Film Noir

The first fact in this article to grab my attention is that film noir is not a genre, it’s a style. The style, while having no definitive parameters, does have certain key features. Film noir is primarily distinguishable by its dark tone. Noir films use distinct lighting, vertical lines, and complex chronological orders to represent a sense of lost time. Due to a lack of definitive qualifiers, however, Schraeder notes that almost every critic has their own definition of film noir. In terms of historical significance, the origin of this genre intrigued me. Outside factors such as the war hugely impacted the creation of the noir style. In addition, film noir reflects a distinct German influence and a “hard boiled” style of acting. The most interesting part of this article, in my opinion, involved the production of noir films. Schraeder writes that film noir served as a creative release for script writers, actors, and directors. I found this fascinating because even though the films require a certain number of qualifiers to be considered film noir, there is still room for incredible creativity. I have always been fascinated with film noir because of how engaging the films tend to be. I look forward to employing the knowledge I gained from this article and applying it to my analysis of these films.