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Film Noir
Apr 22, 2019 7:43:05 GMT
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Post by daveythefatboy on Apr 22, 2019 7:43:05 GMT
I’ve been on a noir odyssey recently. Since the turn of the new year I’ve been trying to devour all of the great (and some not-so-great) films in the noir canon.
It’s been an interesting thing to do - especially in such a compact way, as you really begin to get a sense for the times they were created in. There’s a lot of themes that emerge when you start to take the genre as a whole. A lot of anxiety about the social order of the times. A lot of interesting observations you can make about gender roles. Definitely a strange view of fate or God or whatever force you imagine is toying with these people in these stories.
Anyhow - I’ve been trying to keep a list of the films I’ve seen over the last few months. Some of these I’d seen before. A bunch, I hadn’t. Some of them don’t fit easily into the genre. Some of them practically define it. Oh, and of course, there’s plenty of others that I’ve seen over the course of my life that aren’t listed here. These are simply the films I’ve been running through lately.
Anyhow - let’s talk about the genre. Any of these films, or any others you feel like talking about.
Human Desire Tension The Killing Criss Cross In a Lonely Place Gun Crazy Pitfall Detour Sunset Boulevard The Public Enemy Brute Force Caged Woman on the Run Double Indemnity Mr. Arkadin The Asphalt Jungle The Strange Love Of Martha Ivers Panic in the Streets The Blue Gardenia Nightmare Alley The Big Heat White Heat The Killers (1946) The Hitch-Hiker I Wake Up Screaming Thieves Highway The Stranger Crack Up Odd Man Out T-Men The Big Combo The Woman in the Window Sweet Smell of Success Drive a Crooked Mile They Live By Night Ride the Pink Horse Scarlet Street The Lady in the Lake Act of Violence The Lost Weekend The Big Sleep The Postman Always Rings Twice Border Incident On Dangerous Ground Ace in the Hole The Lineup High Sierra Cape Fear The Sniper Kiss of Death 99 River Street Chinatown
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Post by bungo the mungo on Apr 22, 2019 10:05:08 GMT
perhaps i'm struggling with the definition of the genre, but why isn't 'the third man' on your list?
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Post by Deleted on Apr 22, 2019 11:58:36 GMT
Ace in the Hole isn't film noir in my view.
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Post by oh oooh on Apr 22, 2019 11:59:43 GMT
Sweet Smell of Success isn't either
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Post by Deleted on Apr 22, 2019 12:03:15 GMT
I think Out of the Past might be my favourite film noir.
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Post by Deleted on Apr 22, 2019 12:04:17 GMT
Sweet Smell of Success isn't either I agree.
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Post by Deleted on Apr 22, 2019 12:08:11 GMT
Or The Lost Weekend.
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Post by oh oooh on Apr 22, 2019 12:14:15 GMT
He's going to be DELIGHTED with the responses so far!
I've only seen about three of those. Isn't DOA film noir? I enjoyed that one.
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Film Noir
Apr 22, 2019 13:56:47 GMT
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Post by daveythefatboy on Apr 22, 2019 13:56:47 GMT
perhaps i'm struggling with the definition of the genre, but why isn't 'the third man' on your list? It is. This is just a list of the ones I’ve watched since January. I’ve seen The Third Man, but not that recently. It is more than fair to struggle with the definition of the genre, as it doesn’t really have a good definition. The moniker was created after the fact. None of the people making these films thought of them as ‘noirs.’ They were just making dark melodramas. Folks here mentioned a handful of films on my list that they don’t think of as noir. That’s fair too. Most of those (The Lost Weekend, Ace in the Hole, Sweet Smell Of Success, etc) often appear on lists of films considered noir. But there is constant debate about whether they belong. In a general sense, the genre is just about dark films form the 40s and 50s (something later like Chinatown is technically a neo-noir). Usually they are visually influenced by German Expressionism, and their world view will be exceedingly pessimistic. Beyond that, there are a lot of elements that are common to the genre, but not always present.
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Film Noir
Apr 22, 2019 14:24:24 GMT
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Post by daveythefatboy on Apr 22, 2019 14:24:24 GMT
He's going to be DELIGHTED with the responses so far! I've only seen about three of those. Isn't DOA film noir? I enjoyed that one. I’m fine with the responses. I didn’t have expectations. DOA is a great premise. Been a while since I’ve seen it though. For what it’s worth, the two films I’d recommend for anyone wanting to be knocked out by something totally strange and unexpected are Nightmare Alley and Gun Crazy. Both of those are like discovering something like Night of the Hunter.
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Film Noir
Apr 22, 2019 15:27:54 GMT
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Post by Deleted on Apr 22, 2019 15:27:54 GMT
In a Lonely Place is possibly my favourite film, there's something genuinely unnerving about Bogart's performance in it.
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Post by oh oooh on Apr 22, 2019 15:32:21 GMT
In a Lonely Place is possibly my favourite film, there's something genuinely unnerving about Bogart's performance in it. I have the Criterion edition of that, but haven't got round to watching yet. Not sure why. Your absolute favourite film, then?
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Post by Deleted on Apr 22, 2019 16:02:45 GMT
For what it’s worth, the two films I’d recommend for anyone wanting to be knocked out by something totally strange and unexpected are Nightmare Alley and Gun Crazy. Both of those are like discovering something like Night of the Hunter. I did write a chapter in a published book about Gun Crazy so I should be an expert, but actually I can't remember that much about it! It did seem far more within the conventions of a pulpy b-movie than the sheer otherness of Night of the Hunter though. I haven't seen Nightmare Alley so I'll look out for it. Generally speaking, I tend to find the best known film noirs by the name directors tend to be the best, although I do like a pulpy b-movie! There's a whole sub-genre of British Noir I have a lot of time for too, Night and the City being a particular must see. My favourite noir director is Jean Pierre Melville, although strictly speaking you'd call what he does Neo-Noir. I was going to rewatch some of his films and start a thread on him, so look out for that![/quote]
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Post by Deleted on Apr 22, 2019 16:21:55 GMT
In a Lonely Place is possibly my favourite film, there's something genuinely unnerving about Bogart's performance in it. I have the Criterion edition of that, but haven't got round to watching yet. Not sure why. Your absolute favourite film, then? It's up there for sure, with about a dozen others. In fairness there's a lot of Film Noir I haven't seen, including some of the ones highly regarded on this thread, which I should make amends for.
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Film Noir
Apr 22, 2019 16:39:35 GMT
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Post by daveythefatboy on Apr 22, 2019 16:39:35 GMT
I have the Criterion edition of that, but haven't got round to watching yet. Not sure why. Your absolute favourite film, then? It's up there for sure, with about a dozen others. In fairness there's a lot of Film Noir I haven't seen, including some of the ones highly regarded on this thread, which I should make amends for. Put me down as another one who’d rank In a Lonely Place amongst the greatest films ever. I’d put it in my top 5 films of all time for sure. The only reason I didn’t single it out here is that it’s a more subtle flavor. But it is definitely my favorite of all of the films listed above.
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