History and Development of Film Noir

           A film noir is traditionally used to describe stylish Hollywood crime dramas, especially the type with sexual motivations and to emphasize cynical attitudes. Film noir is started from the early 1940’s stretching to the late 1950’s. This era of film noir is associated with a low key, black and white visual style. French critic ‘Nino Frank’was the first person to use the term film noir. This was unknown to most American film industry professionals from this classical era.

         Film noir covers many different plots such as the lead role, which tends to be a detective, plain clothes police man, ageing boxer, hapless grafter, a law abiding citizen lured into criminal life, or a victim of incident. In the beginning stages of a film noir most features where an American production, from the 1960’s onwards however film noir has been made throughout the world. Despite different producers and script writers, each individual film noir still contains attributes from the originals. Neo noir are simply modern renditions and echoes of the classic version of film noir. “The first major film to overly work this angle, was French Director ‘Jean-Luc Godard’s’ Á Bout De Soufflé, which pays it’s literal respects to Bogart and his crime films while brandishing a bold new style for a new day”. Film noir and Neo Noir are generally set post date, which is that time before the time they were filmed.

        In visual styles of film noir, they tend to use low key lighting schemes which produces light and dark contrasts, giving the film a dramatic shadow patterning. Film noir has developed ‘a cliché’ of sorts, this being the shadow cast upon a scene from venetian blinds or banister rods; this came before the Neo era. Due to the intensity of darkness from the black and white contrast, sometimes the characters faces are partially or wholly obscured in darkness; this is rare in conventional Hollywood movie making. Many directors and movie critics consider black and white cinematography to be one of the essential attributes of classic noir. 

        For plots, characters and settings, all film noirs have the element of crime which is usually murder case. Motivations for the crimes are generally greed or jealousy. There will be in all film noirs an investigator, whom is prevalent, but far from dominant. False suspicions and accusations of the crime are a common trait in the plot. The heroes in the plots of film noir, who are morally questionable, are often fall guys of some sort.

        Film noir is normally associated with urban settings in cities such as: Los Angeles, New York, San Francisco and so on. The cities where they are set are said to be by critics “like a labyrinth or maze”, including settings within bars, lounges, night clubs and gambling venues. These tend to be the scenes of action. Generally in film noir, there is a lot of filming set at night or whilst it is raining.

Characteristics of Film Noir

Visual Style

In film noir always using low-key lighting and associated with the dramatic shadow patterning. This type of style known as chiaroscuro (contracts between dark and light that affecting the whole composition).The shadows that reflect on the wall, the characters or the entire set already become a cliché in film noir as well as neo noir films. These shadows that reflect are to show the mood on a particular set or the mood of the characters. Like if the character is confuse his or her half face might cover with shadow. Another example will be if the character standing on the dark side of the set it means she or he is a bad person. The one that on the bright mean the character is a good person or they also know the truth.

Film noir also applied a lot of German-expressionistic such as low angle shot, oblique vertical and horizontal lines and wide angle lenses. Furthermore, the common techniques that use in film noir are including shots of people in mirrors, shots through a glass, and multiple exposures. All these shot commonly use to create or portray tension or psychological uneasiness. This is because film noir does not directly shot on the characters. Instead, by using the reflection of people in the mirror and with other usual effect. This visual style was added on in the plot and emphasize on the story of film noir.

Film noir always take place in urban setting such as New York City, Chicago and Los Angeles with location like alleyways, cramped corridors, night club and lounges. This is because in film noir there usually has a night raining scene.

Narration and Structure of Film Noir

The structure of film noir commonly was present in non chronological or otherwise convoluted arrangement. So film noir are frequently using flashback and first-person voice-over narration to tell the story. This makes the audience questioning on the beginning of the film. Why will these happen? Who is the one that tell the story? The narration of the film is usually tell by the protagonist but sometime is unreliable. Flashback and voice-over are normally used both to focus attention on one or more of the characters and to produce an intense awareness of – and an intense curiosity about – their mental and emotional states. Many films noirs are marked by this kind of structure. But then there are many gothic thrillers and other kinds of mystery and detective film – any film, in fact, with a crime and an investigating agent. 

Hard-boiled Fiction

Film noir, the hard-boiled fiction that served as its initial source material, represent one form of American existentialism that was produced independently of European philosophy. Hard-boiled fiction introduced the tough and savvy private detective, the duplicitous femme-fatale, the innocent victim of circumstance, and the confessing but remorseless murderer. The creators of this uniquely American crime genre engaged existential themes of isolation, anxiety, futility, and death in the thrilling context of the urban crime thriller.

In the “hard-boiled” mode, ratiocination- the power of deductive reasoning is replaced by action, and the mystery element is displaced in favour of suspense. The element of gunplay, illicit or exotic sexuality, the corruption of the social forces of law, and also personal danger to the male protagonist are always place in film noir.

Femme Fatale

Moreover, one of the obvious characteristic in the film noir, we can saw it from the perspective of female protagonist. They are generally described either two types of female characteristic which is reliable, trustworthy and loving women; or femme fatales which is mysterious, gorgeous, unloving, irresponsible and desperate women.

Meanwhile, the male protagonists were frequently weak, confused and morally equivocal, susceptible to temptation, and incapable of acting heroically. Frequently, it would be to follow the goading of traitorous femme fatale who destructively would lead the struggling hero into committing murder or other crime of passion. When the major character was a detective or private eye, he would become embroiled and trapped in an increasingly-complex, convoluted case that would lead to fatalistic, suffocating evidences of corruption or death.

Film Analysis of Sunset Boulevard

Synopsis

Sunset Boulevard (Wilder, B. 1950) is one of the films that consider as film noir. This story set in '50s Hollywood and the film industry during that time is more advances which sound or audio is coming in with the motion picture. The story begins with a scriptwritter named Joe Gilles (William Holden) and he try to run away from two guys who want to take his car back because of his debt. When Joe chasing by the two guys and he is driving in the road called Sunset Boulevard, his car's tyre puncture. He drives his car into a garage of a mansion which looks like abandoned house. A woman named Norma Desmond (Gloria Swanson) makes a mistake and thinks that he is an undertaker who is bury her chimpanzee. Norma Desmond is a big star and she is very famous during silent film era. Besides that, she is also very rich and she owns a mansion that has a build in swimming pool and tennis court. After that, Norma finds out that Joe actually is a scriptwritter and she wants Joe to help her edit the script that wroten by her. Norma also tries to ask Joe to stay and not let him leave her mansion. Max (Erich von Stroheim), a butler who is very loyal to Norma and always protects her. Max is also a former director of silent film and ex-husband of Norma. The next day, Joe's belongings are moved into Norma's house and living together with Norma. At the beginning, Joe is refuses to everything that given by Norma, but as time goes by; Joe starts to accept it which include clothes, cigaratte case, and money. A girl named Betty Schaefer (Nancy Olson) who is a newbie in scriptwriting and her dreams is to come out a serious script and become a famous scriptwriter. Joe is working with Betty to write the script together and start to sneak out from Norma's house every night. Norma finds out that Joe and Betty are getting together, she is jealous and wants stop Betty getting near with Joe. Joe sees what Norma does and he is very angry. He decides to put down all the luxuries that given by Norma and leave her. Norma become insane and take out a gun, shoot on Joe. Joe falls into the swimming pool and dead.

Characteristics in Sunset Boulevard

In the beginning of Sunset Boulevard, there are police cars approaching to a mansion and there a dead body in a swimming pool. The dead body creates an investigative approach for the audiences within the film. It lets the audiences questions that "How did he die?", "Who is the man?" and "Why he die in the swimming pool?" 

Sunset Boulevard (Wilder, B. 1950)

The narrative of film noirs are usually characterized as complex - often confusing – and as frequently entailing the use of flashback and first-person voice-over narration. As we can see from this film, there is a narrator takes the audiences back to past six months to reveal the reason why the man dies in the swimming pool. Actually the narrator is the dead man in the swimming pool which is Joe Gilles. He is telling his own story and describes how he dies. Apart from that, he also tells this story of entrapment, greed, and deceit while dead. He is the one who leads the audiences to reveal the truth of the incident.

The visual of a film is very important to define the film. So, let us look at the characteristics of visual in Sunset Boulevard. Sunset Boulevard uses a lot of high-contrast lighting which also known as low key lighting, for example, in Norma's house, the lighting are low key and because of this lighting, it creates dark shadows which is also one of the characteristic of film noir.

 Sunset Boulevard (Wilder, B. 1950)

Another example will be in the garage, when Joe realizes that Max is following and waiting him to come back from outside, the high-contrast lighting apply in that scene and the shadow is cover almost half of Max's face which to show that his dark side.

Sunset Boulevard (Wilder, B. 1950)

Besides the lighting and shadow, the setting of the film is also one of the characteristic of film noir. The living room where Norma is dancing to entertain Joe, bedroom of Norma and Joe, ballroom where Norma is dancing with Joe during New Year Eve and the place where Norma write her script, all of these space are dimly-lit interiors and very congested. The lighting and the setting is to show the character is suffocating in their life. 

Sunset Boulevard (Wilder, B. 1950)

The costume of Norma Desmond in the film is always in dark color such as black, the color of her costume to show that she is a femme fatale in Sunset Boulevard. The film also contains some German-expressionistic element such as the oblique vertical and horizontal line, for example in Norma's house; we can see a lot of lines which are in oblique vertical and horizontal line.

Sunset Boulevard (Wilder, B. 1950)

We can see that Mise-en-scene in Sunset Boulevard .There is a scene take Norma and Joe are dancing together during the New Year Eve, Joe feels uncomfortable with Norma's hair band because it is tickle, so Norma throw it away and Max picks up the hair band. The hair band represent the queen's crown and Norma is the queen. Max is the protector that always supports and protects the queen. So when Norma - the queen throw her crown away, her protector - Max protects the crown and its master. 

Sunset Boulevard (Wilder, B. 1950)

Another scene which locate in the studio where Mr. DeMille and his production team are producing a drama. Mr. DeMille invites Norma sits on his seat and he is going for a call. When Norma is sitting on the seats, a microphone is pass by and contacts with Norma. After that, Norma push the microphone away. This scene has show that Norma is not happy and not accept the existence of the audio film because during the silent film generation, the microphone is useless and using the actor/actress's expression to tell the story of the film. In the same scene and same setting, a lighting crew named Hog-Eye puts the light on Norma. The contrast between her and other people is become different. When the light in on Norma, she has go back to her famous age and become a queen again. All the people in the studio only realise her when the light is on her and all people include the crew and cast in the studio walk to her and surround to greet  her.

Sunset Boulevard (Wilder, B. 1950)

When Mr. DeMille finish his call and know that Gordon Cole, a producer that only wants to rent Norma's car, he go back to Norma and ask Hog-Eye to put the light back to its place. The contrast between Norma and other people become same and everyone that surrounding her is leaving and leave her alone. This scene brings the meaning of a queen is fallen and become a normal people. She is very famous in the pass silent film age, but now is the generation of audio film and she has become a normal people. In 1950's, rich people and poor people has different representation which we can found in Sunset Boulevard. When Norma is calling to Betty, we can see that Norma is using a white color phone while Betty is using a black color phone. During that time, white color phone is represent a rich people and black color phone represent poor people. 

Sunset Boulevard (Wilder, B. 1950)

Max is also using an old style phone because of his identity as a butler. 

Sunset Boulevard (Wilder, B. 1950)

Next is the characteristic of theme in Sunset Boulevard. In this film we find out there has hard-boiled anti-hero versus femme fatale. The male protagonist, Joe, lie to Norma in order to get a job when she ask him to stay and help her edit the script. Joe lies about he is pretty expensive and very busy with his assignment but actually he is very free and desperate for money. Besides, his masculinity had been threatened. That is because he has no money and he wants his car back so that he decides to help Norma edit her script and enjoy everything that Norma gives him. He also chooses the expensive material of his coats and takes money from Norma to buy cigarette. All of this had shown that he lost his masculinity. After that he also lost his freedom and control by Norma. This show in the scene when Norma asks him to clean the ashtray, asks him not to eat chewing gum and Norma also decides the material of his coats for him. Lastly, he made a moral decision which is he choose to leave both women, Norma and Betty.

Sunset Boulevard (Wilder, B. 1950)

Femme fatale in this film is Norma Desmond. She is a manipulative woman. She would not tell you directly if she wants something from you. Joe realizes that his things all had brought toward the mansion on the next morning and this is being ordered by Norma herself because she wants Joe to stay and help her edit the script. She is also very arrogant and ambitious. When Joe tell her she is appear too much in the scene and wants to remove her from one scene, she starts argue with Joe that everyone wants to see her and ask him put back the scene. Every day she receives many letters from her fan and she say that her fans wants her photograph but actually the letters is written by Max. Her mansion is crowded with her pictures and there has a very huge portrait at her living room. 

Sunset Boulevard (Wilder, B. 1950)

She has a theatre room and she is very enjoying watching her own films. She wants to be a star forever. But at the end Norma becomes mad. 

Sunset Boulevard (Wilder, B. 1950)

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