The Black Film

 And I didn't get the money And I didn't get the women.

Film noir a period in film history; yet so much more. Said to have lasted from the 1940s to the 1950s, film noir was a take on the darker side of human nature. Most of theses films were B-movies which were low budget films usually paired up with main attractions in a double feature. "Great noir posses the question, why me" stated filmmaker Errol Morris, he continued by stating "...the very dark answer that is provides, an almost unacceptable answer, for no reason, for no reason at all". This statement I think sums up film noir, the very basic question of why me and being unable to stop one self from spiraling downward knowing that your doomed to fail. We can clearly see this illustrated in the film Double Indemnity, a film about an insurance salesman (Walter Neff) that had an okay job, a successful man none the less bored. Falls for a woman or more likely is seduced by a woman that wants to acquire accident insurance for her husband without him knowing, he refuses to be a part of this scandal. Eventually he is inevitably drawn in by his misconceptions of love, fortune, and the many thrills he thinks he will encounter. The film answers the question in the very beginning, as the main character is recording his confession to the claims manager  and as should be the answer is FOR NO REASON AT ALL.

Here is part of the opening scene that answers the question.

Another main characteristic of a Noir is the use of a femme fatale, or dangerous woman. Scholar Janey Place said "Shes very smart, very powerful and shes extremely sexual". This is a good depiction of the femme fatale (Phyllis) in Double Indemnity. Phyllis is portrayed as powerful when first presented she is shown from a low camera angle mean while Walter is shown from a high camera angle. She is an extremely sexual character this is seen in the way she walks, the way she talks, and her desire to get rid of her husband because he ignores her desire for affection and any form of sensuality. This is the reason she is a typical femme fatale with one single exception presented at the end of the film, which i will leave to everyones own personal conclusion. "... she uses her sexuality to get what she's after and what she's after is not the man in the picture hes another tool" stated by Janey Place. Though Phyllis seems to be stupid, its an act to get Walter to believe she cares for her husband and wants to get him insurance for his well being. He sees right through this act but she insists it to be true, until finally she changes her strategy and seduces Walter. Phyllis remains a step ahead of Walter the whole time until the very end, were she confesses that she never loved him and she used him until the moment she couldn't go through with killing him. This is a matter of personal opinion on why she didn't kill him but it doesn't detract from here being the perfect example of a femme fatale.

The anti-hero with an inescapable doom and the femme fatale were two archetype characters very commonly associated with film noir. Although the real defining factor for film noir was the mise-en-scene that was created by the lighting, the camera angles, and locations. The lighting was usually low key lighting which created a big contrast between light and dark. In Double Indemnity this type of lighting is created to make the audience perceive the light as good and the dark as evil. This would mean everyone has darkness or evil inside which can be attributed to everyone shadow. As I stated before Phyllis is being portrayed from a low camera angle which creates an image of her as someone superior, perhaps someone you would  put on a pedestal. The camera angle being used allows for a certain type of deep focus that creates many objects and obstacles, making the scene seem inescapable for the anti-hero. The locations used to shoot usually were real places not a studio set, making the film seem more real and raw.

 In the first picture we see the lighting is comprised mostly of light with a few dark spots. Which can be interpreted as a scene were there is mostly good which heavily out ways the presence of evil.

In the second picture there are many shadows present and the most evident one is of Walter who is about to walk in the room. The surrounding shadows and other objects seem to enclose this space with the only way out blocked off by the shadow of Walter

Here in the third picture there is almost no light in the room. The feeling we get is dark and evil and Phyllis  elaborates on how there both rotten and based on the lighting we begin to perceive that the darkness means how corrupt and rotten they have become compared to the scene in the first picture. As well as the camera angle finally shows Walter in a position of power over Phyllis.

When you walk on the train tracks at night you feel as if everything is dark and you feel as if can see nothing besides the people with you and the train tracks. Maybe many people haven't walked the train tracks at night but this scene definitely feels real, which adds to the overall scene of reality that film noir tries to present.



In the end noir isn't the same without the black and white film, there have been films called neo noir films which are shot in color. The addition of color detracts from the shadows which ends up creating a different environment, perhaps more loneliness than claustrophobia. In Chinatown by Roman Polanski the story is by all means the same type of story in noir films. The story is about a Private investigator who is determined to see his case through to the end. The private investigator is an anti-hero because he tries to work around the system lies to cops and  resorts to violence even when it comes to women. He slaps Evelyn the femme fatale around in order to get information from here all for the sack of his work.

In the ending scene from Chinatown we can clearly see how Chinatown is depicted as a very dark and evil place. The location chosen was the neighborhood of Los Angeles, Chinatown and the surrounding buildings all have resemblances to actual Chinatown in Los Angeles.  The shadows are the most evident in this scene and the camera angles and deep focus are present in the interactions of all the characters in the scene. The music in the background that starts playing when the main character walks away from the camera along with the credits all resemble aspects of classic noir films. This film seem to have asked the question why me and the response seems to have been for no reason at all, thus in my own opinion makes this noir. Neo noir has many resemblances to classic film noir, yet there will always be differences of opinion as to whether it is noir or not.

So in conclusion

Hello again, I have already talked about a few of the things in movies that interest me,but it was in a very brief and somewhat vague manner. I will now elaborate on my interest in film and what in my personal opinion makes a film significant and/or compelling. As I stated before story,plot, dramatic effect, and romance all have a big role in whether a film is appealing. The story is important, it most have underlying themes and play around with the line in between reality and surreality, yet it does not have to be completely established or explained early on. Regardless of the film, plot is crucial because it is the order in which all the events are presented on screen, which has a very big impact of what we perceive about the story of a film and the world in which a film is presented. The necessity of a good plot seems to be more of a universal reality than a personal opinion. The next term dramatic effect is actually comprised of two words, dramatic and effect, dramatic meaning sudden and extreme, greatly affecting peoples emotions and effect meaning something that is produced by a cause. Thus dramatic effect is something sudden and extreme that greatly affects peoples emotions and is produced by a cause, I don't necessarily care what the cause is as long as it can create dramatic effect. As for romance I cant really explain it, its an intangible thing that is relative.

 I will now critique two old films and two modern films in order to try and show examples of what I think make a file noteworthy using the story, plot, dramatic effect, and possibly romance as a guideline.

In this short silent film Le Voyage dans la Lune the only story we're allowed to interpret is from the title which once translated to English reads A Trip to the Moon. So the story has been partly established, there were no headings, subtitles or other on screen text to add to the story other than the title. Although there was no real explanation of what is going on, it catches the viewers attention because there is so many people and we wish to find out who is who and why they are all there. Through out the rest of the film the plot and story work in a pretty much chronological order to explain the film quiet well. Once on the moon dramatic effect comes into play with the explosion that occurs near the astronomers and the moonanites, (what i have chosen to call the beings of the moon) hostility and sudden explosion when hit. The creativity and imagination in this film including the face on the moon, the stars, the transformation of a umbrella into a mushroom and falling off the moon right back down onto earth all scream romance to me. I would have to say this is a noteworthy film.

In The Great Train Robbery another short silent film, once again there is no more than a title to help understand the events that are to come. The story and plot and pretty straight forward, yet interesting to see the difference between an old western to more modern western . Throughout the movie there is a bit of suspense, yet if you have ever seen a another film with a train robbery it will certainly detract from the suspense. This must have been a very good film in its time but the only thing that will make it memorable is that it is probably the oldest western I have ever seen.

In City of God there are many subplots, suspenseful moments throughout, a story based on actual events, and passion. The film from the very beginning grabs your attention, because it does not start off explaining the story and once it begins to tell the story your hooked. The passion rocket has for photography  is a lot more than that it is romance in a way. The subplots add to the story by letting the viewer get a better sense of who everyone is and allows you to see it from many perspectives in turn making the viewer get emotionally attached to some of the characters if not all. The emotional attachments that the viewer acquires forces there to be suspense when those characters are in certain situations. This makes City of God a unforgettable movie.

I didn't really plan on posting the trailer because I feel it doesn't do the film justice, but I figured why not maybe it might make the movie more appealing to people other than me.

Last but not Least, with one of the most interesting plots Memento! Yea well there isn't much I can say about this film. It takes a lot to watch memento and remember everything as you the viewer are left feeling just like the main character Leonard. The movie starts at the end and then eventually begins to tell the story backwards with certain scenes that throw you off, and make you feel as if your traveling back in time but your jumping from parallel universe to parallel universe. In this instance of marriage I will allow myself to say there was romance involved as Leonard's purpose for everything he is trying to due is fueled by the last memories he has of his wife. Once again in this film like the last there is much suspense which creates dramatic effect. I  cannot continue to write about this movie without further spoiling it, with that said this is one for the books. Definitely worth more than one watch perhaps buying an actual copy and I don't care to own many movies.

Chungking Express
I know I sad that I would only use two old and two modern examples, so I wont say much about this last film. Just that if your in to typical and/or more abstract romance you will probably like this movie. In my personal opinion this is a must watch for anybody!

Hello my name is Sergio Chavez, I would like to talk about film and how it has influenced my life. I am neither a film buff  nor am I an alien to film ( Like a caveman from the Geicko commercials who has been living underneath a rock without access to any type of film). I guess you could say I was raised by television. although I never cared much about finding out what was behind all the nice fancy little tricks that made movies or anything else on television seem so interesting. I am now enrolled in a class called The Art of Film where i will be studying movies more in depth and may myself become a Film buff yet, I still hope to remain an in-between-er.

Some of my most vivid  childhood memories 

There's just something incredible that happens when you flip through channels and see a mouse and a cat getting ready to duel, and you think oh okay well I want to see whats going to happen. A couple minutes later it ends and you just hope there's more.

For the most part a silent film and a great take on the three little pigs.

Based on the things i watched as a three year old I never really grew to like anything produced by Disney or Pbs. I felt I needed more than an in your face good morals meaning to film. I began to try and find meaning in alot of little things and ever since then films have really been about plot,storyline,dramatic effect, Romance and I don't mean the played out story of john and jane fall in love, I mean romanticism.

Here are a couple other films that I found either interesting, provocative, or just mind blowing in no specific order.

Into The Wild:The poem or saying whatever you choose to call it gets cut off so ill post it underneath.

Two years he walks the earth.
No phone, no pool, no pets, no cigarettes.
Ultimate freedom. An extremist.
An aesthetic voyager whose home is the road.
Escaped from Atlanta. Thou shalt not return, because
"the West is the best."
And now after two rambling years comes the final
and greatest adventure.
The climactic battle to kill the false being within
and victoriously conclude the spiritual pilgrimage.
Ten days and nights of freight trains and hitchhiking
bring him to the Great White North.
No longer to be poisoned by civilization he flees,
and walks alone upon the land to become
lost in the wild.

Alexander Supertramp

 Enter The Void:Very interesting left me thinking uncontrollably for a while

 Cashback: More of a romantic view of things

Blue Valentine:I don't know what to say just watch it.

There will be Blood: Interesting depiction of an Oil Pioneer

Street Thief: I felt as if i was there.


This small list of films cannot truly summarize my interest in film, but is a good starting point. So anybody who reads this do yourself a favor and watch at least one of these movies if none seem interesting then at least the one that seems least boring.

Also on a side note if would be really cool if my professor were to see this blog and decide that in class we watch one of these films, preferably Into The Wild.