This document defines and provides examples of film noir and neo-noir. It states that film noir refers to dark Hollywood thriller films from the 1940s-1950s that captured a pessimistic view of post-WW2 American society. It lists influential noir directors and their films, and notes the influence of German Expressionist films on the noir genre. Key elements of noir discussed include night scenes, blurred lines between heroes and villains, and "femme fatales". Neo-noir expanded noir's dark themes to reflect 1960s-present pessimism, while still using the visual style of classic noir films.

2. DEFINITION
• FILM NOIR IS A FRENCH WORD WHICH MEANS ‘’BLACK FILM’’. IT’S A TERM USED FOR MANY HOLLYWOOD
THRILLER FILMS OF 1940’S AND 1950’S IN WHICH THE ATMOSPHERE OF PESSIMISM, CYNICISM,
MISTRUST, DISAPPOINTMENT ETC. ARE CAPTURED AND ARE CHARACTERISTIC FOR AMERICAN SOCIETY
DURING WW2 AND FIRST YEARS OF COLD WAR.

3. EXAMPLES
• HERE IS A LIST OF FAMOUS DIRECTORS THAT MADE NOIR FILMS AND THE FILMS THEY DIRECTED:
Howard
Hawks
To Have and Have Not (1944)
The Big Sleep (1946)
Billy
Wilder
Double Indemnity (1944)
Sunset Blvd. (1950)
John
Huston
The Maltese Falcon (1941)
The Asphalt Jungle (1950)

4. OTHER EXAMPLES
HERE IS A LIST OF DIRECTORS THAT ARE NOT REALLY CONSIDERED AS NOIR DIRECTORS BUT ALSO DIRECTED
SOME FILMS THAT HAD A HUGE IMPACT ON NOIR FILMS:
Orson
Welles
Touch of Evil (1958)
Stanley
Kubrick
The Killing (1956)
Alfred
Hitchcock
Strangers on a Train (1951)

5. GERMAN EXPRESSIONISM
• IT’S NOT HARD TO NOTICE THE SIMILARITY BETWEEN 1920’S AND 1930’S GERMAN EXPRESSIONISM
FILMS AND 1940’S AND 1950’S CLASSIC NOIR MOVIES. MANY INFLUENTIAL DIRECTORS THAT DID NOIR
SUCH AS ORSON WELLES AND BILLY WILDER NEVER DENIED THAT THEY WERE INFLUENCED BY THE DARK
AND PESSIMISTIC WORKS OF GERMAN DIRECTORS OF POST WW1. THE BEST EXAMPLES OF GERMAN
EXPRESSIONISM WORKS ARE:
• ‘’THE CABINET OF DOCTOR CALIGARI’’ (1920), ‘’NOSFERATU’’ (1922), ’’THE LAST LAUGH’’ (1924), ‘’FAUST’’
(1926)

6. FRITZ LANG
• THE BEST GERMAN EXPRESSIONIST DIRECTOR IS WITHOUT ANY DOUBT THE AUSTRIAN-BORN FRITZ
LANG. THIS MAN CREATED A LOT OF FILMS THAT ARE CONSIDERED CLASSICS TODAY SUCH AS:
• ’’DOCTOR MABUSE, THE GAMBLER’’ (1922), ‘’DIE NIBELUNGEN’’ (1924), ‘’METROPOLIS’’ (1927), ’’M’’ (1931),
‘’FURY’’ (1936). SOME OF THESE FILMS HAD A MASSIVE IMPACT ON ON BOTH THRILLER AND NOIR
DEVELOPMENT.

7. CHARACTERISTICS
• THIS GENRE IS CHARACTERIZED BY CRIMINAL PLOT, DARK
ATMOSPHERE OF CYNICAL FATALISM AND PESSIMISM,
BLURRING THE LINE BETWEEN HERO AND ANTIHERO, MORE
REALISTIC ACTIONS AND DARK SCENE LIGHTNING, USUALLY AT
NIGHT. WOMEN USUALLY ACT AS BEAUTIFUL MODELS WHO GIVE
AN OCCASION FOR MAIN HEROES TO START INVESTIGATION. IN
NOIR FILM THESE WOMEN ARE USUALLY CALLED BY THE FRENCH
TERM ‘’FEMME FATALE’’ WHICH MEANS ‘’LETHAL WOMAN’’. THEY
USUALLY ACT AS DECEITFUL WHO CAN’T BE TRUSTED ALTHOUGH
THEY MOTIVATE THE MALE PROTAGONIST.

8. KEY ELEMENTS
• THE FOLLOWING ELEMENTS OF NOIR ARE COMMONLY USED:
• MAJORITY OF SCENES-NIGHT SCENES OR INTENTIONALLY DARKENED SCENES;
• LIGHTING DOES NOT DISTINGUISH THE ACTOR FROM THE SETTING, OFTEN HE IS GENERALLY PLACED IN THE SHADOW,
WHICH EMPHASIZES THE DISSOLUTION OF THE CHARACTERS IN THE ENVIRONMENT, IN THE GENERAL GLOOMY
ATMOSPHERE;
• NOIRS IS CLOSER IN SPIRIT TO THE METHODICAL, MEASURED BUILDING OF TENSION FROM DIALOGUE TO DIALOGUE WHICH
IS KNOWN AS SUSPENSE;
• IN THE TRADITION OF GERMAN EXPRESSIONISM, DISTORTED ANGLES ABOUND: THE CAMERA OFTEN CAPTURES THE
CHARACTERS OR THE SCENE WITH A WIDE-ANGLE LENS, FROM AN UNUSUALLY HIGH OR LOW SHOOTING POINT, DUTCH
ANGLE.

9. NEONOIR

10. DEFINITION
• NEONOIR IS A FORM OF NOIR WHICH IS USED FROM 1960’S TO OUR TIMES. JUST LIKE CLASSIC NOIR,
NEONOIR APPEARED BECAUSE OF CERTAIN SITUATIONS THAT LED TO 1960’S AND 1970’S PESSIMISM
SUCH AS VIETNAM WAR, ECONOMIC STAGNATION IN THE WESTERN BLOCK, WATERGATE SCANDAL ETC.
HOWEVER THE TOPICS BECAME MUCH DARKER AND THE PLOTS BECAME NOT ONLY ABOUT DETECTIVES
AND FEMME FATALES BUT ABOUT ANYTHING WHILE USING THE STYLE OF CLASSIC NOIR ALTHOUGH
NEONOIR FILMS ARE MOSTLY COLOURED RATHER THAN BLACK AND WHITE. IT CAN BE BOTH THE 1930’S-
1950’S NOSTALGIA (‘’L.A. CONFIDENTIAL’’ (1997), ’’CHINATOWN’’ (1974)) AND MODERN TIMES (‘’TAXI
DRIVER’’ (1976), ‘’SEVEN’’ (1995)). IT CAN FEATURE FEMME FATALE (’’BLADE RUNNER’’ (1982)) AND CAN BE
ABOUT PEOPLE WHO GO CRAZY (‘’OLDBOY’’ (2003))