Contemporary Film Noir
Bobby: I would argue that film noir neither is nor never was a genre, but it has many genre trappings that people broadly describe as film noir. Regardless of that point (which is thread-length at least and academic at most), I respectfully disagree that this is something called “contemporary noir” called “neo-noir,” unless, as I suggested, we are talking about a totally reconfigured genre.
Noir was a product of a very specific time, and to disconnect it from that time, as many of the so-called “neo-noirs” mentioned here do, eliminates to a large degree what made the “movement” something actually akin to a “movement.” What we have to look for is: what current conditions have affected and altered the conventions we understood as noir; and how that affect is translated into new conventions. Which is why I throw demonlover up as a potential example of true “neo-noir” against something like Se7en. Chinatown is actually a very interesting example of neo-noir, in that it is explicitly and nostalgically employing conventions of the past to express topical unease about the conditions of the time in which it was made.
i would like to nominate another cruise film :P the highly underrated minority report! a future noir in the vein of blade runner and dark city
@daniel
hey, i’m right with you. i’m definitely of the camp that says classic film noir is not a genre, and not a movement either. its a period for me. but as i continue to study and think about noir, even though i’m a purist, i’m able to entertain critical thoughts that want to position noir as a genre.
so i meet them halfway. i make a strong distinction between classic film noir and neo-noir, first of all. and i feel that if classic film noir is not a genre, neo-noir maybe is. you’ve got neo-noir in film, television, video games, comic books, etc. in the same way i feel that classic film noir is more than just a style, i feel that neo-noir is more than just a style. it’s clearly not a period or a movement. as can be seen from some of the examples i’ve given, neo-noir appears to be a genre that can be packaged and sold as one. its certainly been accepted as such, and the term itself is somewhat mainstream now. no matter who you ask, if you tell someone that a film noir is being made, they have a pretty good idea of what you’re talking about. its not a complex academic notion, as maybe it was when classic noir was first theorized.
so again, i think the key is making a sharp initial distinction betwen classic film noir and neo-noir. which is why i argue heavily for classic (period) film noir in my writing. they’re two different things. once that distinction is made, i think plenty of space is cleared for “noir” to be considered a contemporary genre that can be expressed in multiple mediums and art forms.
Someone labeled Dirty Pretty Things as Neo-noir on IMDB. What do you think? This film is pretty sweet and has a lot of the themes and aesthetic of classic noir.
OMG u found a thread i commented on 3 years ago! LOL!
did anyone mention the last seduction here…hmmm
OMG u found a thread i commented on 3 years ago! LOL!
Get ready for more. I’m digging deep to see what I might have missed.
If you can get past their abysmal screenplays, The Black Dahlia and The Good German are excellent recent renditions of film noir, which capture that atmosphere pretty much perfectly.
Anybody here seen The Ice Harvest? I haven’t seen it, but reading about it I got the feeling that it was noir-ish.
Also, somebody should make a noir based around James Gandolfini as the protagonist.
winter’s bone is hillbilly noir :)
also there’s one false move, a simple plan, animal kingdom? gandolfini was a heavy in true romance.
A Simple Plan is one of the greatest thrillers ever made. The tension is excruciating, the characterizations very rich for a film of its kind, and the acting is superb. A Greek tragedy with money.
i agree it’s underrated ^ even by me! ha. i really like paxton. i’ll give it another star
I’ve read that Hickey and Boggs falls into this category but I haven’t seen it (got it saved on Netflix). Has anyone seen this?
Also, Night Moves with Gene Hackman is pretty good.
i’ve never heard of this hickey & boggs! but if we’re going back to the 70s there’s a whole lot more. like cutter’s way, the friends of eddie coyle, charley varrick, who’ll stop the rain? night moves is good too. bring me the head of alfredo garcia is one of the darkest films i’ve ever seen
bring up some more films i’ve never heard of!! =D
@ Ruby:
//winter’s bone is hillbilly noir :)//
That is hilarious……and too true.
I really like Animal Kingdom. Can’t say the same about A Simple Plan which is strange since I loved the book.
that might explain it tho ^ i often have a hard time with films of books i loved
bring me the head of alfredo garcia is one of the darkest films i’ve ever seen
Warren Oates made a conscious decision to act like “Sam Peckinpah” in this film. Peckinpah was too drunk too notice. After filming wrapped, Oates told Peckinpah what he did, and that he did it in honor of him. Peckinpah broke down and cried. It’s so very dark.
warren oates is like the coolest guy ever. and i just became his 100th fan on mubi. the guy doesn’t even have a photo on his page >:( don’t worry, warren, i have found a good one
I thought that Animal Kingdom was fantastic, but I don’t recall it being particularly noir-ish
Gonna have to check out A Simple Plan. That’s one I heard about a while back, but then forgot about
For you, Ruby!
:D i will find a bio for him too. it’s a disgrace there’s nothing on his page
Thank you, Ruby. In my book, Warren and Cary stand above all others.
There was once a god who walked the Earth named Warren Oates. -Richard Linklater
for u, jerry! (barquero, 1970. i really like the hat)
I guess I need to start watching Peckinpah, cause I only recognize Oates from In the Heat of the Night
Never seen Barquero. But I must because that’s a beautiful hat.
looks like some faux spaghetti western but yeah, the hat is great
One thing neo-noirs don’t use that makes them almost universally unable to match the mood of the originals: black and white film. That’s what made the original noirs so noir.
Very precise, Christofer.
To me, The Big Lebowski is the contemporary film noir.
bring me the head of alfredo garcia is one of the darkest films i’ve ever seen
are you kidding ruby? that’s a fun cartoon compared to cockfighter. i’ve a permanent hangover against bastards from watching that…it’s my yardstick covered in straw and shit that i use to measure despair by, and bat off the fact that despite/because of it i still find warren attractive. although i’m not sure cockfighter is noir. it is grim. and great. i’ve depressed myself now. have you seen it?
it’s my yardstick covered in straw and shit that i use to measure despair by
One of the greatest lines, ever!
Bobby Wise
the archetypal setting of the film noir is the big city. there’s really only two big cities that matter in america: la and ny (and sf to a lesser extent for film noir).