What is American Film Noir?
accurately mirror the state of affairs of a society at a particular historical period by encouraging viewers to identify with particular characters in a film. This is especially true for
film noir, which often reflects a dark, gloomy, and sadistic side of humanity. Political and economic changes are frequently expressed in a film production that can especially reveal
society’s psychology at a certain period. As movies are often based on literary works, storylines are more certainly affected by such societal transformations. Therefore, movies
have an important place in societies all over the world. Through movies, viewers can see how the ways they were created reflect trends, changes, and calls for alterations in society. To be
considered great, movies can be radical, moving, and extreme to initiate particular societal changes. However, movies can also simply draw a mass following to reflect the spirit of the
time without encouraging any great shifts in societal beliefs. Through existentialist viewpoints, this thesis puts forth the concept that film noir shows the fears of 1940s
American society in the wake of a changing post-war civilization and the concerns and criticisms of modern social institutions.
In considering the gap in the scholarship of noir literature and films, this thesis strives to convey that the existentialist viewpoints found therein are not only applicable to past
society but can also be applied to modern societal conditions. As most of the current literature on this topic deals with noir in a past context related to noir era films in general or to specific
films related to a certain social condition, I decided to examine the primary literary works of James M. Cain and Raymond Chandler and their film versions while linking the sentiment
revealed in those works with modern society. Only a limited number of sources discuss the concept of neo-noir and its evolution from classic noir.
1.1 What is American Film Noir?
American film noir is an American crimegangster and detectivemystery genre or moodstyle mostly from the 1940s and 1950s. This type of movie is in black and white, as the
mood will lose its effect if it is in color. For that reason, this kind of film is generally not colorized. This style of film has particular characteristics and attributes. Next, there are
various debates about whether noir is best classified as a genre or as a moodstyle. In examining the difficulties of classifying film noir according to certain standards
and traits, a comparison can be made with Michel Foucault, who wrote about the complexity of classifying biological organisms. “The biological classification systems attempt to tame
the wild profusion of existing things. The classical field of natural history is nothing more than the nomination of the visible. Everything that presents itself to our gaze is not
utilizable.”
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He elaborates further by stating, “The very category of natural life is relative, like all the other categories, to the criteria one adopts. And also, like them, subject to certain
imprecisions as soon as the question of deciding its frontiers arises.”
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Foucault’s points about grouping biological organisms, then, can be applied to noir as well, as noir changes and shifts
over time depending on the social and cultural factors that it interacts with. This quandary with classifying is evident in films like High Noon, Casablanca, Citizen Kane, among others,
which have varying noir characteristics but cannot be definitively put into a noir category by many film scholars and critics. Therefore, it is important to examine the generic categories
that are used to classify films as being noir or part of another mood, style, or genre, and realize that there may not be a perfect classification that can be applied to all noir films.