|
Film Noir
Apr 22, 2019 16:44:18 GMT
via mobile
Post by daveythefatboy on Apr 22, 2019 16:44:18 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] I’d like to read what you wrote about Gun Crazy. I call it out here because it is so absurdly overheated. It IS pulpy. In fact, I think it is the MOST pulpy of all noir films - with a bunch of crazy psychosexual subtext, a strange dreamy ending sequence, and one of the most brilliant one-shot scenes ever filmed. I just think it is unforgettable.
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Apr 22, 2019 16:53:22 GMT
I pretty much wrote about the things you mention there, certainly it is sexually charged in a far more brazen way than most films of that time. Penn took a hell of a lot from it for Bonnie and Clyde didn't he? In the same chapter I also wrote about Detour, which also has a bizarre feel to it. It's probably the most fatalistic noir I've ever seen!
|
|
|
Film Noir
Apr 22, 2019 21:46:06 GMT
via mobile
Post by daveythefatboy on Apr 22, 2019 21:46:06 GMT
I pretty much wrote about the things you mention there, certainly it is sexually charged in a far more brazen way than most films of that time. Penn took a hell of a lot from it for Bonnie and Clyde didn't he? In the same chapter I also wrote about Detour, which also has a bizarre feel to it. It's probably the most fatalistic noir I've ever seen! Apparently Penn asked both Truffaut and Goddard to direct Bonnie & Clyde. Both of them eventually turned him down, but Truffaut apparently arranged a screening of Gun Crazy. So yeah - you are very much on the mark in imagining some influence. Detour is a minor obsession of mine. It is often argued to be the most noir of all noir films - which I wouldn’t argue in the least. It is definitely fatalistic. But you have to wonder about the trustworthiness of its narrator. Is he a victim of fate, or is he a liar and a serial killer? Depends on how you interpret it.
|
|
|
Film Noir
Apr 24, 2019 4:52:24 GMT
via mobile
Post by daveythefatboy on Apr 24, 2019 4:52:24 GMT
|
|
Sneelock
god
Better than Washington...
Posts: 8,585
|
Post by Sneelock on Jun 19, 2019 19:11:19 GMT
I love this stuff. I think some ground rules are in order. first of all - if YOU think it's "Film Noir" then it is. end of discussion. seriously. I think "film noir" discussions like prog or punk can quickly devolve into lengthy flypaper threads about what it is and what it isn't.
so, go ahead. if YOU think it's "film noir" then it is - don't let anybody tell you any different.
I was watching the Criterion extras on "Asphalt Jungle" and there's this Sterling Hayden documentary where Sterling drinks Johnny walker out of the bottle and smokes hash and talks about killing himself. it's not as good as it sounds.
so, I think the two to beat (for me) are "Asphalt Jungle" & "the Set Up" they are both Film Noir because I SAY they both are. Both are lean, bleak, character driven things. If you squint your eyes I'll bet you'll have trouble telling Sterling Hayden & Robert Ryan apart. Hey Robert! got any hash?
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Film Noir
Jun 24, 2019 21:40:19 GMT
via mobile
Post by Deleted on Jun 24, 2019 21:40:19 GMT
You haven't included Farewell, My Lovely. The Dick Powell and Claire Trevor version. I adored it.
|
|
Sneelock
god
Better than Washington...
Posts: 8,585
|
Post by Sneelock on Jun 24, 2019 23:07:16 GMT
we call that one "Murder My Sweet". I adore it too. I know a lot of people find Powell too smart alecky but I think he's just the right amount of smart alecky.
|
|
|
Film Noir
Jun 25, 2019 14:28:28 GMT
via mobile
Post by daveythefatboy on Jun 25, 2019 14:28:28 GMT
You haven't included Farewell, My Lovely. The Dick Powell and Claire Trevor version. I adored it. I didn’t include it because this was a list of films I’d seen recently. I haven’t actually been able to find that one.
|
|
|
Film Noir
Jun 25, 2019 14:31:40 GMT
via mobile
Post by daveythefatboy on Jun 25, 2019 14:31:40 GMT
I love this stuff. I think some ground rules are in order. first of all - if YOU think it's "Film Noir" then it is. end of discussion. seriously. I think "film noir" discussions like prog or punk can quickly devolve into lengthy flypaper threads about what it is and what it isn't. so, go ahead. if YOU think it's "film noir" then it is - don't let anybody tell you any different. I was watching the Criterion extras on "Asphalt Jungle" and there's this Sterling Hayden documentary where Sterling drinks Johnny walker out of the bottle and smokes hash and talks about killing himself. it's not as good as it sounds. so, I think the two to beat (for me) are "Asphalt Jungle" & "the Set Up" they are both Film Noir because I SAY they both are. Both are lean, bleak, character driven things. If you squint your eyes I'll bet you'll have trouble telling Sterling Hayden & Robert Ryan apart. Hey Robert! got any hash? Yes to all of that. Nothing annoys me more than having to parse whether a film is or isn’t noir. And yeah - both The Asphalt Jungle and The Set-Up are absolute classics.
|
|
rayge
Administrator
Invisible
Posts: 8,821
|
Post by rayge on Jun 25, 2019 14:57:09 GMT
we call that one "Murder My Sweet". I adore it too. I know a lot of people find Powell too smart alecky but I think he's just the right amount of smart alecky. Far and away the best Marlowe on film, as right as an aged Mitchum was wrong. Huge fan of Chandler's books, or at least I was when I read them 40 years ago: he went to the same South London fee-paying school as P D Wodehouse, doncha know.
|
|
|
Post by oh oooh on Jun 25, 2019 15:06:30 GMT
Oh really? There must have been something in the tapioca then. Two finer writers you'd be hard pressed to find.
|
|
rayge
Administrator
Invisible
Posts: 8,821
|
Post by rayge on Jun 25, 2019 15:20:18 GMT
Oh really? There must have been something in the tapioca then. Two finer writers you'd be hard pressed to find. Yep, Dulwich College. They're very similar in many ways, classical grounding, gift for phrases, apparently effortless precision.
|
|