Film noir, << NWAHR, >> refers to a moody, pessimistic motion picture style that flourished in the United States during the 1940’s and 1950’s. The term noir is French for black.
The typical film noir portrayed a world of moral corruption and crime. The main characters were usually disillusioned and cynical. They were often caught in grim situations that led to their destruction. The action generally took place in large American cities. Many of the scenes occurred at night in dingy surroundings, such as seedy hotel rooms or rundown offices. The story’s gloomy, fatalistic tone was accented by edgy music and camera angles that emphasized deep shadows.
The most representative examples of film noir were based on the crime novels of such American writers as Dashiell Hammett, Raymond Chandler, and James M. Cain. Notable motion pictures in the film noir style included The Maltese Falcon (1941), Double Indemnity (1944), Laura (1944), Scarlet Street (1945), The Big Sleep (1946), The Naked City (1948), The Asphalt Jungle (1950), and The Big Heat (1953). American film noir had a strong influence on young French film directors of the 1950’s. A number of later American pictures also followed the film noir tradition, including Point Blank (1967), Chinatown (1974), Taxi Driver (1976), The Grifters (1990), and L.A. Confidential (1997).
Film noir also refers to downbeat French melodramas of the 1930’s about doomed characters. The best known of these films include Port of Shadows (1938) and Daybreak (1939).
See also Cain, James M. ; Chinatown ; Hammett, Dashiell ; Maltese Falcon, The ; Taxi Driver .
