Film Noir Styles, Motifs and Themes

The fact that film Noir is not a genre, but a style, is why (I believe) it has been able to have such longevity in the film analysis world. Because it was a style, it was able to last over a decade--screenwriters never ceased to churn out new and interesting story lines, which were augmented by the artistry of the filmmaking itself. Modern film buffs point to film noir as a higher echelon of filmmaking, which is most likely due to the fact that they were made with such care. Not only did the plot matter (and actually in some cases it didn't) but as Schrader notes, "Film Noir seemed to bring out the best in everyone: directors, cameramen, screenwriters, actors." A look at the motifs described in Place and Peterson's article, demonstrates that most important motifs were not in the plot but in the lighting and the camera work which seamlessly expressed underlying themes. For example, Film Noir was one of the only periods in which low-key lighting was favored. This lighting demoted the characters in an almost existential manner, that makes the audience consider that this character, though the main character of the film at hand, is just one person in the vast, dark world. Schrader so effortlessly explains the underlying reason for why this dark, negative period came about in film that it makes me wonder how today's films are going to be interpreted through the lens of our current events.