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Film Noir

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This is a textbook designed to introduce film noir to college students. However, it could be read with profit by anyone with an interest in the film noir phenomenon.

Spicer packs an incredible amount of information in the small space he has. He refers to the latest books and is incredibly thorough. He does a fine job on the origins of film noir, covering not only "tough guy" authors and German expressionism, but also Weimar "street films," French poetic realism and expressionism in American film before noir.

What I found especially interesting was the way Spicer continually breaks down noir and neo-noir into different eras. He sees a difference between noir of the Forties and Fifies, and he distinguishes between early neo-noir and late neo-noir, with Body Heat being the breaking point. I found that very useful, since the neo-noir era has lasted so long by now. It is hard to think of The Long Goodbye and Reservoir Dogs as fitting in the same era, so it is good to have a distinguishing framework.

Spicer also covers British film noir, and he breaks that down into different eras as well. To someone very familiar with the American noir cannon, this is like discovering a new continent of films.

So I would strongly urge any film noir enthusiast to get Spicer's book. You will learn something you didn't know before, or find out about films you will want to see.

So this is a book that

"Film Noir" is an excellent introduction to film noir theory. Author Andrew Spicer, a professor of film studies, has packed all of the key definitions, elements, and influences on film noir into just over 200 very readable pages. "Film Noir" is well organized, in the style of a text book. Pictures are few, as are detailed descriptions of plots. The book covers both classic and neo-noir,1940-2000, with about half of the book dedicated to each. The discussion of classic noir includes the definitions and evolution of the style, the conditions of production, themes, narrative strategies, gender roles, and three noir auteurs (Anthony Mann, Robert Siodmark, Fritz Lang). Spicer divides neo-noir into two periods: modernist and post-modern. Modernist refers to the 1967-1976 period when films were characterized by the near-complete collapse of the Hollywood studio system, unprecedented directorial power, and a conspicuous absence of femmes fatales. The post-modern era began in 1981, with studios jumping back into the noir picture and dedicating big budgets and big stars to noirs, betting on commercial success. Most of the films discussed in "Film Noir" are American, but the book's last chapter is dedicated to British film noir. Appendices (although they are not labeled as such) include excellent lists of American and British film noirs, organized chronologically and grouped by era. There is an index of names and an index of films. "Film Noir" is academic, but it's a good, concise analysis for anyone who wants analysis but isn't up to heavy-duty film theory that is so often tedious. It's a very readable, useful intro to film noir theory, covering 60 years of American and British noir, with the occasional reference to German and French films as well.

Andrew Spicer's book "film noir" is the best id-depth study of this intriguing and entertaining film style. Now, the first thing one has to understand about "noir" films is that they are Black and White (B/W), if you don't like watching B/W movies, then move on to another style of film!

For most casual film goers the term "film noir" has a mysterious sound to it but they really don't know what it means. The French film critic Nino Frank in 1946 first coined the phrase "film noir" after reviewing the movie the "Maltese Falcon," John Houston 1941. He saw that one of the most important components of "film noir" was characters that are portrayed as self questioning in an intellectual search dominated by Existentialism, (which is a philosophy that places emphasis on chance, in a world of no values or moral absolutes). Thus, you have the "non-heroic" hero in "film noir" such as portrayed by Humphrey Bogart as the detective Sam Spade in "The Maltese Falcon."

Spicer gives a very good general definition of "film noir" in his book and then explains some of the different sub categories. "The label `film noir' designates a cycle of films that share a similar iconography, visual style, narrative strategies, subject matter and characterization. (Spicer, 4). Spicer defines iconography (repeated visual patterning) as consisting "of images of dark, night-time city, its streets damp with rain...Its sleazy milieu of claustrophobic alleyways" (4). This effect is very reminiscent of one of the greatest "film noir" movies "The Third Man," Carol Reed 1949. "The visual style habitually employs high contrast (chiaroscuro) lighting, where deep, enveloping shadows are fractured by shafts of light from a single source, and dark, claustrophobic interiors have shadowy shapes on the walls" (4). This visual style is expertly displayed in "Touch of Evil," Orson Welles, 1958. "Noir's highly complex narrative patterning is created by the use of first-person voice-overs, multiple narrators, flashbacks and ellipses which often create ambiguous or inconclusive endings" (4). This motif is exemplified in the film "Kiss of Death," Henry Hathaway 1947. Thematic characterization of "film noir" is "dominated by a mixture of existential and Freudian motifs...The `noir' universe is dark malign and unstable where individuals are trapped through fear and paranoia, or overwhelmed by the power of sexual desire. `Noirs' principal protagonists consist of the alienated, often psychologically disturbed, male anti-hero and the hard, deceitful `femme fatale he encounters" (4-5). This aspect of `film noir' is best epitomized by the film "Double Indemnity," Billy Wilder 1944.

One of the great features of Spicer's book is his list of movies that fit into the "film noir" style, there are over 200 films. He breaks his list down under the following sub-titles. Antecedents of "film noir," classical "film noir 1940-59, modernist neo-noir and its antecedents, postmodern "film noir," British "film noir," miscellaneous.

In addition, Spicer's book is valuable because he takes each element of film noir and explains it in-depth, by using "noir" films that are the epitome of each element. Therefore, you get a book that also winds up being a great guide to the best of "noir" films! I recommend this book highly; it deserves a place on the shelf of every serious lover of films from Hollywood's "Silver Screen Era"!