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