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October 16, 2024,
Even if you are watching from the sidelines, it is a perfect place to get lost.
Hide in the shadows.
Hide from reality.
Hide from the present.
Indulge in the past.
There are few things like a Noir film, with emphasis on crime drama, which takes you away to another time period. Want suspense? It will take you there. Drama? That is a given. Romance? Often. Mystery? Bogart did it the best.
Film noir is a cinematic term used primarily to describe stylized Hollywood crime dramas, particularly those that emphasize cynical attitudes and motivations.
The 1940s and 1950s are generally regarded as the “classic period” of American film noir.
Film noir of this era is associated with a low-key, black-and-white visual style that has roots in German Expressionism cinematography.
Many of the prototypical stories and attitudes expressed in classic noir derive from the hard boiled school of crime fiction during the Great Depression.
Let’s break it down.
Film noir encompasses a range of plots.
Common archetypical protagonists include a private investigator (The Big Sleep), a plainclothes police officer (The Big Heat), an aging boxer (The Set-Up), a hapless grifter (Night and the City), a law-abiding citizen lured into a life of crime (Gun Crazy), a femme fatale (Gilda) or simply a victim of circumstance (D.O.A.).
When it comes to Noir, we don’t have to stay too far in the past, but we will start there and give you our opinion of some of the best we loved.
This is a film best watched in the dark with no distractions.
The Maltese Falcon is a 1941 American film noir in which a San Francisco private detective deals with three unscrupulous adventurers, all seeking a jewel-encrusted falcon statuette.
Written and directed by John Huston in his directorial debut, the film was based on the 1930 novel The Maltese Falcon by Dashiell Hammett and is a remake of the 1931 film of the same name.
It stars Humphrey Bogart as private investigator Sam Spade, Mary Astor as his femme fatale client, and as villains Peter Lorre and Sydney Greenstreet.
In San Francisco, private investigators Sam Spade and Miles Archer meet prospective client Ruth Wonderly. She claims to be looking for her missing sister, who ran off from their home in New York and came to the city with a man named Floyd Thursby.
Archer agrees to help get her sister back. However, later that night, the police inform Spade that Archer has been killed. Spade tries calling his client at her hotel to discover she has checked out.
The intrigue begins and never ends, until the end.
Yes, civilized people do murder. Frequently.
There were so many twists and turns in this one, it is perfectly written and amazingly acted.
Let’s travel to another John Houston classic.
Chinatown is a 1974 American neo-noir mystery film directed by Roman Polanski from a screenplay by Robert Towne.
The film stars Jack Nicholson and Faye Dunaway. And John Huston.
It was inspired by the California water wars, a series of disputes over southern California water at the beginning of the 20th century, by which Los Angeles interests secured water rights in the Owens Valley.
Chinatown was released in the United States on June 20, 1974, to acclaim from critics and fans alike.
At the 47th Academy Awards, it was nominated for 11 Oscars, with Towne winning Best Original Screenplay.
The Golden Globe Awards honored it for Best Drama, Best Director, Best Actor, and Best Screenplay. The American Film Institute placed it second among its top ten mystery films in 2008.
In 1991, the film was selected by the Library of Congress for preservation in the United States National Film Registry as being “culturally, historically or aesthetically significant”.
Drum roll.
It is also often cited as one of the greatest films of all time.
We certainly agree with that.
As we watched it, over and over, it had all of the elements. It begins slow and drags you in to the mystery. It is very well written. The acting is first rate. The music score is deeply sad and memorable.
The film itself is deeply sad and memorable. The ending is the most emotional of all.
If you haven’t seen Chinatown, you owe it to yourself to relax, turn out the lights and enjoy this one.
One more.
When we first saw this one, we didn’t know where it was headed but it keep building and building with so many surprises along the way.
L.A. Confidential is a 1997 American neo-noir crime film directed, produced, and co-written by Curtis Hanson.
The screenplay by Hanson and Brian Helgeland is based on James Ellroy‘s 1990 novel, the third book in his L.A. Quartet series.
The film tells the story of a group of LAPD officers in 1953, at the intersection of police corruption and Hollywood celebrity as the LAPD was trying to improve its public image following decades of corruption.
The title refers to the 1950s scandal magazine Confidential, portrayed in the film as Hush-Hush.
At the time, actors Guy Pearce and Russell Crowe were relatively unknown in North America.
One of the film’s backers, Peter Dennett, was worried about the lack of established stars in the lead roles, but supported Hanson’s casting decisions, and the director had the confidence also to recruit well-known stars in Kevin Spacey, Kim Basinger, and Danny DeVito.
It worked splendidly.
L.A. Confidential was a critical and commercial success.
It grossed $126 million against a $35 million budget and received critical acclaim for the acting, writing, directing, editing, and Jerry Goldsmith‘s musical score which was very penetrating.
There’s more.
It was nominated for nine Academy Awards, including Best Picture, winning two: Best Supporting Actress (Basinger) and Best Adapted Screenplay.
In 2015, the Library of Congress selected L.A. Confidential for preservation in the United States National Film Registry as “culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant”.
Well deserved.
From time to time, in our movie viewing, we look to stay in the Noir dark. To escape.
When well done, the film captivates for years to come.
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OPENING PHOTO By-Puhhha-Editorial-photo-credit-Shutterstock Femcompetitor.com, grapplingstars.com, fciwomenswrestling.com, fcielitecompetitor.com, fciwomenswrestling2.com
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Film_noir
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Maltese_Falcon_(1941_film)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinatown_(1974_film)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/L.A._Confidential_(film)
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