Film noir, or neo-noir is cinematic term used to describe the heavily stylised Hollywoods crime films set in the 50s and 60s alongside The Great Depression. These generally black and white texts emphasise cynical attitudes, sexual motivations and dark themes, using the monochrome element to reflect the mood of the film. Whilst not defined by the conventions of setting and conflict, distinct characteristics of the sub-genre include recurring dark themes and dark tone. Showcasing the classic elements of the neo-noir, Sin City is a highly intense crime thriller anthology, detailing the ugly urban dystopia of Basin City; where corruption and immorality paves the streets for an underground devilish world. Following the classical hardboiled neo-noir …show more content…
Good friend Dwight states, "most people think Marv is crazy. He just had the rotten luck of being born in the wrong century. He'd be right at home on some ancient battlefield swinging an axe into somebody's face. Or in a Roman arena, taking his sword to other gladiators like him.” (Miller, 2005). Entertaining the concept of a corrupt society being an influencing factor on the nature of a person. With a hulking figure, Marv appears tough and threatening both due to his violent nature and medical condition; the cause of his constant paranoia and psychotic hallucinations. After a night out, Marv wakes up next to a blonde, beautiful and dead prostitute known as Goldie; whose sexuality is fore fronted again, due to the use of colour. Framed for the crime, Marv’s determination to clear his name and avenge the death of the woman, is shown through his use of the power of interrogation and fear to extract the truth from several informants, including a priest. His quest for justice, defines him as the stories hero, although not immediately apparent. Like Jake Gittes in the 1974 text, Chinatown, Marv feels personally affected by the corruption present in Basin City, thanks to the Roark family, recognised as cannibalistic power forces, He is determined to find his own justice, no matter the cost. Furthermore, his resilient demeanour, alcoholism and smoking habits reflect lightly on the generic features of the sleuth in a classic crime fiction text. In his own mind, he plays the saviour, and is determined to achieve validity of his innocence, although criminally implicating himself in the process. This idea challenges the classic view of the term ‘worthy victim’, making the viewer question their own morals and the extent they would go to to selfishly exonerate themselves in a imminent
These fictionalized accounts of a criminal investigation are provided to the public with the intention of gaining financial rewards through the mass production and consumption of entertainment. In appealing to this entertainment factor a myriad of components are considered in the development of crime films and literature. In Old City Hall, Rotenberg’s inclusion of multiple perspectives allows the readers to follow the thought process of the different components that make up the criminal justice system, including legal counsel, police officers, judges, forensic analysists and witnesses. For instance, Rotenberg mentions the techniques often used by both lawyers and detectives in carefully phrasing questions to get a response from a witness or suspect. “He knew what impressed judges and juries most was not a witness who simply read from the notebook, but one who genuinely tried to remember what it was he had seen and heard and felt” (Rotenberg, 2009, p. 247).
Instead of actually finding a way to reduce crime in Baltimore, he forces the police to cook the crime stats, as a way to make it appears as if crime has been reduced. By arresting drug dealers and drunks, instead of arresting killers, he leaves Baltimore in a tumultuous state. This form of media manipulation alludes to Antonio Gramsci’s History of the Subaltern Classes, when he writes, “[The] attempts to influence the programmes of these formations in order to press claims of their own–conserve the assent of the subaltern groups and to maintain control over them”. Upper-class citizens hold almost all control over the “subaltern” class that resides in inner city Baltimore, and nothing is done to help them, which perpetuates a cycle of violence and corruption. In fact, in the earlier seasons, the most prestigious politicians work with dangerous mob bosses for monetary gain, while completely overlooking what happens to their own
The Maltese Falcon. It follows the story of the private detective Sam Spade, who gets involved with three criminals in search of a priceless statue. Similar to film noir, neo-noir takes these key themes and repackages them to fit the current views of society. An example of a neo-noir film is Kiss Kiss Bang Bang. The movie tells the story of Harry Lockhart, who goes from being a criminal in New York City to a private detective in Los Angeles.
In fact, most horror films open with the backstory or something that sets the tone. In this area, NOIR opens rather mildly, although there’s a subtle tone that is established. The idea of the cullers also feels a bit like a zombie film, in which there are hordes of cullers infected by a virus.
When Marjane heard that her friend Ramin's father was in the Savak and that he killed million people , Marjane get mad and she decided to teach Ramin a lesson in the name of the million dead people for his father's fault her mom told her Marjane
Topic Number 2, the use of backgrounds, landscapes, architectures and “sets.” Raymond Chandler and Ed McBain are two flagships in detective fictions. Chandler’s Philip Marlowe brought readers a series of hot-blooded fictional detective stories that happened in Los Angeles (LA). McBain, the commander of the 87th Precinct, excited readers with many raw and realistic detective stories happened in “the city”, an imaginary city that based on New York City (NYC). If there’s one thing that Chandler and McBain share in common, it’s their extraordinary abilities to use weathers, times and environments to render atmospheres, promote plots and deliver symbolisms.
He starts out somewhat disillusioned with the people around him and the justice system, but still idealistic and committed to solving the case. The genre’s first person view, combined with Gittes’ personality, allows the audience to identify with Gittes and arrive at the same conclusion he has with the world of Chinatown. Gittes was haunted by his past, but his code and idealism forced him to try once more, causing the deaths of the Mulrays, and “kidnapping” of Katherine. Chinatown gives us a lovable, flawed, and haunted detective, watch him give it all, and the it forces us to watch as the world breaks him down, teaching us that at any moment, everything we work for and hold onto could be lost, regardless of how hard we
Detective Quinlan, who is about as corrupt as they come, is stereotypical film noir. This element sets a dark, ambiguous mood
Deviance and Transgression In the little narrative “The Man Who Knew Belle Starr”, author Richard Bausch provides the reader with a thrilling suspense story that takes an unexpected turn of events. In Bausch’s story “The Man Who Knew Belle Starr” the actions of the characters can be understood in terms of Chris Jenks’ theory of transgression as well as sociological theories of deviance featured in Debra Marshall’s video “Crime and Deviance: A Sociological Perspective.” While both characters are both deviant and criminal, Belle Starr demonstrates agency and coherence in her violations against the law making her a proper transgressor; in contrast McRae’s un-reflexive and immature behavior separates him from a transgressor The story starts
The movie "On the Waterfront" is an example of Film Noir which literally means black or dark film. Movies like this were more serious and explored more realistic and depressing subject matters. The movie was mainly about the struggle of the working longshoremen in Hoboken, New Jersey against the gangsters who bullied and extorted money from them. The protagonist of the movie is Terry Malloy.
Chandler produces the classic detective novel through his use of conniving criminals, corrupt police, and characters that are slighted by the actions of those in their lives. The novels chief detective, Philip Marlowe, is unable to eliminate every criminal that crosses his path, much to his dismay. Although most of the offenders are apparent from the beginning of the novel, some are not revealed until towards the end. Consider mob boss Eddie Mars; well known by the police officers, along with his hitman Canino, yet no one seems to do anything about it. The absence of action is not a result of ineptitude; it is merely from the mob having control over everything, spanning from bootlegging to covering up murders.
The Maltese Falcon, a film categorised as Film Noir and The Searchers, a Western genre film, are both from different genres but both reinforce and challenge dominant social and cultural beliefs and values throughout each film. Each genre can be broken down into; codes, conventions and narrative conventions. Codes are aspects of the text that help the audience make meaning.
Frequently darkish in the mood and featuring characters from a corrupt underworld of crime, the films’ dramatic effects produced motifs of claustrophobia and paranoia. The same words could be used to describe 1940s Hollywood film noir, which was hugely influenced by German expressionism. Film noir is typified by Bogart and Bacall in films such as The Big Sleep. Fritz Lang himself also went on to make notable film noirs such as Fury and You Only Live Once. (http://michelle-strozykowski.suite101.com)
Pastiche is visually conveyed by giving homage to Metropolis, the New York skyline, the pulp fiction of Raymond Chandler, and even Chinatown (“Postmodernism in Film”). Time is manipulated through the films setting by giving off a 1940 and 1950s vibe, but at the same time depicting the dystopian environment with the unceasing rain and gloomy background (“Postmodernism in Film”). Hyperreality is used through the postmodern city of
H. Auden, in an essay The Guilty Vicarage, describes how the detective novels depict not just one guilty criminal, but, by putting the of suspicion on each and every member of the closed society, marks each and every member as such. The detective, by identifying the criminal and purging them from the society absolves the guilt of the entire society. According to Auden, the detective absolves not just the suspects of their guilt, but provides the same absolution/salvation to the readers of detective fiction also. Auden thus, points out some of the more unwitting functions of detective fiction, that is, to work as a literary embodiment of a mechanism which assumes everybody to be guilty and thereby the need of subjecting all to confession. In The Murder of Roger Ackroyd, once the confessions from all major characters is extracted, the most significant of all confessions still remains -- that of the murderer.