The Killers – Directed by: Robert Siodmak (1946)

The Killers – Directed by: Robert Siodmak (1946)



Typical of film noirs, the ominous scene begins with a car driving through the night with its headlights illuminating a driver's and passenger's silhouettes from behind as they approach a city outskirts sign for ‘BRENTWOOD, NEW JERSEY’.
A story of two killers who infiltrate a small town and kill a man. A detective – childhood friend of the man who was killed, sets a plan to trap the killers and the man who hired them. The film includes a detective, a femme fatale and gangsters/hit men. This is a typical Film Noir and has many characteristics, including dark and gloomy locations and mysterious deaths. Also it includes a detective who is the seeker-hero who encounters a variety of problems along the way in finding the two contract killers. The film is in black and white and used Dutch angles and low angle shots which is stereotypical for the Film Noir genre. It uses a lot of shots which disorientate the viewer. The film also includes flashbacks and is set in an urban environment like most classic Film Noirs.

Charachteristics of film noir

The Main Character of a typical film noir usually ends up trapped in a difficult situation, most commonly with a woman (The Femme Fatal of the story (Femme Fatal meaning a woman with no morals)). The main character is usually a typical male who has a normal life and is chucked into a dilemma where he has to do what he is told to do by the woman through blackmail and bribery. This makes the woman dominant in every situation so the main character has no choice but to follow instructions. Film noirs covered a wide range of genres, from gangster to detective films, and from stories to films. Storylines were often elliptical, non-linear and twisting. Narratives were frequently complex, maze-like and convoluted, and typically told with foreboding background music, Everyman in film noir fell victim to temptation or was framed by the femme fatal.


Film Noirs were typically made in black and white this wasn't because it was cheap and cost-effective, although it was an advantage; it was to give off a dark and sinister background to the film. The mood is set by the colours used, the setting, the dialogue, the lighting which was adjusted by certain objects which made shadows to create silhouettes, Venetian blinds were commonly used to break up to picture so much so that you couldn’t quite distinguish the person, as if they were being sly or cunning. Smokey rooms from a cigarette gave the impression of a weary and gloomy mood to the situation giving the film that bit more tension. The music was quite jazzy but mysterious which made the situation seem sneaky and undercover and this also made the films that bit more tensed than others. Ideology was used a lot in film noir, and it sent the audience questions and messages, and even sometimes lessons and values of characters

Flashbacks were commonly used to tell a story or to refer to the past of the story to explain something or to make the audience think and wonder about what’s going on, who’s she? What are they doing? Etc. Many Camera Techniques were used including deep-focus allowing the foreground and the background to be in focus at the same time; low-angled shots looked up on someone to maker them dominant and seem more powerful than something or someone else. And looking down on some one gave the impression of a weak and mindless person.

Detour

Detour (1945)


Directed by

Edgar G. Ulmer








A piano player, Al, sets off hitchhiking his way to California to be with his fiancée who left to become a star in Hollywood. Along the way, a stranger in a convertible gives him a ride, and it all seems great.

However while driving; Al stops to put the top up because it was raining heavily. He discovers that the owner of the car has died in his sleep. Al panics and dumps the body in a gully, takes the stranger's money, clothes, and ID and then drives off in his expensive car, because he knew that he would get done in by the police if he said that the stranger just died in his sleep.

After spending the night in a motel, he picks up hitchhiker, Vera, (a femme fatale), who had earlier ridden with the man who died, and she begins to ask questions and then threatens to turn him in for murdering the stranger unless he gives her all the money.

They then arrive in Hollywood, and they rent an apartment, while trying to sell the car for extra cash, the read a newspaper and found out that the stranger was about to collect a large inheritance of the family. Vera demands that Al impersonate the stranger, but Al balks at this notion. When the two get drunk in the apartment and begin arguing, a snubbed Vera takes Al up on his earlier dare to call the police, whereupon Al accidentally strangles her with a telephone cord while pulling it to stop Vera from calling the police.

Al starts hitchhiking east again, and is waiting for the police to pick him up ad take him in. And it finishes with him getting picked up by the police, but was it a dream or reality?

History of Film Noir

Film noir, meaning black cinema in French, made big and popular films.
Film Noir started in the early 1940’s; Film Noir originates from France in 1946. However the first film noir was released before then it was called, Maltese falcon and was made in 1941. The films were normally dark and grim with shadowns and lighting used for affect. Film noir was not a genre but is the mood, style, and tone of a film, and it had great success in the 1940's and even today.
Film Noir was based upon American Detective series and helped it to have many films with this kind of script to it. It developed into more deep scripts involving conspiracy and murders. Also the world war helped base film noir with all the miserable and bleak outlook of the world people could relate to the films they were watching, especially when the Great depression hit in the 1930’s. Film Noir gained from the depression and used the shadows for the villains and the beams of lights for the hero, also involving a Femme Fatale, which is a women normally the villian. Film noir's were then obviously were made cheaply and effectively due to lack of funds around the great depression and world wars. The dark shadows and grim looks made the films more thrilling and secretive, making the audience feel like they were in the movie themselves. This inspired many film makers at the time and that influenced film noir to become a huge popular success.
Film noir would always have a classic plot where there is a female character 'femme fatale' who is very attractive, quiet and mysterious, and with the lover of her, an average man who gets in a tricky position, because of the female character .

NeoNoir

Contemporory Film Noir

Taks1: What is neo-noir or contemporary film Noir?

Neo-Noir

Neo-Noir is a genre of a film which uses traditional elements of film noir but with modern themes and visuals and affects.

Some Neo-Noir films don’t usually reflect the traditional classic of a Noir film but they use the characteristics of Film Noir and transports it to the modern way film are made by using different affects plots and themes. -

Some examples of Neo-Noir films I have watched are:

The French Connection (1971)
The Godfather (1972)
China Town (1974)
The French Connection II (1975)
Hustle (1975)
Taxi Driver (1976)
Raging Bull (1980)
True confessions (1981)
Scarface (1983)
Against all odds (1984)
Murphy’s Law (1986)
Batman (1989)
Deep Cover (1992)
The Last Seduction (1994)
True Crime (1996)
Phoenix (1998)
Twilight (1998)
Heist (2001)
Dark Blue (2002)
Collateral (2004)
Sin City (2005)
American Gangster (2007)
The Spirit (2008)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZCYfzCHDWp8
The Spirit Trailer.