Film Noir and You

For the longest time, whenever I heard “Film Noir,” I thought Casablanca, Humphrey Bogart, black and white, and fast-talking but I never knew much more. It was one of those “I’ll know it when I see it” things. I recently watched the 1941 version of The Maltese Falcon starring Humphrey Bogart. With its examples of harsh lighting, moral dilemmas, and the relationship between the protagonist and a femme fatale,The Maltese Falcon is the epitome of film noir. I write this post to help better understand the genre and explore how a couple instances of “neo-noirs,” or modern film noirs, Romeo is Bleeding (1993) and Chinatown (1974), have adapted the classic formula to the modern age.

A predecessor of film noir was German expressionism. German expressionism was big in the 1920’s and 1930’s. The art direction was an outward manifestation of the thematic focus of internal madness and turmoil: painted sets, jagged angles, and fantastic construction are some of the things one might notice. Famous films of this era include Nosferatu and The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari. Check out this image from The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari:

Another feature you might notice is the harsh lighting. In this film, the shadows were actually painted into the sets to provide a better, more striking distinction between light and dark. Now, consider your mental picture of film noir with the above image.

Roger Fromm notes that the film noir genre appealed to the disillusionment of post-war America. The nation had had enough of the romanticized Patriotism found in movies produced during the war. These films are dark in every way. These movies are so dark, if were filmed in color, they would still be in black and white. In much the same way as German expressionism, film noirs project the thematic struggle onto the world. The harsh lighting, for example, creates menacing shadows. In The Maltese Falcon, a couple of police officers visit Sam Spade to question him about a recent murder. The camera sits between the two officers looking straight at Spade who sits alone on his bed. The officers become walls on each side of the frame giving an appropriately claustrophobic feel to the conversation; they suspect Spade of murder and will gladly arrest him at the slightest chance.

From a thematic perspective, the internal turmoil translates into an outward conflict. In the case of The Maltese Falcon, we have the ace private detective, Sam Spade. He is a hard-edged man trying to survive in a gritty world caught in between criminals and the police. Spade isn’t the classic, good guy hero who gets the girl at the end. He falls in love with the girl but he saves himself, not her. Spade, as is the case with all film noirs, is an anti-hero. At the same time, although it seems like he considers dealing with criminals, ultimately, he doesn’t. According to the trailer, Spade is a man who “make crime career...the most ruthless lover you’ll ever meet”. Ruthless is a bit of an overstatement. He is more concerned with self-preservation than getting ahead. It isn’t so much that he works against the law but that he is willing to work outside the law. He is fundamentally true even though he commiserates with criminals.

Alongside the male protagonist, is the black widow of a woman, the femme fatale. Beautiful but dangerous, she leads the protagonist into certain peril. In The Maltese Falcon, we have Brigid O’Shaughnessy (Astor). In the words of Spade’s receptionist, “she’s a real knockout.” O’Shaughnessy comes to the office of Spade and Archer explaining that she is looking for her missing sister. She pays an exorbitant amount for the service. Her payment is a red flag in Spade’s mind, and rightly so. She is lying. She is looking for the impossibly valuable Maltese Falcon. Over the course of the rest of the movie, we watch Spade and O’Shaughnessy dance a veritable tango of deception. She lays “the schoolgirl act on thick” and he makes even the truth sound like a lie.

Film Noir faded into the shadows with the advent of color. People had had enough of the dark, cynicism and wanted bright musicals. At times there have been modern efforts to create film noirs. How does one adapt film noir to the present age? I’ll look at two (comparatively) modern film noirs that stand out to me; Romeo is Bleeding (1993) and Chinatown (1974).

Romeo is Bleeding is about Jack Grimaldi (Oldman), a NYC Sergeant who plays both sides of the law; the Mafia pays him to provide the locations of individuals under police protection. He “gives a name, gets the money, and puts the money in the hole” (he hides the money in a hole in his backyard). Before long, his dealings become less about the money itself and more about having the money. The accumulation of wealth, even though he never spends it, becomes his obsession. Jack may not be the hyper-masculine Bogart but he is a corrupt individual whose immorality ultimately consumes him. True to film noir fashion, the beautiful, dangerous, Russian assassin Mona Demarkov (Olin) seduces him. Instead of giving her over to the police or the mob, Jack releases her when she promises two hundred thousand dollars.

We have a couple film noir staples in Romeo is Bleeding, the femme fatale, the morally questionable protagonist, and the plot driving by deception. Visually, Romeo is Bleeding movie is not black and white but it tries to stylize the characters to adapt the genre to color.  The most notable character is Mona whose attire seems to be entirely overcoats, garter-belts, stockings, and deep red lipstick. She’s a little over the top and that’s a risk of modern film noirs or “neo-noirs.”

The original waves of film noir films were timely. It was stylized but it wasn’t saying “this is stylized”. The films, at least the famous ones were cohesive experiences. In something like Romeo is Bleeding, the movie is trying to be a film noir rather than a standalone movie which we would retroactively classify as a film noir. Consider Inglorious Bastards to a movie poorly imitating Tarantino. The imitation becomes obsessed with the Tarantino-style and, in effect, loses substance. Another noteworthy neo-noir is Coppola’s brilliant Chinatown.

Chinatown is set in California at the beginning of the 20th century. You might be thinking, “California? Film noir is supposed to be dark, gray, shadowy; the opposite of California.” A drought has hit the state making the color palate an appropriately saturated set of browns and tans. Roman Polanski stylizes the world but he does so in a way that doesn’t bring attention to itself. Another strong quality of this film is the protagonist, private detective J.J. Gittes, played by Jack Nicholson.

The introduction of Gittes is similar to Spade. He is a private detective. A beautiful woman providing a false story and a lot of money approaches him. Throughout the film, Gittes emphasizes that he just wants the money owed to him so he can leave the problematic case. This establishes him as an individual concerned with self-preservation in a similar way as Sam Spade. Gittes is also rather sexist and racist. Jack Nicholson is incredibly good at giving his characters a frightful temper. Where Spade might come up with a quick story, Gittes might give a threat with a snarl. In terms of tone, hopelessness permeates Chinatown in much the same way that disillusionment filled original film noirs.

The finale is a solid example of this tone. Evelyn Mulwray (Dunaway) and her daughter/cousin tries to escape her incestuous grandfather. She drives away as police (paid off by the grandfather) order her to stop. The police fire and the car halts. We hear the car horn blaring. The camera is sitting just above the on-looking crowd. In the super long shot, we can barely see the stopped car. It is a lengthy cut, so we have time to process the enormity of the situation. Everyone runs towards the car to see Evelyn’s dead body and her screaming child. Gittes is held back by his partners who say, “It’s Chinatown, Gittes. There’s nothing you can do.” Defeat washes over Gittes’ face. He turns and walks off into the night.

From its inspiration in German Expressionism, Film Noir is a genre of darkness. The art direction, lighting, and subject matter serve as an outward manifestation of the thematic focus of cynicism, disillusionment, and hopelessness. By examining more recent efforts of film noir with Romeo is Bleeding and Chinatown, we have a glimpse of the lasting features of film noir and how they translate to modern day cinema.