What is a film noir?

To date, specialists have not reached a consensus on whether the noir is a genre (such as drama, comedy, thriller) or a style of filmmaking. The classification was coined in 1946 by French critic Nino Frank to refer to a type of suspense feature film that was in vogue in the 1940s, with an urban setting, criminal themes and anti-heroes.

The look used to be strongly influenced by the cinematographic current known as German expressionism and the light/dark technique of the baroque painter Caravaggio (hence the choice of the term “noir“, which means “black” in French). However, this term (and the prestige of the films noir) was only consolidated in the 1970s. Specialists classify it as noir over 300 titles produced between 1940 and 1958.

– (Alberto Rocha/)

1) EVERY SPEECH IS A SHOT

Scripts used to have some “vices”. The dialogues were fast, with precise and incisive sentences. At the same time, they allowed the quotation of poetic or dramatic passages. Flashbacks, like those in Escape from the Past (1947), were frequent, helping to characterize characters haunted by what they’ve done or proving that the present is not quite what it seems to be.

2) DARKOPOLIS

The plots had a strong urban component and loved to show the city as an oppressive place, dangerous and capable of corrupting good men – see Blood Rage (1949). Night and rainy scenes reinforced the idea. Social problems were recurring themes – the stories were filled with crimes, police investigations, marginalized figures, alcohol and cigarettes.

3) GOOD OR EVIL?

Protagonists often have dubious, cynical and even cruel goals. The hero does not always save, and sometimes he is even violent. The alleged victim is not so helpless. And the love interest can be the villain of the plot. are the famous “femme fatales” (“fatal women”, in French), who abuse their sensuality to manipulate men, like Rita Hayworth in Gilda (1946).

4) BLACK ON WHITE

Another feature was three-point lighting. There was a light source to establish the dark (shadows), another for the light (contrast with black) and another to create a gray gradient, adjusted to create the “atmosphere” of the scene. Characters were often bathed in long linear shadows, cast from prison bars, stairs, or shutters on the windows.

5) A CINEMA CLASS

At its peak in the 1940s, the noir it was considered a minor, sensationalist subgenre. Still, several classics emerged at that time, such as The Maltese Falcon (1941), Blood pact (1944), On the Edge of the Abyss (1946), Twilight of the Gods (1950) and The Mark of Evil (1958), bringing together talents such as star Humphrey Bogart and directors Orson Welles and Billy Wilder.

6) UNBALANCED

The disturbing atmosphere was reinforced with visual tricks, such as unusual framing. Often they were “slanted” (the so-called “Dutch angle”). In the more open scenes, the composition of the elements was asymmetrical (an inheritance of German expressionism, well used in Death in a Kiss, from 1955). The close-ups, on the other hand, were very close, intense and misaligned.

SOURCES Books The Film noir Encyclopediaby Alain Silver, The Dark Side of the Screen: Film noirby Foster Hirsch, Into the Dark (Turner Classic Movies): The Hidden World of Film noir1941-1950, by Mark A. Vieira; documentary film noir: Bringing Darkness to Light (2011)