany fell to Nazism, many important film artists were forced to emigrate (e.g. Fritz Lang, Billy Wilder, and Robert Siodmak). They took with them techniques they developed (most importantly the dramatic lighting and the subjective, psychological point of view) and made some of the most famous films noir in the USA. Concurrent with the development of German Expressionism were expressionistic gangster films in America in the 1930s, such as I am a Fugitive from a Chain Gang, Little Caesar (1930), Public Enemy (1931), and Scarface (1932).

Related Topics:
German Expressionism - Germany - Nazi - Fritz Lang - Billy Wilder - Robert Siodmak - 1930s - I am a Fugitive from a Chain Gang - Little Caesar - Public Enemy - Scarface

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Other important influences came from the French poetic realism, with its themes of fatalism, injustice and doomed heroes, and Italian neorealism, with its emphasis on . Several later noir films, such as Night and the City (1950) and Panic in the Streets (1950), adopted a neorealist approach of using on-location photography with non-professional extras. Additionally, some noir films strove to depict comparatively ordinary or downtrodden people with unspectacular lives in a manner similar to neorealist films, such as The Lost Weekend and In a Lonely Place.

Related Topics:
Poetic realism - Fatalism - Injustice - Italian neorealism - Night and the City - Panic in the Streets - The Lost Weekend - In a Lonely Place

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In the United States, a major literary influence on film noir came from the hard-boiled school of detective and crime fiction, featuring writers such as Dashiell Hammett, Raymond Chandler and James M. Cain, and popularized in pulp magazines such as Black Mask. Chandler's The Big Sleep and Murder My Sweet (based on Farewell, My Lovely) and Hammett's The Maltese Falcon are notable films noir.

Related Topics:
Hard-boiled - Detective - Crime fiction - Dashiell Hammett - Raymond Chandler - James M. Cain - Pulp magazine - Black Mask - The Big Sleep - Murder My Sweet - Farewell, My Lovely - The Maltese Falcon

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Boris Ingster's Stranger on the Third Floor (1940) is often considered to be the first full-featured film noir, starring Peter Lorre as the sinister 'stranger'. Orson Welles's landmark film Citizen Kane (1941) had a huge influence on the development of film noir, particularly with its stunning visuals and complex narrative stucture driven by voiceover narration.

Related Topics:
Stranger on the Third Floor - Peter Lorre - Orson Welles - Citizen Kane

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