Essay about Film Noirs Effect on Modern Cinema - 1365 Words

Film Noirs Effect on Modern Cinema High heels click on wet pavement, shady detectives stand in the shadows, shots ring out through the cold, dark city night-just another moment in film noir. These seedy, almost underground films are considered to be some of the best and most influential pictures in the history of Hollywood by anyones standards, most certainly some of the darkest. Even though the glory days of film noir have long passed and given way to big budget productions, their influence and effect on the industry can be felt and seen throughout the movies of today. The term film noir is a French term literally meaning, black cinema. During the second world war occupying Germans would control what pictures the people of†¦show more content†¦Such as the character of Sam Spade (played by Humphrey Bogart) in The Maltese Falcon (1941), who is himself being pursued by police after the mysterious death of his partner. In pursuit of a gold encrusted statue of a falcon, the woman who asks him to go after turns out to be his enemy the entire time, using her fierce sexuality to lure him along and manipulate his actions [3]. In the end, instead of the classic ?getting the girl? scenario so common in Hollywood, Spade simply turns her over the authorities, condemning her to prison and possibly even death. There are rarely happy endings in film noirs, especially with characters such as these. The other most noted character to be birthed from noir is that of the femme fatale, or spider woman. She is often extremely sexual, and tries to control men (often the private eye/anti hero) to do their bidding [2]. In 1944?s Double Indemnity, Barbara Stanwyck plays Phyllis Dietrichson the wife of a wealthy man with a hefty life insurance policy. Throughout the film she coerces and manipulates the film?s main character, an insurance salesman named Walter Neff (played by Fred MacMurray) into carrying out the murder and disposal of her husband to gain the money from his life insurance policy [3]. However, she only wants to kill him in the end to have the money to herself?but alas this is film noir and the film endsShow MoreRelatedThe View and Interpretation of the Term Genre1368 Words   |  5 Pageshow it relates to the way we view and interpret films The way in which we, as an audience, view and interpret films can be seen to relate directly to our understanding of ‘genre’. However, what is genre? Drawing on the knowledge of key theorists and critics such as Steve Neale and Barry Langford this essay will first attempt to define genre and our understanding of it before focusing on how genre relates to the audiences view and interpretation of films. It will also touch upon the historical contexts