The Stranger (1946) directed by Orson Welles

Kiss the Blood Off My Hands (1948) directed by Norman Foster

Kiss Me Deadly (1955) directed by Robert Aldrich

Double Indemnity (1944) directed by Billy Wilder

Stranger on the Third Floor (1940) directed by Boris Ingster

While the City Sleeps (1956) directed by Fritz Lang

The Third Man (1949) directed by Carol Reed

Dead men are heavier than broken hearts. Raymond Chandler, The Big Sleep

Film Noir was a cinematic genre that’s typified by hardboiled crime fiction. It had its heyday during the 1940s-50s, though there’s an argument that Noir movies were made as early as the 1920s. Later movies are referred to as neo-noir because, though they may be spiritual successors, the majority of them are filmed in colour.

In a previous post, I said that Expressionism had a profound effect on film Noir. This might come as a shock to some who regard Noir as an extension or realism. However, not only did Expressionist director Fritz Lang direct Film Noir once he immigrated to the USA, he also directed what may arguably be the first noir while still living in Germany.

This is why many of the techniques of Noir, such as low lighting and dutch angles, became such a trademark of the genre. It’s also why, despite predictable formula, so much Noir has been deemed “culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant” by the U.S. Library of Congress.

Of course, as stylish as Noir is, what creates its broad appeal are the stories. As Roger Ebert said, “One difference between Film Noir and more straightforward crime pictures is that Noir is more open to human flaws and likes to embed them in twisty plot lines.” Unlike other crime fiction such as Sherlock Holmes that focuses on observation and logical reasoning, Noir focuses on characters’ subjective inner lives.

Typical in Noir, a private investigator is as much a creature of the streets as the criminals he hunts. He’s no angel. He’s effective at his job because he’s willing to wade into morally grey territory.

Like Expressionism, Noir concerns itself with a breakdown of social values, and observes that the authorities who are meant to uphold these values are often the ones most compromised. This isn’t to say that a better authority would do a more upstanding job but it is to say that ideology is often ill equipped to deal with human experiences.

Despite the cynicism often embedded in Noir, it has a kind of hope. As French director Claire Denis notes, “Film Noir demands a beginning and an end.” That is to say there’s resolution.

This is why Film Noir continues to have mass appeal, including in Japan where it would inspire a new art movement.