Film Noir Film Genre
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One of the most potent film genres in terms of subsequent influence was the so-called film noir, so-called because no one making a film noir at the time of its creation ever used the term or even assumed that they were working in a genre or style that might deserve a name of its own. The term was applied long after by French critics who noticed a stylistic shift in American films in the 1940s, and as Thomas Schatz notes, this style dominated films in the late 1940s and early 1950s to such a degree "that it came to identify both the narrative-cinematic style of those films and also the historical period during which they were produced" (Schatz 112). The style would have an influence long after that historical period ended. Indeed, it continues to have an influence today, though the underlying social dynamic that produced it in the first place changed long ago. Yet, there is something in the film noir that appeals to and expresses darker aspects of the human soul and so has a resonance still. Alfred Hitchcock was achieving his first major successes in America at the time of the development of the film noir. Hitchcock did not make a traditional film noir, though he did use elements of the style and show some of the same sense of social angst. His films differ from the traditional film noir, though, in that he simply has different interests and an underlying sense of humor that undercuts the essence of the film noir.Film noir is more properly called a style rather than a
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, manipulate the audience, and satisfy that audience at the same time. He was meticulous in developing his films, storyboarding every shot and showing an understanding of both camera movement (in the Murnau tradition) and montage (in the Pudovkin-Eisenstein tradition) that makes his films useful as "textbooks" of technique. He started in the silent era and never forgot the power of the image, but he also adapted to the use of sound in a way that showed he regarded it as an essential element in film thereafter (witness his experimentations with sound as in the scream that turns into a train whistle in Murder or the musical experiments he made with the use of "The Merry Widow Waltz" in Shadow of a Doubt). He experimented with color once the film medium required more color--he stopped using the backlight for hair highlights in Vertigo, reasoning that color was sufficient differentiation; he used color for its psychological power to illuminate character (as Robin Wood discusses with reference to Marnie [Wood 153-184]); he used 3-D as a way of creating a new sense of space in Dial M for Murder; and he showed the cinematic value and versatility of the a limited setting (Lifeboat) and the very long take (Rope). In short, Hitchcock sh
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Approximate Word count = 1952
Approximate Pages = 8 (250 words per page)
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