Review of film noir - Essay Example

Since it was first shown, most Noir films has similar motif of using an overemphasized directional lighting to create a deep shadow that was derived from German expressionist films (Spicer 23). Aesthetically, the strongest influence to it is the German Expressionism artistic movement in the 1910 and 1920s as can be gleaned by its use of deep shadows and chiaroscuro. Typical scenes in noir films were urban settings during evenings which usually involves water either as a rain or a wet street. There was no clear explanation to this.

Even the German Expressionism movement did not use much water in its medium (painting, sculpture, etch). Its plot usually revolves around crime, murder and sex and its theme is marked by cynicism and morally ambivalent if not downright corrupt characters such as the rotten character of the police Inspector in The Asphalt Jungle or the corrupt hard case portrayed by Lloyd Nolan in The Lady in the Lake (du Film Noir 23) Among those who was influential in defining noir films to be patently American was Silver as he reflects in his noir film during the classic period as he portrays the cultural preoccupation of Americans on film (Silver and Ursini 85).

Inferring to this historical fact in addition to current consensus about noir film, it makes me believe that this type of film were the precursor of the theme sex and violence in the cinema. I arrived at this observation, because prior to noir films, American movies were either only about romance or adventure and to some extent fantasy. Noir films were the first type of films that used violence heavily in its film where crime is almost always present along with its shady characters. There may sex in the themes of movies prior to noir ilms but this was in the context of romance and love story unlike in noir films where sex became motivation and to some extent explicit compared to its precursor movies that only suggested sex in its films.

Such, my opinion about noir film is a precursor of action movies today which used heavy violence where sex or the suggestion of it is always present. I cannot call it a genre because the number of films that fell into this category are too small to conclusively say that they define a genre. The reason why I cannot call it a genre because there also other films that that shares the motif of noir films of cynicism, crime, violence and sex but they also have other elements in the film, say, adventure, and they do not necessarily involve wet streets and rains.

Perhaps the closest film with a noir theme is Dick Tracy with its shady characters, violence, crime and penchant of wet streets and rain. But even the makers of Dick Tracy do not categorize the film as a noir. This can be taken either as film makers do not consider noir as a genre or that it has other elements other than that it would be untenable to classify as noir. Noir films could not also be categorized as a mere fad that fades in passing because certainly it made an impression and to some extent influence the future direction of film although the extent is unclear.

It can be said to be a film with a strong element of criminality, violence and cynicism in its plot but not necessarily categorically say that all film with criminality would become a noir because noir would not qualify as a genre. Perhaps, it would be safe to say that noir is an era