Film Noir

Film Noir

What is Film Noir?

Film Noir (French for 'dark film' or 'black film') is a term describing a genre popular in the US between 1940 and 1960. Strictly speaking its a description of the films style and mood rather than a so-called genre however it has evolved and more recent films using the same codes and conventions may be referred to as 'neo-noir'.

How did the 'golden age of Hollywood' reinforce genres?

The 'Golden Age of Hollywood' is when they realised that they could make so much money from essentially producing the same films over and over again. There were five major companies who did this are ;

1) Warner Bros.

2) Columbia Pictures

3) 20th Century Fox

4) MGM (Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer)

5) RKO Pictures

                   Which genres became popular in Hollywood?

The genres that became popular were Westerns, Romances, comedies and film-noirs all because they delivered what the audience wanted and was pleasurable to watch as it fulfilled what they were asking for and played with their imagination.

Why do audiences like genre films? 

Audiences like genre film because it gives them a rough run down of what it is they're actually going to see without having to read any information about the film. For example, if they went to see a western they know there'd be outlaws, native American's and sheriffs and obviously the sheriff would come out on top at the end of the day. 

Film Noir

Film noir is a genre of film that is very easy to identify due to its clear codes and conventions. It was also very successful during the 'Golden Age of Hollywood' due to it's misogynistic views which easily related to the majority of males in that time period as it was a social norm. Women were portrayed as either prostitutes or victims and never given a leading role however Film Noir is becoming less popular due to the changes in society and women being seen as equals therefore modern film noir's such as the sin city series challenge the codes and conventions by adding in new features and a lot more action. They also make the style like that of a comic which adds a new dimension to the film as they don't necessarily have to keep it realistic and they haven't, giving one of the main protagonists super powers.

The characters in a Film Noir are usually corrupt cops, the femme fatale and an alienated protagonist. There also generally misogynistic men due to the time period that its set in and because when Film Noir popular society itself was misogynistic. A lot of the film, if not all of the film is set at night or whilst it's raining. This represents the themes of the film and is also pathetic fallacy for events that are going to happen in the film.