Post by Aurelia on Dec 23, 2020 13:14:36 GMT -5
I'm working on a bit of film history focusing on the influences and classic era of Film Noir (including some modern movies influenced by the genre)... will be posting it bit by bit here as I get the chance.
Enjoy!
Film Noir : Cinema for the Disenchanted
The inky shadows, the sinister angles, the intricate stories and tarnished heroes... while many disagree on the exact elements that comprise the Film Noir genre, but five attributes typically are cited: oneiric, strange, erotic, ambivalent, and cruel. Perhaps the most striking feature of the genre is the feeling each leaves you with: a dream-like lingering sensation of unease, melancholic beauty - and the pervasive infusion ideals in a dark world.
Movies that Set the Stage for Noir
Prior to World War I, the social and political tensions rising in Germany overflowed into the public consciousness, through the medium of art, music and cinema. The overall starkness of the strong lines, high contrast and harsh dichotomy of shadow and light lent itself as a metaphor for the extremes of clashing national ideals. The end of the war left the German people with a lingering sense of betrayal, paranoia and cynicism - and those sensations were all expressed in a very visceral sense through the visual cues and symbolism present in German Expressionist cinema.
The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari is easily considered the most influential and critically acclaimed films of the German Expressionist movement. The jarring lighting, the extremes of lines and shape, and the disturbing plot are all composed to relay a message to viewers: authority was untrustworthy. The overall fear focused on the hypnotic powers of Caligari and how he used them to manipulate those around him to perform evil. The sets were hand-painted with skewed perspective and shape: exaggerated depictions of reality to show the twisted, fearful quality of the tale (which the twist ending reveals as the dream of a mental health patient in a psychotic state).
At the time it was release, horror movies were virtually non-existent as the subject matter was believed to be too grotesque for audiences. This plotline in particular left viewers with some unnerving questions... who was good or bad? Who was truly guilty?
The bleak visual impact left viewers with a new experience: the darkness of the mind, visible.
Fritz Lang's M, filmed in Germany in 1931, was perhaps the first true thriller/procedural drama ever created - and is still widely considered to be one of the greatest movies of all time. Over 10 years had passed from the release of Dr. Caligari - and the Great Depression in America directly impacted the economy in Germany, as American loans to help rebuild the economy in Germany were withdrawn. The year that M was filmed was the same year that the Creditanstalt Bank in Vienna collapsed, causing widespread panic across Europe.
The film focused on serial child murderer - Hans Beckert (Peter Lorre) - who was both the protagonist and villain.
Following the storyline from the perspective of a serial killer took audiences down a dark path; while the gore of the murders were not shown, the grim symbols, the luring of solitary children and the poignantly lengthened moments of black screen communicate untold horrors.
Equally disturbing to movie goers was the conflict the film left unresolved: the dilemma of dispensing real justice. Han Beckert speaks at length about the irresistible urge to kill children, revealing that he is perhaps suffering from schizophrenia or some other mental illness - and the audience knows that were the police to apprehend Beckert, he would have been judged as mentally unfit for a trial. The struggle is whether to hate Beckert or pity him - wish the police intervene or hope he is killed by the mob. Generally all of the supporting characters were what could be considered as grotesques - a sort of diseased society... leaving the audience conflicted - who was the hero of this tale - and who truly was the villain?
The use of shadow, fluid tracking shots and disturbing imagery added a new register of darkness and unease to movie history.
In 1933, the Nazi party would begin censoring films and avoiding these sorts of movies that asked too many open ended questions, or blurred the lines between black and white.
Enjoy!
Film Noir : Cinema for the Disenchanted
The inky shadows, the sinister angles, the intricate stories and tarnished heroes... while many disagree on the exact elements that comprise the Film Noir genre, but five attributes typically are cited: oneiric, strange, erotic, ambivalent, and cruel. Perhaps the most striking feature of the genre is the feeling each leaves you with: a dream-like lingering sensation of unease, melancholic beauty - and the pervasive infusion ideals in a dark world.
Movies that Set the Stage for Noir
Prior to World War I, the social and political tensions rising in Germany overflowed into the public consciousness, through the medium of art, music and cinema. The overall starkness of the strong lines, high contrast and harsh dichotomy of shadow and light lent itself as a metaphor for the extremes of clashing national ideals. The end of the war left the German people with a lingering sense of betrayal, paranoia and cynicism - and those sensations were all expressed in a very visceral sense through the visual cues and symbolism present in German Expressionist cinema.
The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari is easily considered the most influential and critically acclaimed films of the German Expressionist movement. The jarring lighting, the extremes of lines and shape, and the disturbing plot are all composed to relay a message to viewers: authority was untrustworthy. The overall fear focused on the hypnotic powers of Caligari and how he used them to manipulate those around him to perform evil. The sets were hand-painted with skewed perspective and shape: exaggerated depictions of reality to show the twisted, fearful quality of the tale (which the twist ending reveals as the dream of a mental health patient in a psychotic state).
At the time it was release, horror movies were virtually non-existent as the subject matter was believed to be too grotesque for audiences. This plotline in particular left viewers with some unnerving questions... who was good or bad? Who was truly guilty?
The bleak visual impact left viewers with a new experience: the darkness of the mind, visible.
Fritz Lang's M, filmed in Germany in 1931, was perhaps the first true thriller/procedural drama ever created - and is still widely considered to be one of the greatest movies of all time. Over 10 years had passed from the release of Dr. Caligari - and the Great Depression in America directly impacted the economy in Germany, as American loans to help rebuild the economy in Germany were withdrawn. The year that M was filmed was the same year that the Creditanstalt Bank in Vienna collapsed, causing widespread panic across Europe.
The film focused on serial child murderer - Hans Beckert (Peter Lorre) - who was both the protagonist and villain.
Following the storyline from the perspective of a serial killer took audiences down a dark path; while the gore of the murders were not shown, the grim symbols, the luring of solitary children and the poignantly lengthened moments of black screen communicate untold horrors.
Equally disturbing to movie goers was the conflict the film left unresolved: the dilemma of dispensing real justice. Han Beckert speaks at length about the irresistible urge to kill children, revealing that he is perhaps suffering from schizophrenia or some other mental illness - and the audience knows that were the police to apprehend Beckert, he would have been judged as mentally unfit for a trial. The struggle is whether to hate Beckert or pity him - wish the police intervene or hope he is killed by the mob. Generally all of the supporting characters were what could be considered as grotesques - a sort of diseased society... leaving the audience conflicted - who was the hero of this tale - and who truly was the villain?
The use of shadow, fluid tracking shots and disturbing imagery added a new register of darkness and unease to movie history.
In 1933, the Nazi party would begin censoring films and avoiding these sorts of movies that asked too many open ended questions, or blurred the lines between black and white.
