Film Noir Revival, Anyone?
by Chris YogerstPicture a quaint Victorian house in the Hollywood Hills overlooking Los Angeles. A modest insurance salesman shows up at the door, it is opened by a maid. There is a beautiful woman at the top of the stairs; the sultry Mrs. Dietrichson, dressed in nothing more than a towel. She gets dressed after the salesman tells her their car insurance doesn’t have them “fully covered.”
The following conversation takes place:
–
The fast, witty, and flirtatious dialogue in this scene gives us light into how a man could possibly get seduced into what was to come. This is of course, the big murder/insurance scam from Billy Wilder’s classic 1944 film Double Indemnity.
There was a time when dark crime films were popular both with mainstream Hollywood films and B-grade productions. McCarthyism, Hollywood censorship, and World War II among other things all played a role in the shaping and growing popularity of what became known as the classic period of America’s film noir (1940’s-1950’s).
How can we forget the “stuff dreams are made of” from The Maltese Falcon or the last close up (for Mr. DeMille!!!) from Sunset Boulevard?? How about the quick and sexy dialogue between Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall in The Big Sleep? These films reek of crime and desperation but remain fun and stylistically beautiful. The high contrast, looming shadows, and dim lit mise-en-scene gave way to a bleak and seductive emotionality.
Noir films often explore the seedy underground of Hollywood (In a Lonely Place), law enforcement (Touch of Evil), journalism (Ace in the Hole) as well as many other aspects of crime and deception. Their style is impossible to miss. Noir film has remained popular on a cult level but hasn’t reached mainstream status since its initial movement.
There is a piece by Matthew Sweet about his new documentary for the BBC, The Rules of Film Noir. He interviews director Werner Herzog, whose newest film, Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans, promises to be “a new step in film noir.”
Herzog goes on to say, “It’s not so much techniques of light or a particular kind of story. There’s something bigger behind it. You recognize a film noir very easily because it’s a cultural mood.” He is right, turbulent times call for films that reflect the mood of the country.
Today’s cultural climate, with the economic downturn, soaring unemployment, and the looming threat of terrorism warrants a new desire for noir film. It provides a perfect catalyst for a stylistically cynical and dark film movement. Turbulent times often result in artistic genius, just look at German Expressionism.
Today’s film industry is currently overlooking a type of film that could reignite some of the emotions from the 1950’s. I hope that the current cultural climate in the United States motivates Hollywood to dig deeper into its creative and stylistic vault.
Look at some of the better movies of the last couple years; There Will Be Blood, Gone Baby Gone, No Country for Old Men, and Gran Torino. All of these (though not noir) are tough films and offer conclusions that are not easily swallowed. The one closest to noir quality is No Country for Old Men, which was stylistically amazing.
There are some great hard hitting films these days, but they should take them a step further and utilize the stylistic brilliance of film noir. Now is a great time for a genre revival! Who wants to step up to the plate?
The Coen Brothers are the best living filmmakers of noir films (Blood Simple, The Man Who Wasn’t There) and genre films in general. Their ability to adapt genre in terms of style (Blood Simple), sound (No Country for Old Men) and iconography (Miller’s Crossing) is nothing short of brilliant.
Most noir films today are simply an exercise primarily in genre style (which is fine). Take Rian Johnson’s Brick for example; it is a great film that puts a hardboiled detective story that feels straight out of a Raymond Chandler novel, and throws it into a contemporary high school. Robert Altman did a similar adaptation in 1973 with The Long Goodbye, taking Chandler’s Philip Marlow character and placing him in contemporary society. This innovative use of genre should be seen more often (especially with noir!).
The film industry needs to take another look at noir cinema. Whether it is a new story or a retelling of an old one, there is plenty of ammunition out there for a new resurgence in film noir. It is time for Hollywood to utilize its creative side to make the streets on the big screen once again as Raymond Chandler wrote them, “dark with something more than night.”
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32 Comments
Amen. I have been waiting for a film noir revival and films like No Country for Old Men and Gone Baby Gone make me think it could happen soon
YES! Double Indemnity is terrific. I'd hate to see it remade today, because the focus would be on the crime itself and we'd actually see the implied sex between Neff and Phyllis, and Neff & the dead man's daughter. But Billy Wilder's movie focuses on not only the why behind the murder, but the consequences as the scam unravels. It's absolutely terrific, and Edward G. Robinson's performance as Keyes is awesome.
If today's directors would get past the anything-goes sex and the need to graphically portray every violent act, then we'll have a decent film revival where the audience is treated with intelligence. Movies such as Gran Torino prove that there is an audience for intellectually satisfying films as opposed to the forgettable gee-whiz "blockbusters."
Like, say, Harrison Ford's Witness, which I consider to be a masterpiece.
You can't reboot film noir because those movies were not made as film noir films. It was only after the fact that someone coined the term. Now Film Noir movies are tragically "self-aware". Plus, as others have pointed out the Hays Code really helps Film Noir. Neo-nouir now shows all the violence and it looses some of the impact (ironically).
Relativism has also dealt a huge blow to film noir. When there is no right and wrong exposing the corruption and seediness and criminal underworld in America has less impact. The protagonists pursued the truth because it mattered. When truth no longer matters then what is the point?
I thought an interesting, modern take on film noir was the movie Brick.
I read Bowman's article and it's an interesting point of view. The restrictions of the studio system and the Hays Code certainly forced writers, directors and producers to be more subtle and creative than today when dealing with sex and graphic violence. This led to more emphasis on plot. character development and atmosphere. I would argue that the factors that set 40's and 50's fiom noir apart was the great black-and-white cinematography and amazing lighting that complimented and underscored the action. It's a lot harder to do with color.
Good call. What we need is a modern version of film noir where the real main characters of the film are–plot and dialogue.
"Mr Brooks," I think is an excellent example of this. A small film that came out of nowhere to attract a large audience. I'm with El Gordo on "No Country for Old Men." It was 99% of the way there but was let down ultimately by parts of the plot. I love the Coen Brothers, but I was left flat at the end unlike "Double Endemnity" which is always a great watch.
What an actor! Fred MacMurray. He could be ruthless or he could be Uncle Freddy. One of my all time favorites.
Body Heat and The Last Seduction are good modern takes on film noir.
Great column. I took a film history class as an elective years ago, and was hooked on noir from that point on. El Gordo and Big Mo are right on regarding the stylistic paradigm shift it would take for modern filmmakers to fully embrace the noir art form.
On a related note, one of my favorite neo-noir attempts over the past 20 years or so was Nicolas Cage's "Red Rock West." I thought it was a pretty good noir piece, one I revisit often.
"Red Rock West", "The Last Seduction", "Kill Me Again", "Rounders" were the work of John Dahl who, IMHO, came closest to giving us a modern noir. Dahl also directed the wickedly funny "You Kill Me" – check it out.
What I miss in the modern films that pass for noir is the world-weary honor that is often the counterpoint to the film's pessimism. "LA Confidendial" had it; "No Country for Old Men" didn't, IMHO.
Watch "The Big Heat" and you'll get what I mean.
More film noir? Your words to God's ears. The most recent show I can think of that remade noir for a modern audience was Veronica Mars, and it was short-lived but glorious. If you haven't seen it, you should, especially the first two seasons.
I believe that No Country for Old Men was about looking back. Think of Tommy Lee Jones' character, always reflecting on his past and such. It's been about 2 years since I've seen it, so I may be talkin' out of my you-know-where.
Either way, I really don't care. It was a brilliant and entertaining film that I could get the same enjoyment out of today as I did back when I first saw it.
I'm surprised Sin City didn't make it on the list. It was an ultra-stylized film with characters that had hard morals (it's just that they're the character's own morals). Sure, the characters are "doomed and nasty", but they value many of the things that "good-guy" characters (justice, defense of the defenseless, loyalty to friends, ect.).
I believe that No Country for Old Men was about looking back. Think of Tommy Lee Jones' character, always reflecting on his past and such. It's been about 2 years since I've seen it, so I may be talkin' out of my you-know-where.
Either way, I really don't care. It was a brilliant and entertaining film that I could get the same enjoyment out of today as I did back when I first saw it.
I'm surprised Sin City didn't make it on the list. It was an ultra-stylized film with characters that had hard morals (it's just that they're the character's own morals). Sure, the characters are "doomed and nasty", but they value many of the things that "good-guy" characters do (justice, defense of the defenseless, loyalty to friends, ect.).
All I know is that Anton Chigurh is a scary villian. Man he's like a human terminator, he absolutly will not stop until you are dead. But on ocassion he will give you a chance to wager your life. Creepy.
I think it is interesting that Tommy Lee Jones' character retires and just stops going after the bad guys. That is not the normal hollywood ending.
I look forward to reading the book.
'Double Indemnity' was already pretty much nailed as a remake in 'Body Heat', one of the great noir clssics…
"Following" is a recent movie very much in the noir tradition.
"Memento" was another recent take on noir.
I enjoy noir films but feel that the noir style is a bit dated for todays audience. The modern films today provide the action and locations people want but lack in terms of story and character development. Sensing this void I myself have gone ahead and created a "modern noir" novel intended to be an excellent R rated film (complete with soundtrack). Please check out "Painless" to see what you think…and thank you for your time!
I like the Cohen Brothers a lot, but in both No Country For Old Men and Burn After Reading, they played the most dramatically important scenes off-camera. I find that somewhat disappointing. It's not like they have budget issues. Artistically, it's a gimmick and I think they should move on. But, the Academy gives them Oscars, so I can understand if they don't. I just think it would be tragic if they credited the wrong aspects of their films with their phenomenal success.
James Bowman asserts that film noir could only exist under the old Hays Code restrictions.
I'm not sure whether that is entirely correct, though.
These old movies are engaging because even when they depict a hard and corrupt world, they are fundamentally moral. They assume that the audience shares certain ideas about right and wrong. Many modern filmmakers don´t understand this; they remix the stylistic elements – doomed and nasty characters, moody lighting, bleak nihilistic ending – and the result is frequently disappointing. No Country for Old Men was stylistically amazing and highly suspenseful, but what the heck is it about?
"Picture a quant Victorian house"? Sorry, but it was a Spanish Mission style house. Just sayin'.
Great film.
Creative film.
James Ellroy's got a slew of books for the screenplays. Hollywood's record with his work is mixed, though. "L.A. Confidential" was a near-masterpiece, but DePalma did to "Black Dahlia" what he did to "Bonfire of the Vanities."
"Brown's Requiem," a low-budget film based on an early Ellroy book, starring Michael Rooker, was quite good.
BTW, one week to go til the release of "Blood's A Rover," the third part of the "American Underworld Trilogy" that started with "American Tabloid," followed by "The Cold Six Thousand." Can't hardly wait…
Mr. DeWitt:
"It was one of those California Spanish houses everyone was nuts about 10 or 15 years ago" – to be exact.
Love this movie and just watched it again last week. That particular clip is probably my favorite 60 seconds in movie history.
[...] A Film Noir Revival? September 15, 2009 Posted by Jehuda in Uncategorized. Tags: Entertainment, Film, News, The Arts trackback Chris Yogerst: Film Noir Revival, Anyone? [...]
I too think most modern noir is too self aware. Too many cool hats and rain soaked streets. Check out my blog on noir http://www.noiroftheweek.com We cover mostly classic noir, but sneak in some more modern ones. The Coen brothers do make noir… and I can't get enough.
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