Film Noir HoF...Hall of Fame

There will be one week for anyone who wishes to join and send in nominations. Anyone can join the fun up till January 8th 2015.

Please make sure your nomination fits into what is generally called a Film Noir. Noir is not a genre, it's a style so it's open to interpretation. For this Hof we will go with the classic definition of Noir:

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Here's a link to a list of Film Noirs at IMDB, it's sorted by A to Z.
If you read through the list you're bound to have seen some of these.

IMDB has 589 Noirs listed. There might be some that are older or newer than the classic Noir period, so choose a film with a release date from 1941-1958. In a rare case that some of these are mismarked Noirs, please have a second choice in mind.

http://www.imdb.com/search/title?at=...e_type=feature

You can also sort that list by user ratings, movie meter, etc.

Very excited for this.

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Letterboxd

Me too, I've actually laid in bed thinking of which great Noir I'm going to nominate. Not the best way to get a good nights sleep.

So I have seen probably half a dozen of that list. No deep cuts from me so I apologize up front.

No problem Sean, I'm not an expert, just enthusiastic. I'm hoping besides some cool nominations we can all discuss and learn from each other what Noir is and isn't, but mostly have fun.

Yeah, what Noir is? That is a great way to get the conversation going. It confuses me a bit. What I do know is that when I have watched something the past couple of years, with a couple exceptions, that is defined as Noir I have loved it. One of those exceptions, Night Of The Hunter, I was shocked to find out is considered Noir. It just didn't feel of the same mold as the others. I suppose I was defining it by the tropes. One man trying to solve a mystery. A femme Fatale. The fedora.

How do you guys define it?

This might sound like I copied and pasted it but I wrote this myself:

Film Noir came out of the WWII conflict. After the aftermath of WWII, a more pensive, fatalistic mood arose in America. Before WWII light heartened films, screwball comedies and escapist movies were popular. After the war a darker vision of movies became prevalent. At the time they were referred to as melodramas. It was someone in France who noticed that the mood of American films had become very black or noir.

In a Noir the protagonist is usually not the hero, but was someone who through an event or outside influences was doomed, often by their own behavior or life choices. That was coupled with a style of cinematography that came out of the German expressionist movement of the early 1930s, which was characterized by asymmetrical composition and low key lighting making use of dark space and shadows. Not all Noirs are filmed in a Noir style but do have a Noir style story.

Very nice. Makes sense and broadens the spectrum quite a bit. I will send my nom later tonight.

The term "Film Noir " is from the French and means literally "Black Film".

It is credited to be first used to describe Hollywood films shown in France in the summer of 1946 by Nino Frank; films such as John Huston's The Maltese Falcon, Otto Preminger's Laura, and Billy Wilder's Double Indemnity.

I agree with Rules that it is not so much a genre as it is a style of film moods and themes and cinematography. Originally it was used to describe films of the 1940's and 50's but has expanded to include some films of the 1930's and up to the present day. There can be "neo-noir" and combinations such as mixing "film noir" with "sci-fi" in a film like Blade Runner.

If you browse the internet or read some books or essays devoted to 'film noir" you will find all kinds of opinions on just what "film noir" is or isn't, many contradicting each other. But the original definition works well - a film that deals with dark themes and attitudes. Usually it is about a man returning home from the war and finding difficulty in readjusting to the changed circumstances of life, caught up in things that he is not able to control, his inability to find the ability to bring sense and order to his life, and this loss of control leads to his destruction.

There may be many recurring elements in this style such as low-key lighting, dark urban scenes shot at night, a "femme fatale". cigarette smoke used to create a visual effect, shuttered blinds that cast shadows on a wall, etc.

As one watches more "noir" films one begins to get a feel for what is not easily defined. Personally, I have always found an affinity for the classic noir films. An excellent collection of essays can be found in Shades of Noir by Joan Copjec (Verso 1993).

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You have to think like a hero merely to behave like a decent human being.

I would personally disagree that Noir is not a genre. I'd call it a sub-genre of the crime genre. Another influence on the development of the Noir was the hard boiled pulp fiction from the 30s and 40s. Later the dark Noir style began to influence mainstream films that weren't otherwise Noir-ish.

This should be fun. Now I just need to narrow down a nomination...

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I may go back to hating you. It was more fun.

I want to join butbut I've hardly seen anything. I may just play along and watch without nominating.

Me neither but I want to see a lot more. Watch along. I want you to see mine for sure.

Rauldc, everyone is certainly welcomed to play along without nominating. But I would hope you would find a Noir film and nominate it. Some of the classic Noirs are by famous directors and/or have well known actors in them.

I'm on the fence about whether to sign up for this or just to play along without nominating so if I don't manage to watch everything it won't matter.

Like Sean I wasn't really sure what noir was for a while. I thought it was very much restricted to private detectives, femme fatales, murder and voiceovers that said things like "her heart was as cold as an ice cube in the middle of winter". I think it was an idea I got very much from sitcoms and shows that spoofed the genre. It was only later on I discovered that noir expanded to things like Sunset Boulevard.


For anyone who's interested there was a BBC4 documentary a few years back which I believe was meant to be very good. I think I kind of watched it at the time but don't really remember. You can watch it here -

Rules of Film Noir documentary - Dailymotion


Also here is Roger Ebert's guide to film noir

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I love that! Ebert rules.

Film noir is . . .

1. A French term meaning "black film," or film of the night, inspired by the Series Noir, a line of cheap paperbacks that translated hard-boiled American crime authors and found a popular audience in France.

2. A movie which at no time misleads you into thinking there is going to be a happy ending.

3. Locations that reek of the night, of shadows, of alleys, of the back doors of fancy places, of apartment buildings with a high turnover rate, of taxi drivers and bartenders who have seen it all.

4. Cigarettes. Everybody in film noir is always smoking, as if to say, "On top of everything else, I've been assigned to get through three packs today." The best smoking movie of all time is "Out of the Past," in which Robert Mitchum and Kirk Douglas smoke furiously at each other. At one point, Mitchum enters a room, Douglas extends a pack and says, "Cigarette?" and Mitchum, holding up his hand, says, "Smoking."

5. Women who would just as soon kill you as love you, and vice versa.

6. For women: low necklines, floppy hats, mascara, lipstick, dressing rooms, boudoirs, calling the doorman by his first name, high heels, red dresses, elbowlength gloves, mixing drinks, having gangsters as boyfriends, having soft spots for alcoholic private eyes, wanting a lot of someone else's women, sprawling dead on the floor with every limb meticulously arranged and every hair in place.

7. For men: fedoras, suits and ties, shabby residential hotels with a neon sign blinking through the window, buying yourself a drink out of the office bottle, cars with running boards, all-night diners, protecting kids who shouldn't be playing with the big guys, being on first-name terms with homicide cops, knowing a lot of people whose descriptions end in "ies," such as bookies, newsies, junkies, alkys, jockeys and cabbies.

8. Movies either shot in black and white, or feeling like they were.

9. Relationships in which love is only the final flop card in the poker game of death.

10. The most American film genre, because no society could have created a world so filled with doom, fate, fear and betrayal, unless it were essentially naive and optimistic.

So true. A timeless definition of Film Noir.

And just as a reminder, CNN will broadcast Life Itself, a remarkable documentary about Roger Ebert, a man who wrote so beautifully and insightfully with grace and humor about the medium we all love and adore.

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Roger Ebert's description of Noir explains why I love it so much. Particularly:

Another thing about Noir that should be noted is the role fate plays in the events and usual ruin of the characters. In part it's like a Greek tragedy where a character's main flaw is the cause of their eventual downfall. The other part is things happen beyond their control, chance encounters, something minor is forgotten that leads to their ruin, unfortunate coincidences, or somebody showing up at the wrong time. And God forbid a character gives in to a positive impulse, such as helping a stranger or friend in need, because you can be sure it will lead to their ruin.

I do have a question. I'm thinking of nominating a movie I haven't myself seen, but which is rated highly and is on the site's Noir list. Am I allowed to nominate it, or must I nominate a movie I've seen? I can certainly do that, if that's the requirement, or part of the spirit of the Hall of Fame process.

http://www.theyshootpictures.com/noir250noirs1.htm

That list should help