Application of Film Noir

I found the readings on Film Noir to be interesting and comprehendible. I went into the readings never having heard of the term, “film noir” used before so everything I know now comes solely from the readings. When Paul Schrader wrote about the stylistics, I was able to apply his ideas to films I have already watched. For example, in talking about the lighting he says the “the majority of scenes are lit for night.” This was very apparent in Double Indemnity. I noticed that the lighting was always very dim and was merely highlighting the characters so that we could see their movements and interactions. The lighting definitely contributes to the dim and eerie mood of such films. In the second article we read the authors call the lighting of film noir as "low key." Later in his points about stylistics he notes that “there is a love of romantic narration.” This could easily be proved in films such as Double Indemnity and North By Northwest. Much of the dialogue seemed to hopelessly romantic, similar to the way Schrader notes. Schrader says that what is perhaps the over riding noir theme is “a passion for the past and present but also a fear of the future.” Again, since we just watched it, it is easy to apply this to Double Indemnity because Walter and Phyllis seemed so passionate in the moment and even when talking about their plans but also very skeptical about how the plan will play out in the future.

I found it very interesting when Schrader said, “it gave artists a chance to work with previously forbidden themes.” I suppose this is referring to on screen kisses and controversial film topics like affairs and violence. “For a long time, film noir, with its emphasis on corruption and despair, was considered an aberration of the American character.” While this may have been the case once, that theme definitely does not seem to me apparent in the present. Id be interesting in learning more about the transition into acceptance of controversial films.