Film noir (literally 'black film or cinema') was coined by French film critics who noticed the trend of how 'dark', downbeat, and black the looks and themes were of many American crime and detective films released in France to theaters following the WWII.
The classic noir story:
A cynical, hard-hearted, disillusioned male character encounters a beautiful but promiscuous, amoral, double-dealing and seductive femme fatale. She uses her feminine sexuality to manipulate him. After a betrayal or double-cross, she is frequently destroyed as well, often at the cost of the hero's life.
Typical noir moods:
- melancholy
- bleakness
- disillusionment
- ambiguity
- moral corruption
- guilt
- desperation
- paranoia
The classic noir anti-hero:
- corrupt
- down-and-out
- conflicted
- hard-boiled
- morally-ambiguous
- cynical
- obsessive (sexual or otherwise)
- brooding
- menacing
- frightened
The typical noir story line:
- elliptical
- non-linear and twisting
- maze-like and convoluted
- typically told with foreboding background music and flashbacks
- often told with witty dialogue, and/or reflective and confessional, first-person voice-over narration.
Typical noir themes:
- the dark and inhumane side of human nature
- doomed love
- emphasized the brutal, unhealthy, seamy, shadowy, dark and sadistic sides of the human experience
Typical noir visuals:
- expressionistic lighting
- deep-focus or depth of field camera work
- disorienting visual schemes
- ominous shadows
- skewed camera angles
- circling cigarette smoke
- unbalanced or moody compositions
Interior settings are often:
- single-source lighting
- venetian-blinded windows and rooms
- dark, claustrophobic, gloomy appearances.
Exterior settings are often:
- urban night scenes with deep shadows
- dark alleyways
- rain-slicked or mean streets
- flashing neon lights
- low key lighting
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