This document provides a summary and analysis of several notable films that fall under the genre of film noir. It discusses the origins and defining elements of film noir. It then analyzes several influential American and international films that exemplify the genre, including L.A. Confidential, Drive, Fargo, Chinatown, and A History of Violence. It praises the atmosphere, style, characters, and themes of these films. It also briefly summarizes several acclaimed Indian films that have noir elements, such as Badlapur.

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AFTERHOURS ENTERTAINMENT
ANOD
TONOIR
T
HEAMERICANS
inventedmany
things;theyalso
inventedfilmnoir,
or‘blackfilm’.Well
actually,itwasFrench
criticNinoFrank,whofirst
usedthetermin1946to
describestylishHollywood
crimedramas.Criticsstill
arguewhethernoirquali-
fiesasafilmgenre,since
thefilmsinquestioncould
justaswellbedescribedas
sexyoreroticmurdermys-
teriesanddarkthrillers.I
amnotwadingintothatar-
gument,althoughmygutis
withitsjuicyplotcon-
coctionofLosAngeles’s
narcoticsmoboftheearly
1950s,ahigh-classprosti-
tutionring,power,politics
andcorruptioninthecity’s
policeforce,andaseriesof
clinicalmurders,itisthe
CurtisHanson-directed
L.A.Confidential(1997).
LAPDcopsSergeantJack
Vincennes(KevinSpacey),
OfficerBudWhite(Russell
Crowe)andSergeantEd
Exley(GuyPearce)areall
farfrommodelcopmate-
rial,butinthistalethey
emergeasheroesinthe
biggercriminalschemeof
things.Tryingtousethe
systemtofulfiltheirper-
sonalgoalsandobsessions
thetriogetplayedbyit,are
chastened,andfinally,re-
deemed.Exley,particular-
ly,hasabrilliantcharacter
arcandathenyoungand
handsomePearceplayed
himtoperfection.
HansonandBrian
Helgeland’sscreenplay,
adaptedfromthenovel
byJamesEllroy,ispacked
withsuspense,butithas
brilliantgags,dryhumour
andquote-worthyone-
There is more to the film
genre than just stylish
Hollywood crime dramas
By Lena Saha
somehowalwaysabletotell
thedifference:Ithinkit’s
gottodowithaparticular
proportionofsexiness,
eroticaorsleazecombined
variouslywithbleakness,
cynicism,obsession,drugs
andmurder.Whateverthat
proportionmaybe—or
if,indeed,thereissucha
proportion—noir(orifyou
wanttobespecific,alsoits
variation,neo-noir,refer-
ringtofilmsproducedmid-
1960sonwards)remains
myfavouritefilmgenre.
Ifthere’sonenoirfilm
thathooksmeeverytime
SEX, LIES AND CRIME:
L.A. Confidential had
all the elements of a
memorable noir film
liners,too.Samplethis:
VincennesandExleyvisit
abartoquestionasuspect,
whoisengrossedinconver-
sationwithadecked-up
woman.Exleythinksshe
isaLanaTurner-lookalike
prostituteandsmugly
saysittothewoman’sface;
Vincennestellshimsheis
therealLanaTurner;and
Exleyhasadrinkthrown
athisfacebythestar.
Releasedthesame
yearasTitanic,which
swepttheOscarswitha
record-equalling11wins,
inretrospect,L.A.Confi-
dentialseemstobetheone
deservingofallawards.Of
course,KimBasingerdid
snaretheOscarforBest
SupportingActressfor
themovie;sodidHanson
andHelgelandforBest
AdaptedScreenplay.
LosAngeleshasserved
asthesettingforfilmnoir
rightfromthe1940s;a
casualglanceatthecity’s
historyisenoughtotell
youwhy.It’stheplace
whereHollywoodroyalty
hobnobbedwithnotorious
gangstersandthenexus
ofcorruptionandsleaze
betweenthepolice,gov-
ernmentofficialsandthe
wealthyranhigh.Much
beforeL.A.Confidential,
RomanPolanski’sChi-
natownbaredthecity’s
underbellyin1974.For
privateinvestigatorJake
Gittes(JackNicholson),
acasethatstartsoutasa
regularsnoopintoadultery
committedbythechief
engineerofthecity’swater
andpowerdepartment
quicklysnowballsinto
murder,liesandincest,
culminatinginatragic,
personaldéjàvurelating
toChinatown.Robert
Towne’sOscar-winning
originalscreenplaysetin
1937isthestuffofbreath-
lesspraiseeventoday.Ifyou
haven’twatchedthisone,
youhavemissedoutalot.
Ifeveranawardisinsti-
tutedfornoiratmospherics
andstyle,itwouldgoto
NicolasWindingRefn’s
Drive(2011).Setpredomi-
nantlyinnight-timeLA,

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NOT ONLY
HOLLYWOOD
JOHNNY GADDAAR
(2007)
AARANYA
KAANDAM (2011)
MANORAMA SIX FEET
UNDER (2007)
STRAY DOG (1949)BADLAPUR (2015) MEMORIES OF
MURDER (2003)
thefilm’sdarktonesaccen-
tuatedbyoccasionalgolden
halosoflightandslow-
movingshots(notslow
motion)defineitsmood.
Sodoestheintentionally
tacky,golden-scorpion-
embossedsilverjacketthat
RyanGosling’sunnamed
protagonistwearsin
almosteveryscene.The
new-ageelectronicscore
cinematographyandthe
sing-songaccentsofmany
ofthecharactersareof
greatrecallvalue.
Anincompetentcar
salesman,JerryLun-
degaard(WilliamH.
Macy),indesperateneed
ofmoney,triestogethis
wifekidnappedbytwo
criminalssothathemight
extracttheransomfrom
hiswealthyfather-in-law.
However,thingsdon’tgo
accordingtoplanandbod-
iespileup.Aseven-month
pregnantlocalpolice
chief,MargeGunderson
(FrancesMcDormand),
investigatesthemurders,
whichshelatertieswith
Lundegaardandthedisap-
pearanceofhiswife.Inthe
end,thecriminalsgettheir
dueinonewayortheother,
asMargetellsoneofthem,
“There’smoretolifethan
alittlemoney,youknow.”
Sublimestuff,whichinany
othermovie,couldhave
soundedjaded.McDor-
mandscoredanOscarfor
BestActressinaLeading
RoleforplayingMarge,
oneofthemostmemorable
screencharactersofall
time.Infact,allthecharac-
ters—eventheoneshaving
oneortwoscenes—leave
animpression.Ahat-tipto
theCoenbrothers.
byCliffMartinezalong
withthesongs‘UnderYour
Spell’and‘ARealHero’are
inseparablefromDrive.
Gosling’scharacter
worksatacarrepairshop
andpart-timeasastunt
doubleonfilms.Healso
moonlightsasagetaway
driverforcriminals.Aman
offewwordsandfewerbe-
longingsandrelations,he
findshimselfattractedto
next-doorneighbourIrene,
amarriedwomanwitha
child,whose husbandis
injail.Alwayslivingonthe
edgeoftheworldofcrime,
butneverfallingintoit,the
driverultimatelybecomesa
brutekillertoprotectIrene
andherson,whoselives
areendangeredafterher
husbandisshotdead.Drive
wonRefntheBestDirector
awardatCannes.
DavidCronenberg’sA
HistoryofViolence(2005)
istheperfectaccompani-
menttoDrive.Bothfilms
projectviolenceastheonly
recourse—problematicas
itmaybe—forsomepeo-
pletorestorepeace(yes,
theirony!),butnotwithout
irreversible,life-longre-
percussions.Cronenberg’s
film,infact,makesthis
pointmorestrongly.
Thehappyandunevent-
fullivesof TomStall
(ViggoMortensen)and
hisfamilyinsmall-town
Americaarejoltedby
anincidentinwhichhe
expertlygunsdowntwo
thugs,whowantedtorob
hisdiner.Soon,mobsters
fromPhiladelphiaarrive,
claimingthatTomis
notoriousgangsterJoey
Cusack.Tomisforcedto
returntohisold,violent
selftoprotecthisfamily.
Whenhereturnshome,
werealisethisfamilywill
neverbethesameagain
asthespectreof Tom’s
pastandhispropensityfor
violencewillhaverede-
finedhisrelationshipwith
hisfamily.Theunnerving
denouementmakesthisa
thought-provokingnoir.
AHistoryofViolence
showsthatgreedand
savageryarenotendemic
tobigcitiesalone;ittakes
justonetriggertoshatter
theveneerofcontentment
insmalltowns.Forme,no
filmdoesthisbetterthan
Fargo(1996)andnoone
portrayslowlivesmore
accuratelyorinamore
morbidlyfunnywaythan
theCoenbrothers,Joeland
Ethan.Thisapart,Carter
Burwell’selegiacsignature
tune,whichopensthe
movieinNorthDakota’s
snowed-outFargo;Roger
Deakins’smarvellousstark
SriramRaghavan’ssecondmoviereliesmoreonstyle,
butisthoroughlyentertaining.Ayoungman,who
double-crosseshisgangmembersandkillsthemall,
getshiscomeuppancethroughacaseofmistaken
identity.Somecooltouchesareascenelikeningthe
gangtofishlaidoutonapanreadytobespicedand
fried;atributetothrillerwriterJamesHadleyChaseby
showingacharacterreadinghisbook;andazingyscore
byShankar-Ehsaan-LoybackedupbyHardKaur'srap.
ThisSouthKoreanfilmisbasedonareal-life
unresolvedcaseoftherapeandmurderofaseries
ofwomen.Theincidentstakeplaceinasmalltown
nearSeoulin1989,whenthecountryisundera
militarydictatorship.Agrippingpoliceprocedural
fromdirectorBongJoon-ho,thefilmiselevated
bytheuseofstarkimageryinseveralscenes.
Followinganestablishedmovietradition,thefinal
scenereturnstotheplacewhereitallbegan.
Theconcubineofanageingdon(Jackie
Shroff)hatchesanelaborateplanto
eliminatehimandhisganginthisTamil
film.ThiagarajanKumarajabaggedthe
NationalAwardforBestFirstFilmofa
Directorforthismovie.Stylised,slow-
moactionscenesandportrayalofcrude
realitiesmakethefilmworthyourtime.
NavdeepSingh’sfilmisaninspiredtake,thoughtoned
downandsimplified,onChinatown.Asuspended
governmentofficialandfailedwriter,Satyaveer
Singh,ishiredbyamysteriouswomantoinvestigate
herpolitician-husband’saffairs.Only,sheislooking
forsomethingmoredamagingthatbecomesclearto
Satyaveerlaterassheandsomeothersarekilled,and
dirtysecretstumbleoutofthepolitician’scloset.The
filmfailedtocreateripplesattheboxoffice,buthas
nowbecomeacultIndiannoir.
InthisfilmbyJapanesemasterAkiraKurosawa,
arookiecopintheTokyopoliceforcefindsthat
hisgunhasbeenstolenfromhisholsterwhilehe
wastravellingonacrowdedbus.Fearingthathe
wouldlosefacebyreportingthetheft,theyoung
copdecidestoscourTokyo’spoverty-ridden
slumsandtheunderworldtolocatehisgun.
However,hehastotakethehelpofaveteran
detectivewhenhediscoversthathisgunhas
beenusedinacrimespree.
Raghavan’smeditativenoirquestionsthe
justificationforviolenceandretribution
throughoneman’srelentlessquest
foravenginghiswifeandson’skilling.
Thefilmboastsofbrilliantatmospheric
cinematographybyAnilMehta,realistic
productiondesign,andamusicalscoreby
Sachin-Jigarthatisinsyncwiththemovie’s
preoccupations.
THE EYES HAVE IT:
Ryan Gosling and
Carey Mulligan in a
scene from Nicolas
Winding Refn's Drive
GRIPPING TALE: Varun
Dhawan (right) and
Nawazuddin Siddiqui
battle it out in Sriram
Raghavan's Badlapur