Film Noir-Femme Fatale

PRECIS………………………………………………………………….. 02

Classic Film Noir Elements…………………………………………….. 03

Thesis Statement………………………………………………………… 04

BODY: THE CLASSIC & MODERN FEMME FATALE

The Male Victims………………………………………………………… 05

Classic & Modern Fatale Similarities………………………………….. 07

A Second Type Of Fatale……………………………………………….. 09

Murder The Means-Money The Ends…………………………………. 11

Classic & Modern Fatale Differences………………………………….. 12

Obsession & Independence……………………………………………… 14

The Femme Fatale As Nietzsche’s Necessary Truth Dilution…………. 15

- The Classic and Modern Femme Fatale –

Film noir is literally “dark film” in French and American film noir became popular in the 1930s and 1940s as a direct result of German expressionism and lighting techniques. Noir films offer a gritty existential world in which the male protagonist is basically your average decent guy who falls prey to the wiles and wares of the alluring femme fatale. The femme fatale is the cinematic equivalent of the black widow spider in that her web of deceits, including her physical allure, entrap the willing male victim often resulting in his doom as well as that of the femme fatale’s. Classic film noir is generally considered to have occurred between 1940 and 1959 but there is general debate regarding these dates. The analysis here focuses on the character of the femme fatale in cla

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to the point of extracting himself from any real danger. Yet, Gilda is a typical example of both modern and classic noir femme fatales in that they, too, like many of their male victims, have lost their independence primarily because they married for money to a man basically seeing them as just one more of their owned possessions. Phyllis in Double Indemnity, Cora in Postman, Gilda in Gilda, Violet in Bound, Rhea in Palmetto and Matty in Body Heat all represent women who are involved with a man they really don’t love for the pure motive of cash and financial stability. Phyllis despises her insensitive and mean husband. Cora’s husband is a good-natured fellow, but his common aspirations and exasperating idiosyncrasies drive her to despise him and their low-class diner. Gilda is terrified by Ballin Munson but it didn’t stop her from marrying him for his money. Violet is trapped by fear and violence with Caesar, but as she tells Corky she does it for the money like any other job. Perhaps Violet veers most away from the classic noir femme fatale in the sense that she does not marry her cash cow, and her revenge upon him is more one of loving a lesbian than money-although money is certainly a motivating factor between Violet an
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Some common words found in the essay are:
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Approximate Word count = 4785
Approximate Pages = 19 (250 words per page)