no digressions permitted you, even though you think there are.”
20
He went on further to say regarding the psychology of noir characters: “A sense of isolation, of pinpointed and
transfixed helplessness under the stars, of being left alone, unheard, and unaided to face some final fated darkness and engulfment slowly advancing across the years toward me … that has
hung over me all life.”
21
3.4 Fatalism and Voiceover Narration
Some noir films are shot in a first person voiceover narration to signify a ‘dead man walking’ theme like if the character is already dead and retelling the story through flashbacks
or as the character is on an imminent road to death. The ‘dead man walking’ concept is similar to what a real soldier feels as he is just biding his time before his imminent demise.
This concept of characters waiting for their own demise is apparent in the film Double Indemnity. The main character, Walter Neff, can feel that his plan is going to go wrong and
he will be caught. This kind of movie shows that murderous instincts are present even in regular middle-class people. The movie is set in an urban setting and the characters appear
normal on the outside. Murder, deception, and greed can occur even in an American city or town, not just relegated to a far-away land during a war. The previous war-type movies were
more cheesy and patriotic in sentiment, while the noir films could express the grim reality of a brutal murder and the dark side of the human psyche. A voiceover narration was used in
movies like Double Indemnity not to find out who did a crime but instead to show how the person would be caught and punished through flashbacks. By using this style, it shows that
regular people have darkness and flaws within themselves and have to struggle with their own mortality. This is similar to what soldiers may experience in wars and will let the
audience sympathize and identify with the characters better.
20
Ibid, p.224.
21
Ibid, p.224.
3.5 Existentialism and Male Protagonists
In characterizing the traits of male protagonists in traditional noir, Andrew Spicer provides his own interpretation.
One of the most arresting traits of film noir is its depiction of male protagonists who lack the qualities courage, incorruptibility, tenacity, and dynamism that characterize
the archetypal American hero and who therefore function as antiheroes. Typical noir male protagonists are weak, confused, unstable, and ineffectual, damaged men who
suffer from a range of psychological neuroses and who are unable to resolve the problems they face.
22
Therefore, in considering Spicer’s definition, an existential framework best supports an analysis of noir characters as they do not have a sense of morality to fall back on, as a
traditional hero does. This is evident in the character of Walter Neff in Double Indemnity as he is easily infatuated with Mrs. Dietrichson and is willing to do whatever she wants to
possess her. The character Frank Chambers in The Postman Always Rings Twice also does not have a moral belief system, as he is eager to dispose of Cora Smith’s husband just to be
with her, even though Nick Smith is a pleasant and friendly man. Even Philip Marlowe in Murder, My Sweet and The Big Sleep is not driven to do his job based on some sense of moral
calling but rather out of financial considerations.
3.6 Material Items and Existentialism
