Noir - what is this? Film Noir. Genre noir

Everyone who cares about cinema and its history certainly had to hear about the existence of such a genre as a noir. What is it and what are the features of the films of this style, it is not clear to explain clearly, even if there is an understanding of what is being discussed. But the cinematographic monuments of the era of the great American depression deserve to take a closer look at them.

From the history

It is not so easy to characterize what is hidden under the stylistic definition of "noir". What it is, you can understand only when correlated with the historical era that gave rise to these films. In the thirties of the last century, American society was experiencing one of the most difficult periods of its development. Later in the history books he will be called the Great American Depression. It seemed that the country was slipping into an abyss, and many were predicting its inevitable death. And art in all times and epochs reflects the surrounding reality according to its complex laws. It was this reaction to the depressive state of American society that the genre of noir in Hollywood cinematography became. Hardly you can learn history from the films of that period, but you can clearly understand the moral state of the American society.

At the origins of the genre

That phenomenon, which later critics denote the term film noir, began with the publication in 1941 of the tape directed by John Huston "The Maltese Falcon." The film made a strong impression on the audience by no means an ordinary detective story, but a painful depressive atmosphere in which its characters live. The heroes of the detective, as it were, specifically provoke the public with their undisguised cynicism. Puritan American society to this depiction of morals in the middle of the century did not get used yet, so the genre of noir by many progressive artists of theater and cinema was perceived as a new fashion trend. And this trend for two decades was destined to become one of the dominant in American cinema. Strictly speaking, noir films are not entirely justified by the term "genre". No fundamentally new genre was invented. But for the movies of this era is characterized by a peculiar style, which goes back to German expressionism, and refined psychology in revealing the characters' characters. In these tapes it is not so easy to initially predict the further development of the storylines and the final outcome of the intrigue.

Classics of the genre

Genre noir quickly gained recognition as professional critics, and the general public. Directors, producers, screenwriters and other creators of cinematographic production quickly felt what new creative horizons this style opens for them. For twenty years, all the best that has been included in the history of world cinema under the definition of "Noir" was created. What is the term - it is not necessary to know, it is from the vocabulary of professional critics and art critics. But the generally recognized Hollywood classics of the mid-twentieth century were films by such directors as Raoul Walsh, John Huston, Otto Preminger, Fritz Lang and Robert Siodmak.

Expressive features

In the films of stylistics noir, there are no simple plot constructions with an obvious outcome. Sometimes it seems that the authors themselves did not represent at the beginning of the story being told, than it will end. There are justifiable doubts about whether there is a clearly defined scenario school of films in the style of noir. What is this, if not completely traditional for Hollywood detective? But in the characteristic criminal plot of the noir films, the accent is largely shifted from the disclosure of the crime to the intricacies of the relations of the acting characters. The detective basis here is nothing more than a background on which the main characters can unfold. Paradoxically, genre noir movies are much closer to the classical traditions of realism than anything that was before and after them. The action always takes place in the city, and in the part where people, as usual, are given low passions and vices - in restaurants, bars, brothels and brothels. Events are rarely spelled out in their chronological order. Such a disjointed presentation gives the effect of a specific atmosphere of instability. This technique was later adopted by many artists, in particular by director Sergio Leone in the masterpiece of the film Once Upon a Time in America.

Stars of the genre

A lot of brilliant Hollywood stars in their cinematic career are indebted to the noir films. This style helped them to fully reveal their talent. The stars of the genre did not have a retreat from offering roles as private detectives and detectives, as well as various gangsters. Suffice it to recall the acting roles of Bert Lancaster, Humphrey Boggart, Orson Welles and Dana Andrews. Among the actresses who became the symbol of the noir style, Rita Hayworth, Lauren Bacall, Gene Tierney, Joan Crawford and Barbara Stanwick should be mentioned first. And with close examination in these films you can see some actors whose professional career will take place in the subsequent cinematographic era. Their creative debut took place in the roles of the second plan in films, when in Hollywood the dominant trend was noir.

Alfred Hitchcock

Speaking of the genre of noir, it is impossible not to mention the classic of the psychological thriller Alfred Hitchcock. His work does not fit into narrow stylistic definitions and goes far beyond the noir. But his debut works in the cinema began with these films. They determined the dominant vector in the development of the master of "horror films". He passed a good professional school and many fine techniques took over from the films noir. To aggravate the already oppressive tension and saturate the atmosphere with negative energy, he learned in his early works.

Interactions and intersections

Certainly, the best noir films were created in Hollywood and became one of the brightest pages in the American cinematic classics. But any bright phenomena in art always influence the parallel artistic worlds. Thus, the films noir had a strong influence on the formation and development of post-war Italian neo-realism. Traces of this trend can be clearly traced in many national cinematographic schools of Western European countries. Quaintly, the style of Noir was reflected in the French cinema of the sixties. The name of this phenomenon is taken from French, but to France it came from Hollywood. And at home this style largely predetermined the subsequent work of such different masters as Stanley Kubrick, Orson Wells, Nicholas Ray and Billy Wilder. Even Stanley Kubrick's last masterpiece "With wide eyes closed" contains an explicit reference to the roots of the Noir tradition.

Anime Noir

The style of noir in traditional Japanese animation is very peculiar, for example, in the 26-episode film in the genre of the anime Noir, which appeared on the screens at the beginning of the century and quickly gained popularity. By the way, this is the name of the series, and the name of the main character, and the designation of the stylistic tradition, which this work tries to follow impeccably. In a literal translation from the French "noir" - this is nothing more than a designation of black color. But this is also a powerful artistic image. The main heroine of the anime series, among other things, is also fighting with the darkness of its own amnesia. Echoes of stylistics noir can easily be found in other works of traditional Japanese animation. Anime and noir organically complement and reinforce each other. It is from these two sources that such a work as Quentin Tarantino's best-selling book "Kill Bill" grows. If you look closely, it's nothing more than anime plus noir. That's just filmed the film already on Hollywood technologies beginning of the third millennium.