There are no happy ending and there is no escape, that is a guarantee when existing in the world of hard-boiled Noir. Originating from the French, “Noir” seemed to be the perfect word to describe the genre that was booming in American film and literature during post World War II. Noir authors developed popular formulas to address genuine social and aesthetic problems that appealed to American modernist society. James M. Cain’s short nouvelle, Double Indemnity, contains the basics formula for noir. As a written confession, the story unfolds the plunging doom of hapless sap, Walter Huff, who uses his job and knowledge of insurance to be immersed in a murderous scheme by his psychologically manipulative accomplice, the femme fatale, Phyllis …show more content…
Huff has no immediate family as far as his confession shows, that are most important to him. The only other outside influence that affects Huff is his boss Keyes, then later Lola Nirdlinger, the mourning step-daughter. However, to backtrack his in his confession, Huff mentions how he should leave, “I ought to quit, while the quitting was good, I knew that” (15), but having no established values he continues to drive on his impulsive desires. Phyllis, is written brilliantly as a cold hearted femme fatale that in no question has had any morals or family values further jeopardizes anything that is left of Huff’s morality. Huff mentions in his confession that Phyllis had no signs guilt when talking casually to her husband before driving him to his death, “Phyllis talked just like he was going to Palo Alto, and she didn’t have a thing on her mind” (44). The other situation that truly broke down Huff standing views of Phyllis and murder is involving her step-daughter as alibi witness, “ But what bothered me wasn’t that. It was the witness that Phyllis brought out” (26), it’s a clear understanding what Phyllis intentions were and just as Huff pounded accident insurance and his steps to a perfect crime to her, she was maliciously going to haunt him with what he was about to destroy. Even though this unravels before Huff he doesn’t step back from committing the unthinkable, makes himself physically ill and does …show more content…
Double Indemnity cuts into the guilty heart and the insanity when situations get out of their control. Phyllis,who is the template for the femme fatale, is broken down as the psychologically manipulative serial killer so obscure in her ways she is close to not even being human and is better described to be a rattlesnake waiting for her prey. She presents herself as a trusting figure, being that she was a head nurse the local hospital and best friend of Mr. Nirdlinger sickly wife, who she let die in her care. Emotion is not capable for someone like Phyllis. The reader already determines she is a vile woman as Huff’s confession develops, and grows to be as repulsed by her. However, Walter comes clean with his confession and overwhelming guilt. Even though he followed the plan from point A to point B, Huff redeems himself by turning in to his boss, in order to protect what is left from his doomed decisions. Even though he is the perpetrator of a gruesome murder, he also falls victim of corruption, by a woman, loveless love and a twisted greater force. Thus leaving readers to trial Huff's actions, there's a tragedy to Cain's writing hidden beneath the raw edge; he clearly feels for Walter but doesn't condone his actions, hence why he builds to such a bitter climactic to Double Indemnity open ending and leaves pending
In the classical Western and Noir films, narrative is driven by the action of a male protagonist towards a clearly defined, relatable goal. Any lack of motivation or action on the part of the protagonist problematizes the classical association between masculinity and action. Due to inherent genre expectations, this crisis of action is equivalent to a crisis of masculinity. Because these genres are structured around male action, the crises of action and masculinity impose a crisis of genre. In the absence of traditional narrative elements and character tropes, these films can only identify as members of their genres through saturation with otherwise empty genre symbols. The equivalency between the crises of genre and masculinity frames this symbol saturation as a sort of compensatory masculine posturing.
Filled with a plethora of themes and convictions, Cormac McCarthy’s No Country for Old Men excels in its endeavor to maintain the reader’s mind racing from cover to cover. The setting is the Texas-Mexico boarder; the story embodying a modernized western-themed Greek tragedy filled with drug runners and automatic weapons. Llewelyn Moss, a Vietnam veteran, finds himself on the run from forces that seem to be an instrument of karmic consequence. While on the run, Llewelyn is given the opportunity to end the madness that has arisen so immediately in his life. But he doesn’t. Instead he braves on, defying his own advice, and persistent on luck, only leaving him a misfortunate ending. To fully recognize the circumstance the novel surrounds itself in the reader must digress into the thoughts of the town’s Sheriff, an old vet just like Llewelyn, named Ed Tom Bell. From there and with a deep analysis of Llewelyn Moss, McCarthy succors light to why such an assessment was made amongst the lawless violence that has entered this town.
It’s a dark and rainy night. Our hero is hiding behind a wall with a revolver in hand. A crack of light, illuminates half of his face. He’s shaking nervously because he only has one bullet left. He turns the corner, and a sudden gunshot hits our hero. Who shot him? None other than his partner, who’s secretly in love with the very same dame that our hero fell for. You can consider this an example of a classic film noir ending. Film noir is a term used in cinema to describe a visually styled crime drama. Where did it come from? What are the key elements in a film noir? Why did this kind of cinema emerge when it did? What affect did it have in the film world? And finally, where is film noir now?
Film noir (literally 'black film,' from French critics who noticed how dark and black the looks and themes were of these films) is a style of American films which evolved in the 1940s. " The Internet Movie Database LTD. Film noir typically contains melancholy, and not so moral themes. Another characteristic of film noir is just because the main character has the title hero, that does not mean that he will always be alive at the end of the book, or that the hero is always "good." Marlowe in The Big Sleep is a prime example of this concept.
In his great inhumanity and sadism the writer of detective stories reveals to his wife the details of his get-away plan, “He throws the gun in after her [dead body]; he’s made sure it’s untraceable. Then he drives south to the motel in Parry Sound where they have a reservation” (Wright 2). The diabolical villainy of Lucy’s husband is only revealed in the presence of her overarching understanding. Consequently, in Twins there are incredibly powerful and potent moments of characterization for her husband made possible through the utilization of situational irony. Not only does the writer intend to kill his wife but, through his merciless exhibition across the moonscape of Sudbury, he plans to take sadistic pleasure in the moments preceding his infuriatingly wretched crime. With actions revealing
The noir style is showcased in Sunset Boulevard with its use of visually dark and uncomfortable settings and camera work, as well as its use of the traditional film noir characters. In addition, the overall tone and themes expressed in it tightly correspond to what many film noirs addressed. What made this film unique was its harsh criticism of the film industry itself, which some of Wilder’s peers saw as biting the hand that fed him. There is frequent commentary on the superficial state of Hollywood and its indifference to suffering, which is still a topic avoided by many in the film business today. However, Sunset Blvd. set a precedent for future film noirs, and is an inspiration for those who do not quite believe what they are being shown by Hollywood.
In her final letter to her mother, Eliza admits her wrong doings. She tells her mother she ignored all the things she was told. All their advice fell on her deaf ears. She explains that she had fallen victim to her own indiscretion. She had become the latest conquest of “a designing libertine,” (Foster 894). She knew about Sanford’s reputation, she knew his intentions, and she knew that he was married, yet she still started a relationship with him. And her blatant disregard for facts and common sense caused her unwed pregnancy and premature demise. Eliza Wharton had nobody to blame for her situation but herself. She ignored warnings, advice, common sense, and other options available to her. She chose her ill fated path and had to suffer the consequences.
The city of San Francisco, California, in the 1920’s, provides a distinctively mysterious setting for Dashiell Hammett’s book, “The Maltese Falcon.” Hammett uses his own knowledge of the San Francisco area and experiences as an operative for Pinkerton’s Detective Agency to create a unique and suspenseful detective mystery (reference, 1997). Greed drives most of the characters, who are in pursuit of a falcon presumed to be worth thousands. This essay will examine the novels setting of San Francisco in the 1920’s; its non-fictional urban setting; Spade’s apartment and office; and will end with a brief conclusion. This paper will reveal that the setting is important in understanding, not only the protagonist, detective Samuel Spade, but also the
The only real way to truly understand a story is to understand all aspects of a story and their meanings. The same goes for movies, as they are all just stories being acted out. In Thomas Foster's book, “How to Read Literature Like a Professor”, Foster explains in detail the numerous ingredients of a story. He discusses almost everything that can be found in any given piece of literature. The devices discussed in Foster's book can be found in most movies as well, including in Quentin Tarantino’s cult classic, “Pulp Fiction”. This movie is a complicated tale that follows numerous characters involved in intertwining stories. Tarantino utilizes many devices to make “Pulp Fiction” into an excellent film. In this essay, I will demonstrate how several literary devices described in Foster's book are put to use in Tarantino’s film, “Pulp Fiction”, including quests, archetypes, food, and violence.
Last but not least, O’Connor confirms that even a short story is a multi-layer compound that on the surface may deter even the most enthusiastic reader, but when handled with more care, it conveys universal truths by means of straightforward or violent situations. She herself wished her message to appeal to the readers who, if careful enough, “(…)will come to see it as something more than an account of a family murdered on the way to Florida.”
In Red Harvest, in both his description of both “Poisonville” and it’s inhabitants, Hammett uses contradicting language, and often iconic reoccurring imagery to express the deterioration of American morals with the growth of underground crime, judicial politics, and the emergence of the femme fatal. The characters in the novel, including the operative himself are willing to lie, cheat, and kill in cold blood for their own personal gain. Although infidelity, greed, and self-preservation are expected from characters involved with the murders and inner crime ring; the story becomes more complicated when characters like the operative, and chief of police begin to get their hands dirty. Bringing the age-old crime ad punishment theme to a higher tier where the reader is unable to make an impulsive decision on who is a “bad guy”, and who is a “good guy”.
Chinatown (1974), a film written by Robert Towne and directed by Roman Polanski is centered around Los Angeles during the 1920s. Because of its setting and era, the film has cinematic style and and thematic elements that allude to “film noir”, a common genre for 1920s films. One aspect commonly brought up in this genre is gender role, specifically that of women, during the noir era . Polanski’s film references the common noir archetype of “femme fatale”, a lying, seducing female character who brings men to their destruction. He also nods to the common belief of the time, that men are strong and powerful heroes looking to find truth. However, because it falls into a more modern, “neo-noir” category, Chinatown brings the roles of women to a new light, and draws attention to the problems in society of the time when it comes to gender, both male and female.
Bob Fosse’s dazzling adaptation of the plot is a key element that contributed greatly in making Chicago achieve the success it did. Set in the 1920’s, Chicago is based in the real-life murders trials of two women who were eventually exonerated of their alleged crimes. The film’s main characters are Roxie Hart, a housewife who often fantasizes about becoming a Vaudeville star, and Velma Kelly, a vaudeville queen b who desires far more fame than she already has. They both find themselves in the Cook County Jail on “murderesses row”. Crime and short-lived fame are the central themes of this movie. Murder and lies are sensationalized and glorified. It is no surprise that p...
This paper has attempted to investigate the ways in which Alfred Hitchcock blended conventions of film noir with those of a small town domestic comedy. It first looked at the opening scenes of the film in which the two conventions were introdruced. It then went on to analyse the film with the aid of Robin Wood's article Ideology, Genre, Auteur. From these two forms we can see that film noir and small town comedy were used as a means of commenting on the contradictions in American values.
While there are many different ways to classify a Neo-noir film, Roman Polanski’s, Chinatown captures many. The 1974 movie consists of many of these elements, including both thematic and stylistic devices. One of the main themes of neo-noir film that is constant throughout the film is the deceptive plot that questions the viewers’ ideas and perceptions of what is actually happening in the film. Every scene of Chinatown leads to a twist or another turn that challenges the practicability of the film’s reality. All of the never-ending surprises and revelations lead up to the significant themes the movie is trying to convey in the conclusion of the film.