CONTEMPORARY NOIR: BLADE RUNNER

Blade Runner is a 1982 American film directed by Ridley Scott. It is set in Los Angeles, 2019 and stars Harrison Ford as retired police officer Rick Deckard. He is forced to go back into work to hunt down “replicants”, which are artificially created humans who have come to Earth illegally.

There are many Film Noir characteristics in Blade Runner. Deckard is the classic anti-hero, he is a loner who drinks too much and falls for the Femme Fatale. In this film, Rachael, played by Sean Young, would be considered to be the Femme Fatale. There was also a voice over used in the original version of the film, another classic characteristic. The settings were also often rainy and dark, such as deserted alleys at night. There is a direct link with Noir in the scene where Deckard kisses Rachael in front of a venetian blind, which was a distinct lighting effect used in classic Film Noirs. Also, the film puts into question the idea of what it is to be human, much like classic Film Noir toyed with the idea of humanity and fate.

Deckard: All he'd wanted were the same answers the rest of us want. Where did I come from? Where am I going? How long have I got?

CONTEMPORARY NOIR: TAXI DRIVER

Taxi Driver is a 1976 American film directed by Martin Scorsese. It is set in New York, soon after the Vietnam War and stars Robert De Niro as ex-Marine and War veteran, Travis Bickle. He is a lonely insomniac who works as a cab driver at night. He becomes obsessed with Betsy, a worker on a presidential campaign played by Cybill Shepherd, but fails at achieving her affections by accidently taking her to a porn movie on their first date. He also attempts to help twelve-year-old runaway turned prostitute Iris, played by Jodie Foster, by trying to persuade her to leave the profession. Eventually, so disgusted by humanity he buys four guns and plans to assassinate a Senator.

Taxi Driver has a lot of Film Noir characteristics. The visuals are very reminiscent of classic Noir with rainy streets and reflections of neon signs. There is also a voice over, a very common characteristic in Noir. The character of Travis is a classic character, a beat down hero who slips further into misery. At some point in the film, after being shot, Travis attempts suicide but has no ammunition in any of his weapons so sits on a sofa and waits for the police instead. This is heavily reminiscent of the Noir ideology of fate getting in everyone’s way, and making things difficult for him or her. There is a heavy sense of social issues, although they are different to those originally documented in the Noirs of the 40s and 50s. The effect of the Vietnam war is the main element in this film, much like the effect of WWII was in classic Film Noirs.

Travis: Loneliness has followed me my whole life. Everywhere. In bars, in cars, sidewalks, stores, everywhere. There's no escape.

NEO-NOIR

Neo-Noir is a film genre, which takes many of the traditional elements of Film Noir and mixes them with contemporary themes, content and styles that were not around at the original time of Film Noir. They use some of the codes and conventions of Film Noir in more modern settings, making them often quite different to classic Film Noirs. Neo-Noirs are considered to be any film from the mid 1960s onwards that  use the stylistics and storylines common in Film Noirs. As black and white is not often used anymore, the classic black and white Film Noir look is converted into a more contemporary full colour look. This is one of the ways in which Neo-Noir and Film Noir differs. However, Neo-Noir films often used the same characters and plots as were common in Film Noir. The downbeat hero who falls into a life of crime is highly common, and society is often portrayed as depressing and pessimistic. Film Noir focussed on the effects of World War II, whilst some Neo-Noirs, such as Blade Runner, portray a dystopia. This is still showing the problems of a broken society, but in a much more futuristic way. Low key lighting is still used, but the striking contrasts of blacks and whites are less prominent due to the full colour spectrum now available in film making. As well as this, contemporary Neo-Noirs have far less issues with censorship as the original Film Noirs did in the 40s and 50s. This means they are often less suggestive, and include full on violence instead of letting the viewer imagine it. This shows the changing needs and ideologies of the audience, as violence and sex became more acceptable as the years went on.

Examples of some Neo-Noirs are:

• Chinatown (1974)
• Taxi Driver (1976)
• Blade Runner (1982)
• Scarface (1983)
• Tequila Sunrise (1988)
• Body Heat (1981)
• L.A. Confidential (1997)

ANALYSIS OF A CLASSIC NOIR

The film Double Indemnity is often considered to be a classic example of Film Noir. It was released in 1944, directed by Billy Wilder and was based on a hard-boiled novel of the same name by James M. Caine. This in itself could be considered a characteristic of Film Noir as many of them were based on the hard-boiled crime fiction of the time.

The characters in Film Noir are very typical to the genre. Walter Neff is a beat down Insurance Salesman who drinks too much and smokes too much. He always has a match handy and is seen throughout the film lighting cigarettes and cigars for himself, and others. He narrates the film, another common characteristic and talks matter-of-factly about his own fate. He falls for the Femme Fatale, Phyllis Dietrichson, a housewife who wishes to kill her husband. Already we have come across two of the stock characters for Film Noir and one of the most popular storylines used; the murder of a husband. Of course, Neff agrees to help her and, as this is Film Noir and no one is an honest person, creates a plan so that they can both profit from Mr. Dietrichson’s death.

The atmosphere in the film is quite pessimistic. We are introduced to Walter as he is recording his confession for his friend, and colleague, Barton Keyes and the story is then explained in flash backs. This is a very common characteristic in Noirs. From the start, Walter tells us he is a murderer and the audience immediately knows this will not be a happy film. Keyes makes a statement in which he comments that murder, especially double murder, will always end up with the death of those who commit it. Keyes also often comments on the lies and cheats of people trying to put in phony insurance claims. As was common in Film Noirs, this gives the impression that people as a whole are not trustworthy and just want to wrangle money out of others by any means possible. This is echoed in Walter and Phyllis’ plan.

The lighting in Double Indemnity is completely by the book of Film Noir conventions. There is a lot of use of venetian blinds, in fact in the scene where Phyllis is shot by Walter she turns off all the lights before he enters the room. The only light from then on is that coming through the windows, although Walter later closes the curtains, and from her cigarette.

As well as this, there is the use of a classic Noir soundtrack. The striking combination of silence and loud noises, added with the ambiance of city life is present in most Noir films. A great example in this film is the shooting scene, in which the sound of the first gunshot echoes and shocks the viewer. Walter and Phyllis often met at the local super market, proving that crime doesn’t just happen in the sleazy and depressing parts of the city but in fact all areas which was a strong Noir ideology. During these meets, the sounds of super market life are happening in the background, furthering the ideology.

In conclusion, it is very clear that Double Indemnity is a classic Noir. From it’s use of flashbacks and narratives to it’s by the book characters is fits the codes and conventions of the genre extremely well.

CLASSIC NOIR: THE POSTMAN ALWAYS RINGS TWICE

The Postman Always Rings Twice is a 1946 Film Noir directed by Tay Garnett. It starts John Garfield as a drifter named Frank Chambers who gets a job at a diner, and Lana Turner as Cora Smith who owns the diner with her husband. They pair begin an affair and as Cora wishes to escape her situation, they plan to murder her husband. They then have to face the queries of a local prosecutor who suspects them of the murder. Cora pleads guilty to manslaughter and receives probation, after which her and Frank believe they can finally begin a happy life together. However, Cora is killed in a car accident but Frank is accused of setting it up. He is sentenced to death, and ponders on the idea of the postman always ringing twice. By this, he means that if you are waiting for a letter it does no matter if you don't hear the postman at first for he will always ring again. He believes this is the same in life, and him being blamed for Cora's death is his "second ring" for the murder of her husband. The film is based on a 1934 crime novel by James M. Cain, of the same name. This film is another good example of classic Noir. It involves a femme fatale, Cora, and a doomed hero, Frank. They get involved in a murder, and eventually cannot escape fate's clutches.

Frank Chambers: With my brains and your looks, we could go places.

CLASSIC NOIR: DOUBLE INDEMNITY

Double Indemnity is a 1944 Film Noir, directed by Billy Wilder. It starts Fred MacMurray as insurance salesman Walter Neff and Barbara Stanwyck as housewife Phyllis Dietrichson. After visiting the Dietrichson household to speak about insurance, Walter can't get Phyllis off his mind and is very happy when she appears at his apartment. They begin an affair, and Walter agrees to help Phyllis murder her husband and claim on the insurance. Being an insurance salesman, he assures her that they can get away with it. Of course, this does not go to plan and neither of the two end up happy, or alive. The film was based on the 1935 novella by James M. Cain. The term 'double indemnity' refers to clause in some life insurance policies that means the pay out is doubled when someone dies of an accidental death.

Double Indemnity is a perfect example of a classic Film Noir. Walter, the hapless hero, falls for Phyllis, the femme fatale, who leads him into crime and eventually death. Murder is a common storyline in Film Noirs, and is very present in this film. There is use of the famous Venetian blinds effect, and in Phyllis' final scene she sits in the dark with no light but that from her ciggarette, and a little coming through the windows.

Phyllis: We're both rotten. Walter: Only you're a little more rotten.

CODES AND CONVENTIONS OF FILM NOIR

The codes and conventions of Film Noir are very easy to distinguish, making Film Noirs easy to recognize. The codes and conventions, especially when it comes to cinematography and editing, change very little from film to film and narratives and storylines are used again and again. 

The cinematography of Film Noir films is often distorted, in order to make the viewer uncomfortable. There is a lot of use of low and high angles to give the impression of importance, or unimportance in certain characters. For example, in the film ‘Double Indemnity’ the first shot of Phyllis Dietrichson (pictured) is a low angled shot, showing from the start of the film her control over insurance salesman Walter Neff, who looks up at her from below. There is also a lot of use of dutch tilts, or irregular framing of shots to unsettle the viewer. Faces, or views, are often obscured through objects or seen in reflections to create mystique.

Much like the cinematography, the editing was often irregular and non-linear to create atmosphere. Film Noirs would often start with the end, and then explain the story in flashbacks. Most of these would be continuous, but sometimes there would be use of montages. There was often use of jump cuts and jarring juxtaposition to mess with the viewer, and make them very aware that they were not watching a relaxing show. This would put them on edge, reflecting perfectly the anxious and paranoid ideology of Film Noir.

Mise-en-scene was a big part of Film Noir. There was a lot of use of low-key lighting and shadows, to create contrasting images. A famous light effect used was that of the Venetian blinds. These would be cast upon a character or setting, such as in the film ‘Fallen Angel’ (pictured). The films would usually be low budget and sets would often be recycled from other films, so filmmakers would use whatever light they could. The lack of brightness added to the feeling of a grim and pessimistic society, and the lighting often directed the audience on where to look, deciding for them what details they needed to notice. The films were usually set in everyday locations, moving on from crime movies where crime would happen and the ‘dodgy’ ends of town only. In Film Noirs, crime could happen everywhere further causing distress to the viewer. Damp and wet streets were common in Film Noirs, mixing well with the sleazy and untrustworthy characters that were often found in the films.

In most Film Noirs, the main character would be a “doomed hero” who smoked too much, drank too much and spent a lot of his time contemplating his fate. He would usually fall for the femme fatale, a dame with a past, devilishly sexy and definitely not to be trusted. The majority of characters in Film Noir were sleazy, you would have corrupt cops, criminals and dodgy insurance salesmen just to name a few. The characters would talk in very flat, hard and to-to-point language, further showing their lack of positivity. Many of the language would come from the pulp fiction the films were based on, these were tough and sleazy ‘hard boiled’ fiction.

The primary moods of Film Noir are pessimism, anxiety, paranoia and alienation. The films put forward the idea that America was a brutal and corrupt place, and people were not to be trusted. After the war, people were not in a happy place and Film Noir captured this perfectly. Gone were the days when films main purpose was to make people feel good, cinema was now bitter and negative. This was all reflected in the storylines and narrative used for the films. A common storyline was that the doomed hero would fall for the femme fatale, who would one way or another lead him into committing a crime. The film would then follow the hero’s demise, such as in the film ‘Double Indemnity’. Another story used was that in which the hero would be torn between the femme fatale and another woman, a more sensible woman who truly loved him. Of course, he should choose the sensible woman, but could never resist the sexy and dangerous femme fatale. In order to get past censorship rules, Film Noir developed certain ways of putting across sex and violence, without directly mentioning it. Many of the characters talked in euphemisms, especially the main character and the femme fatale. Also, violence was often showed off screen. This meant the audience would often have to fill in the gaps themselves, keeping them actively involved in the film.

Music was heavily used in Film Noir to create tension and drama. There was a lot of piano music and downbeat jazz, which would help to build suspense. As well as this, many Film Noirs would have a voice over. This would allow narration all through the film, even if the storyline was not linear, or the character died. If the main character was drugged, the narration would inform the audience that the surreal images they were seeing were in fact hallucinations caused by the main characters unfortunate luck. There was also a lot of ambience and sound effects of the city and suburbia.