- The Classic and Modern 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 classic and modern noir films. The argument contends that there is very little difference between the portrayal of the femme fatale in classic film noir and modern film noir. It also addresses the...