Dark Films~ ( Blog #2)

Film noir is a term in which I have never heard of until today. Film noir means " black film" or "dark film," as stated by John Lithgow. Film Noir has a dark feeling which makes it a bit uncomfortable. A famous film noir is called "Double Indemnity." This film is believed to be the creator of the film genre. There are three factors that is persistent in a Film Noir. The first factor is that everybody dies at the end, the second is that the women tends to seduce the male, and finally there is a sense of jeopardy in the protagonist's life.



John Lithgow states that Film Noir is "The only order a kind of moral restitution everybody dies at the end." This is seen and exemplified in Double Indemnity when Walter Neff, an insurance salesman meets Phyllis Dietrichson, wife of his client. This film is a perfect example of how everybody dies at the end. Not every character in the film dies, but the protagonist and antagonist both dies. Another factor of a Film Noir is how the woman seduces the male to receive something of her value.

In Film Noir, the female tends to seduce the male to receive what she desires in return. Marie Windsor, an actress, states that " A woman usually get the man into bed then into trouble." This idea can be seen in Double Indemnity. Phyllis is seen half naked in her first appearance. She seems to not want Walter at first, but soon after she heard about the price of life insurance and her benefits, she starts to seduce him. She seduces him and other men in order to gain money. The third factor of a film Noir is when there is a sense of jeopardy in their lives.

The sense of jeoperdy in their lives means that there is a sense of trouble that is exaggerated and nothing the individual themselves can do to fix the problem. We can see this in Double Indemnity also, when Walter's plan starts to fall apart. He makes up more ideas and thinks of more ways to fix the issue and gets wrapped up into the murder. Then he soon decides to murder Phyllis also.



In the documentary " PBS American Cinema Film Noir," the idea that a woman uses her sexuality to get what she is after and what she is after is not the man in the picture, he is an another tool for what she is after for herself, (20:18) as stated by an interviewed personnel. This is the best way to spot a Femme Fatale. We can see in the film of Double Indemnity is that Phyllis acts and seduces Walter to get what she wants. Another example in the film was that when her daughter stated that she [Phyllis] killed the previous wife for the same profit. This is typical in a film noir because this also happened in China Town.

The different angles and lighting of Double Indemnity helps with the suspense build up of the film. The camera helps make this film have a "film noir" feeling to it by having many different angles. The Angles help show the audiences the shadow and the minor details that helps predict the film. The lighting also help in a way that it signals if an unfortunate event was about to take place. The design of the stage was well made that the camera was able to capture the whole area. The Mise-en-scene, staging or putting on an action or scene, influences the audience's reaction to the film. The lighting is one of the factors of a mise-en-scene. The lighting is bright normally, but as soon as Walter plans out his idea of murder with Phyllis, the lighting is changed and shapes Walter as an evil man; in comparison to his first appearance, he is seem as a dark man with a cold heart.

The sound helps build suspense and play with our emotions. In a sexual scene, the music is pretty and slow, but as soon as a murder, or a secret conversation arises, the music speeds up and gets louder and softer according to what is happening. We can see this in Double Indemnity when Walter makes love with Phyllis and the music is pretty and slow, as soon as they finish and the topic of the murder arises again, the music speeds up and builds suspense.

Color in a "Neo Noir" compared to a black and white cinematography is a more relate able and realistic.
An example of a Neo noir film is called China Town. China Town has many factors that relates to a film noir. The only difference is the color of photography. Three factors in which China Town is similar to a Film Noir is the factor of the seducing female role, the music, and the mise-en-scene.

In the film China Town, the main female (Evelyn Mulwray) is seen as a dominating and strong woman. She seduces the man for her own personal interests. She lies and has sexual activities with the male lead ( J.J Gittes).She uses Gittes in order to help her take her child to an another country for their safety. The second factor in which China Town relates to a film noir is that the music is similar. The music is slow when Gittes first encounters Mrs. Mulwray. But as they meet continuously and he sees the truth, the music speeds up and changes the dynamics in the events. The music's speed is used to help create suspense! The third factor is that the setting of the films are similar. The lighting helps us visualizes and understand the characters and bond with the character's feelings.