ORIGINS OF FILM NOIR

Originally, Film Noirs were American productions during the “classic period”, although there were a few made in other countries such as France. The heyday years, or the “classic period”, were the 1940s and 1950s. The French film critic Nino Frank gave Film Noir its name because he noticed how dark the American films were at the end of WWII, once France was able to begin receiving Hollywood films again.

Film Noirs were B movies, meaning they had a smaller budget so would often reuse sets from other films. Big studios would usually focus on the A movies, meaning B movie directors had more creative freedom. The lighting in Film Noirs contains a lot of shadow with a lot of contrasts between the light and dark. Flash backs are often used as well as voice over narration.

Film Noirs may have many different plots, but there is usually a central figure that might be a PI or just an ordinary citizen who has been lured into a life of crime. He is likely to have fallen for the femme fatale, who leads him into situations that are going to endanger him. The idea of the femme fatale stems from the sudden boost of women in the workplace. Many of the men went off to fight, leaving a mass of jobs behind which the women took up. This was a new idea, since before the woman was always the homemaker and come the end of the war most women did not wish to go back to this idea. The femme fatale in Film Noir sums up this idea, with added sex appeal.
America’s films grew darker in the 1940s, following the atrocities of war. At the time, America felt powerless to avoid conflict with other countries, which was mirrored in the doomed heroes of the Film Noir films. Following the victory of WWII, America was hit with many social issues such as industrial disputes, rationing, race riots and photographic evidence of the Holocaust. There was also the addition of many Eastern Europeans who were involved in the film industry relocating to Hollywood due to Nazi oppression. They brought with them new ideas and techniques, such as German Expressionism. This included heavily styled sets, use of light, shade and shadows, which influenced Film Noir. America was also very scared of the threat of Communism. Many of the Hollywood Fraternity had left-wing views, which meant during the “hunt” for Communists they were severely at risk. Many began to grass each other up, meaning many films makers were very paranoid, which is reflected in the films.

A film genre is a way of categorising a film based on style and form. Many film critics debate whether Film Noir is a real film genre or not. Film Noir developed from the crime sub-genre and gangster films, often using the same sets and crews. Some argue that Film Noir is just an extension of these genres.