so what IS film noir?

Film noir was an interesting genre to study because it's one that sort of slips under the radar. What's particularly interesting about it is that it isn't really a genre at all - it's more of a film style. This was especially apparent to me after viewing Blade Runner, which is genre-wise more of a science-fiction. It was also the case with Double Indemnity, which isn't completely a comedy, but it definitely has some components of a comedy film (as did Touch of Evil, now that I think about it).

After watching Double Indemnity, I thought I knew all there was to know about film noir. That film, in my opinion, is the ideal example of a film noir because it is a blatant display of the 'good guy gone bad' because of the 'femme fatale' and their suspensful crime story with twists and turns. But then after watching the other films, I realized that there are actually many more components that go into what makes a film noir. Our discussion in class about 'what is film noir?' was certainly helpful in showing me what is/isn't crucial in a film noir. Whether this agrees with that or not, here is my list of what defines a film noir (listed from most to least important!):

- a dark and shadowy feel (both visually and figuratively)
- suspenseful story (usually crime-related)
- a flawed/imperfect hero
- a femme fatale (she doesn't neccesarily have to have bad intentions, but she may simply be a weakness for the hero)
- dramatic music
- a city setting
- smoking/alcohol consumption
- flashbacks
- narration

This list is clearly much shorter than the one we compiled in class, but I think that these components (especially the first three) are absolutely crucial for a film noir.

Something I've also been thinking about is that film noir generally have a gloomy, almost depressing feel to them. Even the comedies are...dark. And it's almost like everything going on is a secret from the outside world; there's always someone hiding something.

This is just a guess, but I think that maybe film noir came as a reaction to the happy-go-lucky films that preceeded it. People were sick of everything always being perfect and having a happy ending, and this was especially the case after the Depression and WWII took place. Film noir kind of gave an outlet for people to see the corruption in other people's lives.

As I mentioned earlier, film noir was really an interesting (sub)genre to study. Even though film noirs are still being made today, I think that the style still goes very unnoticed! I'll definitely be keeping my eyes open for film noirs from now on!