The Night of the Hunter Film of 1955 and Fargo Film of 1996 - Movie Review Example

Project (The Night of the Hunter film of 1955 and Fargo film of 1996) Introduction The Night of the Hunter film of 1955 and Fargo film of 1996 are renowned Hollywood productions that have received exceptional reception among the film lovers. The two pieces of work have been of immense cultural, historical and aesthetic importance. They are informative, educative and entertaining given that their composition was based on enriching ideas and heartland noir guidelines. Their theme depicts how relevant they are in providing historical facts about phenomenon’s relating to crime. In particular, The Night of the Hunter of 1955 is a thriller film of America that was exclusively written, and produced. Charles Laughton developed the film under strict guidelines and ideals of good a film. The film gives clear historical background and activities of reverend Harry Powers, who turned to be a serial killer. The man met his death through hanging after killing two widows and three children (Laughton 1). The film focuses on his corrupt ways and the use of charms in wooing the unsuspecting widows with the aim of benefiting from them. On the other hand, Fargo is a dark American crime thriller film, whose production was in the year 1996. The film that was written by Joel and Ethan Coen is characterized by a great sense of humor, comic and heartland noir styles that make it stand out among other films. It gives the story of a police officer who practiced kidnapping and other criminal activities using hired people. Comparison and contrasting facts in Night of the Hunter and Fargo Heartland film noir is a cinematic term that describes stylish adopted in the production of films of diverse nature. The term is used in describing stylish in Hollywood crime dramas that emphasize on cynical attitudes, corruption and sexual motivations such as the Night of the Hunter and Fargo films. It can also be defined as an outright and typical type of a film that is characterized with a strong sense of fatalistic and pessimistic mood that deals with urban crime melodramatically. It deals with key criminal activities that are common in urban settings such as corruption, extortionist, killing and fraud. According to Holmlund (3), the classical heartland film noir’s era extended from early 1940s to late 1950s. The era was associated with clear visual styles with German expressionist roots primarily termed as a low-key-black-and-white visual style that the two films adopted comparatively. The style still emerges and remains evident in most films that revolve around prototypical stories, crime and attitude of classical noir. The films derive their stylistic mood from the ancient works of crime fiction that emerged during the great depression witnessed in US. Comparatively, writing and production of the two films were based exclusively on the set standards of film production and heartland noir styles. They are characterized with a strong sense of humor, clear, precise and informative as depicted in their content and display. They both present historical, cultural, and aesthetic significance based on German expression to the film lovers as they give stories of real events that occurred in the years before (Holmlund 4). They depict how historical background and pessimism of individuals influences their future actions and way of life. For instance, the films convey vital message on how past events and activities can influence present actions of individuals. Likewise, the two films have a similar theme that revolves around crime, corruption and thriller killing. In particular, The Night of the Hunter film depicts the true story of Harry Powers, who was a corrupt person turned to be a serial killer. The man used his charms to defraud women who were widows through dubious and ill-intended skims. In a similar breath, Fargo film depicts a man who used various tricks to kidnap individuals including his wife for monetary gains. The struggling car salesperson hired criminals to achieve his unethical mission of kidnapping and killing to get money. The film featured various characters such as Steve Buscemi, peter Stomare John carol among others who were merciless and heartless. Their attitude and action resemble the current trends that are evident in our communities that erode social, economic, and cultural coherence (Holmlund 8). In terms of imagery, the two films as produced have high image quality that makes them more attractive to viewers. The images and pictures of the characters are clear and well colored. Their clarity enhances the identification and understanding of the role of each participant in the films. For instance, Fargo film has won several movie academy and non-academy awards since its launching. The film was ranked 84th in the 100 years celebration of Americans film institute’s existence including best director prize award (Lundegaard’s 1). The film’s exemplary images are attributable to the effective screening that took place in different locations or film festivals. The festivals include Cannes film festival, Pusan international film festival among others. The Night of the Hunter was also ranked 34th on the AFI’s 100 years celebration due to its exemplary imagery and use of heartland noir styles. The pictures in the film were effectively choreographed, and they are classical in nature (Laughton 1). Despite the relevance of the two films in shaping the genres and stylistic nature of the current productions, they have received criticisms from various quarters. They have also exhibited deep sense of contrasting elements and aspects that require consideration by film producers. Firstly, the two films contrast each other based on stylistic classical and genre. Fargo film as produced embraced improved cinematography styles as compared to the night of the hunter. The dressing style and lines of engagement in the criminal piece of action depicted in Fargo film is exemplary compared to The Night of the Hunters piece. The characters in Fargo film are dressed in exclusive black tuxedos and other exclusive attires. Their attires depict clearly a group of individuals out to defraud the public greatly (Holmlund 14). Similarly, the genre of the films also contrasts as indicated by various producers in the film industry. They criticize the notion that the two pieces of work are of a similar genre citing that Fargo genre touches on robbery while that of The Night of the Hunter revolves around corruption. Another contrasting element features in the noir classification of the films especially on the areas where the crimes takes place in most cases. The notion that the criminal activities are all associated with urban centers is not accurate at our time. This is because most kidnappings that form the story line in the Fargo film are executed in rural areas, open roads in most instances and other private locations. However, the defrauding of windows and corruption that forms the storyline on The Night of the Hunter film is highly associated with urban areas. Such kind of an activity cannot thrive in the rural areas since it entails defrauding the rich (Holmlund 26). Likewise, the quality of Fargo film in terms of imagery elements, clarity and content capacity contrasts that of The Night of the Hunter greatly. Fargo film is touted as an extraordinary piece of work that depicts how well film noirs guidelines can revolutionize the value of a story (Lundegaard’s 1). How the darker, more pessimistic urban sensibility of noir migrated to middle America As noted, the usage of film noir has gained prominence in most settings especially with the existence of the two renowned films. The films that include Fargo and The Night of The Hunter have played a critical role in shaping the quality under which criminal related films are produced. However, the story lines in the films have facilitated criminal activities as some individuals have mastered that art of crime from the stories. In US, individuals from humble backgrounds and rural areas have turned into crime after gaining insights from the movies. They have advanced the level of crime in the urban areas where they terrorize individuals greatly. Indeed, the increasing level of crime has made life darker and pessimistic in the urban areas in the present day. Many lives are lost; corruption levels have increased, more cases of abduction reported and defrauding of widows. In observing the trends, life in urban areas is becoming darker, and people are getting to be more pessimistic about the future of their lives and valuables. They live in fear of losing their valuables and lives through robbery that is gaining popularity. Particularly, Fargo film has contributed in the perfection of the art of kidnapping and extortionist, and facilitated its migration to the middle parts of America (Holmlund 39). The film that has been widely distributed has enlightened individuals on how to execute kidnapping crimes and other forms of atrocities in most parts of America including the middle parts. The movie forms the main driver of the criminal practices witnessed in the areas. Subsequently, corruption, fraud, and killing crimes have also been facilitated into the middle parts of America courteously of The Night of the Hunter film. Through the characters in the film, individuals have noble insights on how to manage criminal activities of high profile. They have monitored how Power was undertaking his criminal activities and the intelligence with which he was operating. This has enabled them to perfect their ways of operations in diverse locations including the middle parts of America. In the film industry, the two movies have contributed in the transformation of how production of films about various criminal activities is done. They have provided the basis under which the current producers benchmark their work in ensuring that set standards are maintained. The basis has facilitated the production of well-varnished films with clear content, informative, and well acted. Conclusion It is imperative to note that heartland film noir styles used in Fargo and The Night of the Hunter films have consistently been adopted in producing films with criminal themes in US and other parts of the world. Movie and film producers in the world borrow the rich cinematography skills including styles used in the 1950s to produce movies with in-depth teachings. They depict the current trends of criminal activities, how pessimistic most criminals are, their frustrations, actions and dressing styles. They give stories on how individuals who are law-abiding including police officers can be lured to a criminal lifestyle haplessly as evident in the cases depicted in Fargo and The Night of the Hunter. The two films have had immense comparative effect on this front as they give classical case studies to film producers in producing films that depict what transpires in the world currently. Works Cited Holmlund, Chris. American Cinema of the 1990s: Themes and Variations. New Brunswick, N.J: Rutgers University Press, 2008. Internet resource. Laughton, Charles. The night of the hunter. 2013. Web. 2nd Mar. 1955. Lundegaard’s Jerry. Fargo 1996. 2013. Web. May 1996. Read More