ANALYSIS OF A NEO NOIR: BRICK

Brick is a 2005 American film written and directed by Rian Johnson. He was inspired by the hardboiled detective novels written by Dashiell Hammett, and set out to create a detective film like the Film Noirs he had watched in his childhood. However, he did not want to simply imitate them, and instead wanted to create one of his own. This is why he chose to set the film in a high school turning it into a contemporary Neo Noir.

The film follows California high school student Brendan Frye, played by Joseph Gordon-Levitt, who chooses to alienate himself from his fellow students. This turns him into the classic Film Noir character of the loner, the anti-hero. The film begins with him looking at the body of an unknown blonde girl, who is clearly dead. The scene then changes to Brendan at his locker, and text appears on screen saying ‘Two days earlier’. This is a characteristic of Film Noir in which the narrative begins at the end, and the story is then told to explain what has happened. It is later revealed that the blonde girl is Brendan’s ex girlfriend, Emily played by Emilie de Ravin, who he has previously received a distressed call from. Brendan attempts to find her and sort out her problems, but she is killed before he can. He decides to find who killed her, and why, which leads him to become involved with The Pin, played by Lukas Haas, a drug baron and his violent associate Tug, played by Noah Fleiss, who spends the majority of the film punching or threatening people, including Brendan. A stock character in Film Noir is the Femme Fatale, and in Brick she comes in the form of Laura Dannon, played by Nora Zehetner. She is the popular high school girl involved in The Pin’s dealings. Throughout the film she tries to get Brendan to trust her, and consistently offers him lifts. In the last scene of the film she stands with Brendan on the school field after he has discovered that Emily’s death was partly caused by Laura blaming her for stealing drugs. He harshly tells her everything he knows, whilst she begs him to believe her that he is wrong and cries. In this scene she wears a coat with a fur trim, echoing the style of the Femme Fatales of the classic Film Noir era. There is also another female that could be considered a Femme Fatale, although she appears in the film much less often. Kara, played by Meagan Good, is the seductive actress in the school play. Brendan goes to her for information a few times in the film, and it becomes clear that they have a past although it is not expanded on. Brendan says ‘Still picking your teeth with freshmen?‘ to which Kara answers ‘Well, you were a freshman once.‘

The storyline in Brick is centred on a murder, much like many of the classic Film Noirs. It also incorporates drugs and the ideology that people are not to be trusted. For example, Assistant Vice Principle Trueman, played by Richard Roundtree, represents the higher authority in this film. It would be assumed that he would be a moral and truthful person as he is partly in charge of hundreds of highly impressionable teenagers. Instead, he tries to get Brendan to snitch on his fellow students, and then agrees to keep his name out of any trouble that occurs. This is reminiscent of the bent coppers often found in Film Noir. In fact, as the film continues it seems more and more that Brendan can’t trust anyone and they all have something to hide.

The characters use very hardboiled language, much like was used in classic Noir. This clearly comes from Johnson’s love of hardboiled novels. Brendan is the leader in this, and the majority of his script is highly quotable. For example, in one of his first conversations with Laura she says ‘I know everyone, and I have all the time in the world.’ Brendan then follows up with ‘Ah, the folly of youth.’ Admittedly, it is somewhat strange hearing this language from teenagers but this adds a modern feel to the film reminding us that we’re not watching classic Noir, but in fact Neo Noir. Adults are rarely scene in the film, and when The Brain, Brendan’s main aide, is describing The Pin he says ‘he's supposed to be old, like 26.’ This highlights the focus on high school students.

Sound is very important in Brick, much like it was in classic Noir. The music would usually be downbeat jazz and piano music. In Brick there is a lot of use of traditional instruments, especially the piano, trumpet and violin. However, there is a small part in the film in which Brendan goes to a pie store to speak to some drug addicts and the background music is made up mainly of a banjo. This is something that would not have been found in Film Noir, but seems to fit in well with the desolate American scenery that Brick puts across. Much like in Film Noir, the danger and crime doesn’t just happen in the seedy areas. Brendan is often seen using phone booths on dusty roads, giving the impression that his America is somewhat of a wasteland. Film Noir spread the message of social depravation and Brick’s violent, drug addicted characters put forward this message again. Instead of showing a land affected by war, we see a land affected by sex, violence and drugs. In the modern age, these are often issues covered by the mass media much like the war was back in the classic Noir era.

The film was mainly received well by critics, and made $3.9 million worldwide. It ranked 35 on Entertainment Weekly’s list of the 50 Best High School Movies and 489th on Empire magazine’s list of the 500 greatest movies of all time. Kristi Mitsuda from indieWIRE.com said that she couldn’t remember the last time she’d seen “a movie as purely and perfectly entertaining as Rian Johnson‘s Sundance prize-winning debut feature, Brick.” Most reviews, as well as Mitsuda’s classified the film as an excellent example of Neo Noir. I think Brick has the ability to appeal to a wide audience, for one lovers of Film Noir would probably enjoy this modern revival. It is also likely to appeal to teenagers as it is set in their natural surroundings.