Favorite Film Noir

[Semtex]

DOn't know if it counts, but Touch of Evil? I'm not sure if it is technically a film noir, but it seemed very noirish.

[Jeff W]

[ QUOTE ]
i know it's on the imdb list, but i wouldn't call "night of the hunter" film noir. i'd be interested to hear from people who think differently.

[/ QUOTE ]

I think a lot of people think of film noir as being about detectives, etc... Here is a good definition I ran across:

"Film genre that offers dark or fatalistic interpretations of reality. The term is applied to U.S. films of the late 1940s and early '50s that often portrayed a seamy or criminal underworld and cynical characters. The films were noted for their use of stark, expressionistic lighting and stylized camera work, often employed in urban settings."

I think The Night of The Hunter fits. Regardless, it's an awesome movie that everyone should watch.

[Nicholasp27]

there are no film noirs after the 50s, at least technically

however, there is the genre 'neo-noir'...go to imdb and do advanced search and put neo-noir as the keyword


it has any movie with film noir elements, so everything from blade runner to matrix to memento to sin city to pulp fiction to batman to the man who wasn't there

[TheBlueMonster]

Even thought it's on your list, "Touch of Evil" ranks as one of my favorite movies of all time. Whoever hasn't seen it needs to. I think it's Orson Welles best film.

[Jeff W]

[ QUOTE ]
it has any movie with film noir elements, so everything from blade runner to matrix to memento to sin city to pulp fiction to batman to the man who wasn't there

[/ QUOTE ]

To be fair, I think several of those are film noir(are you implying blade runner doesn't fit, for example?), but it's a pretty silly discussion anyway.

[ohead]

Blade Runner is my favorite all time movie, I love it more then I could ever love a woman.

[Flip_Dog]

double indemnity

[Blarg]

[ QUOTE ]
i know it's on the imdb list, but i wouldn't call "night of the hunter" film noir. i'd be interested to hear from people who think differently.

[/ QUOTE ]

I would. Diebitter, pryor, and I had a talk about this on diebitter's review thread which you might like.

The terrifically bleak, knowing fatalism of the flick, and the themes, definitely make it fit well enough for me. Even though it's not really urban and doesn't involve private eyes. It still is dark and knowing about the worst parts of human nature, and emphasizes how out of our control our fates can be.

The only difference is, this film has the equivalent of divine intervention in the form of the old woman, whereas in the usual film noir, the hero either loses outright or gets a luckier shot or punch in. Either way, rescue is as capricious as doom. And in both this flick and typical film noirs, something is truly lost which the ending of the movie doesn't really give back.

[Blarg]

[ QUOTE ]
so many good ones. one that came to mind is the man who wasn't there

[/ QUOTE ]

This is one of those movies I had mixed feelings about. Parts of it were brilliant. I've seen it a couple of times and wouldn't at all mind seeing it again. I'm sure I'll see it many times more over the years.

[Blarg]

La Bete Humaine, by Renoir, remade as Human Desire by Fritz Lang. Both excellent in their ways; Glen Ford is chilling in his smooth-faced, unblinkingly casual submergence into evil in Lang's version. Both are really good.

Another favorite is Ossessione, the first film made of the novel The Postman Always Rings Twice. Gritty and brilliant, full of longing. Very good stuff.