Film Noir is a term not easily described. Is it a style? Is it a genre? What exactly is it? You can find numerous definitions of it around the web and none of them are inherently wrong nor inherently right. On Wikipedia.com the Film Noir article defines it simply as, “a cinematic term used primarily to describe stylish Hollywood crime dramas, particularly those that emphasize cynical attitudes and sexual motivations.”
On Dictionary.com Film Noir is defined as, “a motion picture with an often grim urban setting, photographed in somber tones and permeated by a feeling of disillusionment, pessimism, and despair.”
Both of these bring up important elements of the style and capture the essence of what a noir entails. We could spend pages and pages discussing how to define this class of film and the elements that make it up, but for this post we will simply be going through a brief history of this film movement and what it has done for film today.
What we consider to be classic film noir’s were made primarily in the 40’s and 50’s. The term “film-noir” was coined by French critic Nino Frank, hence the french term “film-noir” which means black film.
At the time these movies were being made in Hollywood, they did not refer to these movies as noir’s, but as melodramas.
It was at a later time that these films came to be known as a collective group that could be defined as a film noir.
But where does this genre stem from? The dark compositions and use of lighting and shadow that permeates the style of a noir was heavily influenced by a film movement known as German Expressionism. There are definitely many similar elements between the two styles. There is a huge emphasis on shadows and shapes that reinforce a psychological state of a character.
The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari Night and the City
The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari Force of Evil
In the above pictures, the left column are examples of German Expressionist films, whereas the right side are examples of Film Noir’s. Looking at each picture next to each other you can easily see the similarities in style. In the top row, you can see that the use of shadows, and even the body language of the characters, are composed very similarly. In the second row, you can see similar styles in the way the outside world is portrayed. It is dark and full of shadow and uncertainty. The gothic city is common in both styles of film. In the bottom row you can see the main characters of the films against white with contrasting dark buildings with sharp angles that represent the uncertainty of the world they live in.
Film Noir had such great directors as Orson Welles, Jules Dassin, Fritz Lang and even Alfred Hitchcock to pave the way for this genre. Fritz Lang, a German director, who clearly took his inspiration from German Expressionism, is considered the most important director associated with the style of noir filmmaking. His film “M” from 1931 is often used as an example of the archetypal noir.
To see a video that demonstrates this just click here.
It is hard to say what the first film noir was for sure. According to filmnoirstudies.com’s timeline, Stranger on the Third Floor, directed by Boris Ingster in 1940 was the earliest film to be classified as a noir. And in 1958, Orson Welles’ wonderful film noir Touch of Evil marked the end of what is considered the era of “Classical Film Noir.”
Although the era of classical noir’s has ended, there is still more to its history. Out of this film noir movement has come what is now known as neo-noir, which simply takes prominent elements of the noir genre and applies them to modern films. The biggest difference is that films are now in color rather than black and white, which gives modern noir’s a different aesthetic feel. Another difference comes from the fact that the classic noir’s came out in the era of the code, a time where censorship rules limited what you could show in a film. So the way sex and violence was portrayed had to be done in different ways whereas modern films often have explicit acts of sexuality and violence sometimes going into the extreme of ultra-violence as is the case with such neo-noir’s as Drive and The Long Goodbye.
Noir is still a very important piece of modern cinema. Neo-noir’s are being made by well acclaimed directors like the Coen Brothers (Ethan & Joel Coen), with the Academy Award winning movie No Country For Old Men, and other films such as Blood Simple, Barton Fink, Fargo, and even their black and white film The Man Who Wasn’t There (clearly following the noir genre archetype). And Christopher Nolan’s Memento and his black and white film Following are more prime examples of the neo-noir movement that helped propel him into working on such films as The Dark Knight (stylistically similar to noir’s) and Inception.
The Man Who Wasn’t There Following
No Country For Old Men Barton Fink
Film Noir is a genre that will continue to fascinate and entertain for a long time to come. It is the style of film that most inspires me and my work as a filmmaker and I look forward to seeing where it will go in the future. I have just given you a very brief history of Film Noir but the history does not stop here where I leave off because the genre will continue to flourish and grow throughout the years continuously putting audiences into shock and awe.
Noir Place Like Home 
I really like your layout. It really suits the film noir idea. Not a huge fan of how the posts are embedded; really throws off the feel I think.
It’s so refreshing to see someone else who loves Film Noir! I swear it seems like a lost art almost. I absolutely love the design of your blog though. The black, gray and white fits it so well for obvious reasons. I would love it if you kept posting on here even after class because I’ll most definitely read it! Very nice work!