Film Noir and Double Indemnity

I greatly enjoyed the two articles on Film Noir as well as Double Indemnity. In Place and Peterson's article, I found the descriptions of us of light very interesting. I was very intrigued when I read their description of how film noir uses lighting on female heroines to create a specific look for them. Throughout the screening of Double Indemnity, I couldn't understand why I didn't find Phyllis to be that attractive or seductive. She is presented as a seductress for Walter right away in the first image of her in her robe. We then are directed to look at her ankle as she walks down the stairs through a CU tracking shot as she walks down the stairs. However even with these obvious images and her flirtatious nature, I found something unappealing about her. Place and Peterson explain this phenomenon through use of lighting, "Heroines were shot in tough, unromantic close-ups of direct, undiffused light, which create a hard, statuesque surface beauty". This use of lighting on the female protagonist adds to the films solemn and dramatic style.
The use of lighting in these films is probably the most key element to their style and meaning. As both authors mention, film noir is not a specific genre of films, more a set of techniques and themes. One thing I found interesting in the article by Schrader was his depiction of the 3 phrases of film noir. One thing that seems so obvious by didn't specifically come to my attention until I read it in Schrader was that with the widespread popularity of color films, there was really no more possibility for the noir style to continue. Today, when films attempt to use film noir style they must film in black and white.

Film Noir and Schrader

I would always overlook those black and white old fashioned dark films of the late 30's to late 40's. My mom loves these types of movies, and whenever I would ask her what she is watching, she would answer and I would just walk away because I was never interested. Little did I know that I would come across the same movies later in my life and practically adore them. Whether it’s the fast-paced, witty dialogue, the intensely created sexual undertones, or the story that keeps you on the edge of your seat, films among the film noir movement manage to withstand the tests of time. Before setting foot in this class, I knew that film noir’s weren’t exactly a genre, so the bit about such claims in Schrader’s article did not surprise me. However, what did surprise me was the fact that film noir went through an evolutionary cycle, so to speak. The first phase in the cycle is what I would identify film noir to be, “the private eye” phase. The second phase was similar, but it took a more consequential approach, that is, the problems within the film were on a larger scale (government corruption, street crimes, etc.). The last phase was the surprising one to me, where films are even more cynical, displaying a so called “tragic hero.” I was surprised to see Panic in the Streets on the list, however. This was one of the few noir films I viewed before coming to this class, and it didn’t seem as grim as what Schrader would explain. Not only did the main character solve his case, but he came back home to his wife at the end. Maybe I just missed some message the film presented that would suggest its release during the third phase of film noir. Besides this, I’m pleased with the selection of films among film noirs that we are viewing, because it is quickly becoming my favorite type of film.

Thoughts on Bazin, Schrader, and Place & Petersen

Bazin

Regarding the Bazin reading, I found the description of the transition of sound into film rather vague and therefore, focused my attention more to his detailed explanations of the different aspects of Montage. I understand that he was trying to communicate the premise that sound carried a greater air of realism to montage, helping to reduce the symbolic meanings between messages; however, his reliance on the aesthetic changes disoriented my understating of the function sound has made. Thus, I felt his main goal was to detail the evolution of the language of cinema based on the incorporation of new devices such as depth of focus, and accelerated montage as the techniques separating post 1938 film from silent film, in contrast to solely the advent of sound.

Schrader’s “Notes on Film Noir”

Like RILWSON1, I was also unaware that film noir is regarded as a specific period of film history. I always considered it to be a genre of film, only utilized for themes fueled by gangsters and crime. The more I read, the more I found myself appreciating Schrader’s passion for film noir and his expressive criticism against its neglect. He explains,

“The fundamental reason for film noir’s neglect, however, is the fact that it depends more on choreography than sociology, and American critics have always been slow on the uptake when it comes to visual style. Like its protagonists, film noir is more interested in style than theme, whereas American critics have been traditionally more interested in theme than style.”

I would have never considered this issue of theme vs. style to be the case of its neglect. With this basis in mind, it is easier to understand why westerns and gangster films receive more praise since their themes are not hidden within the style of the film. Film noir requires attention to detail and it is through this necessity that it achieves a higher level of meaning, adding to its unique character and the tone it creates.

Place & Petersen “Some visual motifs on film noir”

I really enjoyed this article since it provided an overall list of the techniques involved in categorizing a film as film noir. I never imagined that so much detail and thought could go into the lighting of one room, let alone one person, and how this could heavily determine the mood of the scene (whether it means making an interior appear claustrophobic or a person appear desperate). Like the process of juxtaposing shots in montage to create a certain meaning, lighting can also produce meaning through the way it is utilized. One example from the article is a scene from the film In a Lonely Place. A high-light is placed under Bogart’s eyes, creating a sinister effect which not only makes him look demented but also suggests he is an unstable character. Having just viewed Double Indemnity, I definitely remember noting the specific use of shadows and light vs., dark. Now I understand the greater function they fulfilled and can bring this new knowledge to my analysis.

Schrader's Notes on Film Noir

I found Schrader’s writings on film noir to be thoroughly engaging and informative. It’s close analysis of film noir sheds a good deal of light on both films of this period that we have screened this semester: The Big Sleep and Double Indemnity. For one thing, I was not aware that film noir was not considered a genre, but a film period equivalent to French New Wave or German Expressionism. This adds a different perspective, because though I knew that the tones were darker and it had quite a distinct style of dialogue, I had always associated film noir with crime dramas, and this isn’t particularly the case. One of the most interesting and applicable points brought up in the reading about the creation of film noir was that of the social circumstances that surrounded its birth. Film noir was brought on by the disillusionment of society following the over-simplification of cinema and the start of WWII. The main point is the disillusionment that people felt towards society after long periods of hardship, and its worthy of note at what point this article was written. At first when I began to read it, I was confused about the author’s reference to old movies as being contemporary, and their more fatalistic style appealing young viewers to it and that of the old film noir period. Then I noticed the year of publication: 1972. This was after the country had suffered through years of the Vietnam conflict, and there was a prevailing culture of disillusionment once more. I have also noticed a trend in cinema to depict realistic, and many times somewhat fatalistic stories in films today and I can’t help but think that this is a recurrence of the trend, brought on by the wars we’ve seen for the better part of a decade. When processing the analysis Schrader made toward this film period, many films meet many of the criteria set by film noir, I would venture to say most notably in the execution and acclaim that The Departed accomplished only three years ago. Other films of note are direct throwbacks to the film noir style, including Brick and the The Black Dahlia.

Sound in the Bazin Reading

I found it interesting what Andre Bazin had to say about the introduction to sound in cinema. Like the introduction of any new technology, it was looked at with apprehension. People that are so used to one method of doing something are obviously going to have a tough time accepting a revolution of established technique. However, like Bazin said, sound did not come to destroy the established cinema, but to fulfill its prophecy. He refers later to how there is a dividing line that held cinema back from seeming realistic, and that was the barrier of sound. When this was introduced, cinema did not die, because the cinema in place wasn’t the sole representation of the art form. Art is an organic, living, breathing institution that builds upon what has been accomplished in the past through inspiration and technological innovation. The ultimate goal is to represent the world as we perceive to the best of our abilities, in order to convey messages or purely out of the desire to portray narrative. Sound allows narrative to become more complex and adds many stylistic options to the creation of a story. I would say that introduction of sound in cinema is tantamount to the introduction of color in its effect on progressing towards realism.

PSYCHO

According to Antonin Artaud; "When we no longer find fulfilling meaning in either ourselves or in life itself, a painful cleavage is created: “the poetry which we no longer succeed in finding in the world around us or inside ourselves can then appear on the wrong side; consider the crimes whose perverse gratuitousness is explained only by our powerlessness to take complete possession of life”, Alfred Hitchcock’s Psycho (1960). O’connor.

The hotel in which Bates ran is very similar to his fantasy world which he conducted. He was in complete power of both and therefore achieved somewhat of a Godliness power. It is made evident at the beginning of the film that he expressed his artistic creativity through his hobby of stuffing birds. In order to preserve the bird Norman took the necessary measures to maintain the external body. Norman also applied this concept when attempting to immortalize his mother. Stuffing the birds essentially immortalized them for their bodies truly never leave the world. Essentially, Norman does the same for his mother as he creates the illusion she is still alive. In doing so he gave a voice to his mother, authoring her every word and action believing this to be the solution to his repressed feelings and problems in reality. His artistic ability for creating the illusion of life was not only projected in his work, but onto the strategic murders of his victims.

Montage and the Reader

In Eisenstein's article about montage he talks about the use of montage throughout Japanese art and culture, while pointing out that the cinema is seemingly the only art form in Japanese culture that is lacking in montage. Eisenstein quotes Nobuchi and says, "it is the readers who make the haiku's imperfection a perfection of art." However, when quoting Nobuchi Eisenstein isn't just making a statement about the use of montage in haikus, but about the use of montage in all art forms. Montage works, and works powerfully, because of the art forms audience. People do not live in a vacuum, and it is our cultural expectations and the connotations of the images used in montage that audiences are aware of that makes montage an engaging and powerful way of presenting art.

In Battleship Potemkin Eisenstein uses montage editing to create tempo and rhythm to help tell the story and give the film meaning. For example, during the scene on the steps of Odessa, Eisenstein sticks quick shots of stone lions in with the action in order to convey to us the rising action and anger of the scene. It is our understanding as an audience of what a lion is (fierce, powerful, dangerous, brutal) that allows the shot to add meaning to the sequence. If the audience had never seen a lion, did not know what a lion was, or thought that lions were actually gentle creatures, this shot would not have made sense and may have detracted from the sequence instead of adding to it. Finally, montage editing adds to the experience of a film because it intellectually engages the audience and forces them to make connections, the same way the heiroglyphic language of the Japanese does.