Neo-noir is a film genre that adapts the visual style and themes of 1940s and 1950s American
film noir
Film noir (; ) is a style of Cinema of the United States, Hollywood Crime film, crime dramas that emphasizes cynicism (contemporary), cynical attitudes and motivations. The 1940s and 1950s are generally regarded as the "classic period" of Ameri ...
for contemporary audiences, often with more graphic depictions of violence and sexuality. During the late 1970s and the early 1980s, the term "neo-noir" surged in popularity, fueled by movies such as
Sydney Pollack's ''
Absence of Malice'',
Brian De Palma's ''
Blow Out'', and
Martin Scorsese
Martin Charles Scorsese ( , ; born November17, 1942) is an American filmmaker. One of the major figures of the New Hollywood era, he has received List of awards and nominations received by Martin Scorsese, many accolades, including an Academ ...
's ''
After Hours''. The French term ''film noir''
translates literally to English as "black film", indicating sinister stories often presented in a shadowy cinematographic style. Neo-noir has a similar style but with updated themes, content, style, and visual elements.
Definition
The neologism neo-noir, using the
Greek prefix for the word ''new'', is defined by Mark Conard as "any film coming after the classic noir period that contains noir themes and noir sensibility". Another definition describes it as later noir that often synthesizes diverse genres while foregrounding the scaffolding of ''film noir''.
History
"
Film noir
Film noir (; ) is a style of Cinema of the United States, Hollywood Crime film, crime dramas that emphasizes cynicism (contemporary), cynical attitudes and motivations. The 1940s and 1950s are generally regarded as the "classic period" of Ameri ...
" was coined by critic
Nino Frank in 1946 and popularized by French critics
Raymond Borde and Etienne Chaumeton in 1955.
The term revived in general use beginning in the 1980s, with a revival of the style.
The classic ''film noir'' era is usually dated from the early 1940s to the late 1950s. The films were often adaptations of American crime novels, which were also described as "
hardboiled". Some authors resisted these terms. For example,
James M. Cain, author of ''
The Postman Always Rings Twice'' (1934) and ''
Double Indemnity
''Double Indemnity'' is a 1944 American film noir directed by Billy Wilder and produced by Buddy DeSylva and Joseph Sistrom. Wilder and Raymond Chandler adapted the screenplay from James M. Cain's Double Indemnity (novel), novel of the same na ...
'' (1944), is considered to be one of the defining authors of hard-boiled fiction. Both novels were adapted as crime films, the former more than once. Cain is quoted as saying, "I belong to no school, hard-boiled or otherwise, and I believe these so-called schools exist mainly in the imagination of critics, and have little correspondence in reality anywhere else."
Characteristics
Neo-noir film directors refer to 'classic noir' in the use of
Dutch angles, interplay of light and shadows, unbalanced
framing; blurring of the lines between
good and bad and
right and wrong, and thematic
motifs including
revenge
Revenge is defined as committing a harmful action against a person or group in response to a grievance, be it real or perceived. Vengeful forms of justice, such as primitive justice or retributive justice, are often differentiated from more fo ...
,
paranoia, and
alienation.
Typically American
crime drama
Crime film is a film belonging to the crime fiction genre. Films of this genre generally involve various aspects of crime and fiction. Stylistically, the genre may overlap and combine with many other genres, such as Drama (film and television), dr ...
s or
psychological thriller
Psychological thriller is a Film genre, genre combining the thriller (genre), thriller and psychological fiction genres. It is commonly used to describe literature or films that deal with psychological narratives in a thriller or thrilling setting ...
s, films noir had common themes and plot devices, and many distinctive visual elements. Characters were often conflicted
antihero
An antihero (sometimes spelled as anti-hero or two words anti hero) or anti-heroine is a character in a narrative (in literature, film, TV, etc.) who may lack some conventional heroic qualities and attributes, such as idealism and morality. Al ...
es, trapped in a difficult situation and making choices out of desperation or
nihilistic moral systems. Visual elements included
low-key lighting, striking use of
light and shadow, and unusual camera placement.
Sound effects
A sound effect (or audio effect) is an artificially created or enhanced sound, or sound process used to emphasize artistic or other content of films, television shows, live performance, animation, video games, music, or other media.
In m ...
helped create the noir mood of paranoia and nostalgia.
Few major films in the classic ''film noir'' genre have been made since the early 1960s. These films usually incorporated both thematic and visual elements reminiscent of ''film noir''. Both classic and neo-noir films are often produced as
independent features.
After 1970, film critics took note of "neo-noir" films as a separate genre. Noir and post-noir terminology (such as "
hard-boiled", "neo-classic" and the like) are often rejected by both critics and practitioners.
Robert Arnett stated, "Neo-noir has become so amorphous as a genre/movement, any film featuring a detective or crime qualifies." Screenwriter and director
Larry Gross identifies
Jean-Luc Godard
Jean-Luc Godard ( , ; ; 3 December 193013 September 2022) was a French and Swiss film director, screenwriter, and film critic. He rose to prominence as a pioneer of the French New Wave film movement of the 1960s, alongside such filmmakers as ...
's ''
Alphaville'', alongside
John Boorman's ''
Point Blank'' (1967) and
Robert Altman's ''
The Long Goodbye'' (1973), based on
Raymond Chandler's 1953 novel, as neo-noir films. Gross believes that they deviate from classic noir in having more of a sociological than a psychological focus. Neo noir features characters who commit violent crimes, but without the motivations and narrative patterns found in ''film noir''.
Neo noir assumed global character and impact when filmmakers began drawing elements from films in the global market. For instance,
Quentin Tarantino's works have been influenced by
Ringo Lam's 1987 classic ''
City on Fire''. This was particularly the case for the noir-inflected ''
Reservoir Dogs'', which was instrumental in establishing Tarantino in October 1992.
See also
*
Arthouse action film
*
List of neo-noir films
*
Mystery film
A mystery film is a film that revolves around the solution of a problem or a crime. It focuses on the efforts of the detective, private investigator or amateur Detective, sleuth to solve the mysterious circumstances of an issue by means of clues, ...
*
New Hollywood
The New Hollywood, Hollywood Renaissance, American New Wave, or New American Cinema (not to be confused with the New American Cinema of the 1960s that was part of Experimental film, avant-garde underground film, underground cinema), was a movemen ...
*
Postmodernist film
*
Pulp noir
*
Tech noir
*
Vulgar auteurism
References
External links
*
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* .
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Neo-Noir
1960s in film
1970s in film
1980s in film
1990s in film
2000s in film
2010s in film
2020s in film
Film noir
Film genres
Television genres