I think it's relevant to bring up something that was said a couple of pages ago... since the term "film noir" was coined in the mid 1940s, essentially well after what is now argued to be the "start" of the era and the release of several films that are now considered film noir, the labeling of such films and when the "era" started is going to be inherently shaky and blurry. Scholars, cinephiles, and regular viewers can look back at many films from the late 1930s and see them as "film noir", or precursors of it. However, it's a fact that most literature and sources I've read on the topic like to point out The Maltese Falcon as the "first film noir". As far as I'm concerned, I'm OK with it cause I don't think it's done to dismiss previous films, but rather serves the purpose of highlighting when the "style" came to full form so to speak, while establishing some "boundaries" for the sake of discussion with what can be seen as a perfect example of the "noir aesthetics". Beyond that, of course they're going to be previous films that could be labeled as "film noir", and of course they're going to be films with *some* elements of "film noir". That's how it eventually came to be and like I said, it's inevitable that some people will look at pre-1940s films and see them as "noir".
Another important thing to bring up is that not even scholars agree on *what* exactly is "film noir". Is it an era (1940-1959)? is it a style (lowkey lights, angled shots)? is it a genre (crime, betrayal, etc.)? And this inability to properly define it further complicates the labeling of what films are/aren't "film noir". At the end of the day, I don't think it's that relevant to argue what film was the "first one". Like so many things in life, it was something that was born and grown progressively over several years, not in an instant.
Another important thing to bring up is that not even scholars agree on *what* exactly is "film noir". Is it an era (1940-1959)? is it a style (lowkey lights, angled shots)? is it a genre (crime, betrayal, etc.)? And this inability to properly define it further complicates the labeling of what films are/aren't "film noir". At the end of the day, I don't think it's that relevant to argue what film was the "first one". Like so many things in life, it was something that was born and grown progressively over several years, not in an instant.
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