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Towards a Definition of Film

Noir
Raymond Borde and Etienne
chaumeton ( | 955)
[The following is excerpted from the book ponoromo
du Fitm NoirAmiricointf
It was during the summer of
1946thatFrenchmoviegoersdiscovered
a new type
of American fifm. ln the course
of a few weeks, from mid-Jury
to
the
end of
August' five movies flashedone
after the other across parisian
screens,movies
which shareda strangeand
volent tone, tingedwith a unigue
kind of eroticism:
John Huston's rhe MotteseForcon,
g*o erl,,.,ing"r,sLoLtro,Edward Dmytryk,s
Billv

Ir!ii,;I!"

wilder'sDoubletndem,nityland
FritzLang,s
Thewomonin

Long cut off from the United

States,with littte news of Hollywood
production
during the war, rivng on the
memory of wyrer, of Ford and
capra, ignoranteven
of the newest luminariesin the
directorialranks,Frenchcritics
.oulinot fully absorb this sudden revetation.
Nino Frank, who was among
the first to speak of
"dark film" and who
seemedto discernfrom the first
the basictraits of the noir
sty'e' nonethelesswrote of rhe
MolteseFolconand Doublelndemnitythat,,[these
fifms] belong to what we used
to catl the police g"nr" but that
we shourdmore
appropriatelydescribefrom
now
on by the termrre criminaladventure,
or, bet_
ter still' 're criminalpsychofo
gy'."2This was arsothe reaction
of genre criticswho,
it must be said,faired,o gr*fihe
fut impactof these rereases.
But a few months rater Frank
ruttre's ThisGun for Hire,Robert
siodmak,srhe
Kllers' Robert M3ntgomery's
rhe Lodyin the Lake,charles Vidor,s
Gildo, and
Howard Hawks' The-Bigs/eep
imposedthe concept of
firm noironmoMegoers.A
new "series"had emergedin the
historyof film.
A seriescan be definedas a group
of motion picturesfrom one country
sharing
certaintraits(styre,atmosphere,
subjec,-u*"r...1 ,irongry enough
to
mark
them
unequivocallylndto give them,'ou",.
time, an unmistakablecharu-cter.
series persist for differingamountsof time:
sometimestwo years,sometimes
ten. To some
extent, the viewer decideson
this. From tt," point or r"* of ,,firmic
evorution,,,
seriesspring from certain older
features,from long-agotitles. Moreover
they all
reacha peak' that.is'a moment
of purest expression.Afterwards
they srowlyfade
and disappearleavingtracesand
informarsequersin other genres.
1 - 7
t /

]B

F /L MN O/R R EA D E R

The history of film is, in large part, a history of film cycles.There are, of
course, certain titles that resist classification:Welles' Citizen Kone or Clifford
Odets' None but the LonelyHeort are among these. Often a remarkable film cannot be classifiedbecauseit is the first in a new movementand the observer lacks
the necessaryperspective.Caligariwas unclassifiable
before it engendered"Caligarism."
Sincethe start of talkies,one could cite many examples:in the United States,
socialrealism,gangsterfilms;in Germany,the farcesfrom 1930to 1933which inspired a like movement in Americancomedy in the USSR"films dedicatedto the
october Revolution;in France,the realismof Carn6, Renoir,and Duvivier.
More recently, we have seen British comedies,a French series dealingwith
mythic evasions(from L'{ternol Retourto Singoolleand Juliette),the sociat documentariesof Daquin, Rouquierand Nicole V6drAs.From the USSRcome paeans
to the glory of collectivelabor and the Kolkhoz cycle. ln the United States:the
crime documentary(Hathaway,Kazan,Dassin),the psychological
melodrama,and
the new schoolof the Western-so manytypes of films,each havingits particular
locales,traditions,and even fans.
The existenceover the last few yearsof a "s6rienoir"in Hollywood is obvious.
Definingits essentialtraits is anothermatter.
One could simplifythe problem by assigning
to fitm noir qualitiessuchas nightmarish,weird, erotic, ambivalent,and cruel.All these exist in the series;but at
one moment, reverie may dominateand the result is Shonghoi
Gesture,at another,
eroticismcomes to the fore in Gildo.In still other titles,the crueltyof some bizarre behavioris preeminent.Often the noir aspectof a film is linkedto a character, a scene,a sefting.fhe Set-upis a good documentaryon boxing:it becomesa
film noir in the sequencewhen scoresare settled by a savagebeatingin a blind alley. Ropeis a psychological
melodramawhichattachesitselfto film noir through its
intriguing sadism.Alternately, The Big Sleep,ThisGun for Hire, and fhe Lodyin the
loke seem to be typical "thrillers." We will begin by addressingthe problem of
definition by discussingthe pictureswhich critics have most often dubbed "films
noirs."
One last note: by conventionwe will deem films to be created by their directors. This is a conventionbecauseone can never know with regard to American
productionswhether the director is reallythe ultirnatecreator of a work. Sternberg himselfsaid "l work on assignment,that is to say by the job. And each job
order, just like those given to a cabinetrnaker, bookbinder,or cobbler, is for a
specificpiece of work."3 What is the contribution of the producer, the screenwriter, the editor? ls it coincidentalthat the late Mark Hellingerproduced three
such distinctive pictures as The Kllers, BruteForce,and fhe Noked City?\A/ho can
say, other than those who were there, whether Hellingerput his own mark on
these films or gave Dassinand Siodmakfree rein?

tn reatity, white there;;"="

word in Hollywood, his role : :
pendence will logically enougr.

explain the persistence of vs cand adventure in John Hustctheme of urban realism wrth --,
far from exotic sensuality By a :
aPt.

T h e b l o o d y p a t h sc c , * - ,

The noir film is black for us :*:

moviegoers of the 1950s l: e: s
particular time and place Ac:c-c
think in terms of an affectec a.
history. This is what links prc.c,:

AsphohJungle.

From this vantage,the mer 3,

oblectivelygroundedas possrbe
teristicsof the filmswhich c-r:s
one may then derivethe comrc,
attitudewhich all theseworks c-:
It is the presenceof crrme *,"The dynamismof violentdea:
well taken.Blackmail,accusa::^
rative where life and deam re :
have put together in sevenc. e t
didly or bizarrely,death alwar: :
senseof the word a noir filrn s :. r
But flm noir has no moncl: ,
overl ai d.ln pr inciple,
f lm n, s, ,: 1946Hollywoodhasexpor:ec a :
t h e m e sc r i m i n ailn q u i r i essu D 3 : :
a narrator often alert the ,v..,\,

which took placein suchanc e-:

the screenfaithfullyreconsrlc: :.
reau,the discoveryof a bmy S:
incidentor some report fro- :
motion. Then comesthe ted c,s
searches,ineffectivesurvelllarce
some object found,a wimess wden of cutthroats. This senes rt
Hathawa/s CollNorthside777 z: .

T o w o rd so D e fi ni ti onof Fi l mN oi r
of
c.d
c(s

les,
In-

tne
yrth
KU|ans
the
ali

lu

9 a l

r'rttat
10r

I all t s
:he
rof
iirls

I EL-

Kan
Brn. h

] nt?oo

can

l9

ln reality, while there may be few instancesof a director who has the final
word in Hollywood, his role is certainlya significantone; and his degree of independencewill logicallyenoughincreasewith his commercialsuccess.This could
explain the persistenceof vision in a given director's work: the theme of failure
and adventure in John Huston, the theme of violence with Raoul Walsh, the
theme of urban realismwith Dassin,and even Sternberg,who has never strayed
far from exotic sensuality.By all accounts,this conventionof authorshipis entirely
aPt.
The bloodypathsdownwhichwe drivelogicintodread.a
The noir film is black for us, that is, specificallyfor the Western and American
moviegoersof the 1950s.lt existsin responseto a certain mood at large in this
particulartime and place.Accordinglyone who seeksthe root of this "style" must
think in terms of an affected and possiblyephemeralreaction to a moment in
history. This is what links productions as diverse as fhe ShonghoiGestureand Ihe
AspholtJungle.
From this vantage,the method is obvious:while remainingas scientificallyand
objectivelygrounded as possible,one must examinethe most prominent characteristicsof the films which critics have classedas noir. From these characteristics
one may then derive the common denominatorand definethat uniqueexpressive
attitudewhich all theseworks put into play.
It is the presenceof crime which givesflm noir its most constantcharacteristic.
"The dynamismof violent death," is how Nino Frank evoked it, and the point is
well taken. Blackmail,accusation,theft, or drug traffickingset the stagefor a narrative where life and death are at stake. Few cyclesin the entire history of filrn
have put together in sevenor eight yearssucha mix of foul play and murder. Sordidly or bizarrely,death alwayscomes at the end of a tortured journey. In every
senseof the word a noir film is a film of death.
But flm noir has no monopoly on death, and an essentialdistinctionmust be
overlaid.In principle,film noir is not a "crime documentary."We know that since
1945 Hollywood hasexported a score of filmsto Francewhich haveas their main
themes criminalinquiriessupposedlybasedon actualcases.ln fact, a title card or
a narrator often alert the viewer at the start of the film that this is a true story
which took placein suchand sucha time at suchand sucha place.The shotson
the screenfaithfullyreconstructthe start of the process:a callto the homicidebureau, the discoveryof a body. Sometimesit may be a seeminglyinconsequential
incident or some report from a neighborhoodpolice station that sets events in
motion. Then comes the tedious "leg" work by the cops: the carefulbut fruitless
searches,ineffectivesurveillance,and futile decoys. Finallythere is a glimmer,
some object found, a witness,which leadsto a climacticchaseand uncoveringa
den of cutthroats.This series,which has produced interestingpictures (Henry
Hathawa/s Coll Northside777 and fhe Houseon 92nd Street,Elia Kazan'sBoomer-

c7

: r r

wj{

_ . t -

psycholorywhich recalls :vogueat the end of the las:

:r
The second differenceb,e
this may be even more esse
ditionallyportrayed as ngr.re
officer in ponic in the Sti".:,
frishdetectiveof The Noke;,j
to seejusticedone.As mes:a
accuratelya gforification
of :j
Judicioreor the British fhe E ,e
This is not the casefor tle
like the inspector in fhe
/s:r
Lfoyd Nofan in lhe Lodytc
:.w
in Otto preminger,sFo.lien
!.-,a
let themsefvesget sucked ...
Fileon Thelmo
Jordon As a .e:"
have freguentlyfallenUr.t
.l ,
troversiafafwaysto impugn
A_r
way between lawful socie-ry
a-c
unscrupulous
but putting
code and of the genre
3s ,,.,,e
breakersare more or less
:,*:
pre-War shorts from
MGl"i l
and there must be mord ..,*
.,
times the moviegoer sfr.tpa:z
suspenseful
sceneof the 1e.*e :
identifywith the thieves?'en.j
attractivebut murderous
ccuDe
As to the unstableajliances
:et
few films have described
the_ a
(Rico'stestimony), The
Eniorce,
and conVcts, a complex
and s,.,i
organizedcrime and the code
:f :
criminalmilieu is an ambiguous
:
eroded.

FgtrFY.F'yi}I

Above, the realistic detail of the precinct station

in the "police documenta ta,,, llouse on g2nd

Street.

ong and Ponicin theStreets,LasfoBenedek'sPortof Newyork,Jules

Dassin,sNoked
city, and,testingthe limits of the genre, BretaigneWindust,s
ihu Erlorrer),shares
severalcharacteristics
with film noir:realisticsettings,well developedsupporting
roles, scenesof violence,and excitingpursuits.In
iact, these documentary-sty'e
films often havetypicallynoir elements:we won't soon
forget the repellentaspect
of the head of Murder lnc. in The Enforcer
or the taconicgangsterin ponicin the
Streets'lt sometimes happensthat a given director
will alternate between the
genres'JulesDassinis credited with NokedCity and
also with N,ghr ond theCity.
JosephH. Lewisproducedaclassicnoirworkin l95Owith GunCrozy,whileayear
earlier he had detailedthe work of treasuryagentsin
rhe L|ndercover
Mon.
Still there are differencesbetween the two series.To
beginwith there is a difference in focus' The documentary-stylepicture exarnines
a murder from without, from the point of view of the police official;the
f/m noir is from within, from
the point of vew of the criminals.ln featuressuch as
fhe NokedCity, the action
begns after the criminalact, and the murderers,their
minions,and other accomplicesmove acrossthe screenonly to be followed,
marked,interrogated,chased,
and killed' lf some flashbackdepictsa scenebetween gangsters
it is to illustratea
disclosureor some testimony,a transcriptof which is
alreadyin the police file.
The police are alwaysPresent,to act or to overhear.Nothing
of this sort occurs
rn ftlm noir, which situatesitselfwithin the very criminal
milieu and describesit,
sometimesin broad strokes(The BigS/eep
or DorkPossoge),
sometimesin depth
wtth correlativesubtlety(The lspholt
In any case,f/m noir positsa criminal
Jungle).

This uncertaintyis also n^ar iE

selves.The integralprotagon
s: :appearedfrom film noir anc
?,egangsters,megalomaniac
cnrJe :,
Notable examplesare the
so ca_,
:he seff-destructjye
loserin A,,,r-.-

T o w o r d so D e f i n i t i o o
n f F i l n rN o i r

s: -^ 92nd

\oked
: rrares
ptrcnlng
2'v-sty'e
n:3sPect
n:tnthe
veen the
'-^e City.
ieayear
I

a difwithcJ ^ - [rom
J'e ection
e

!'SCCOm-

j :rased,
ll-;:rate a
)c
3CCUrs

5:- )es tt,

s ^ depth
: :-rminal

21

psychologywhich recalls,from another discipline,the popular psychologyin

vogueat the end of the lastcentury;both delveinto forbiddenmilieus.
The seconddifferencebetweenthe seriesis one of moral determinism,and
this may be even more essential.In the police documentaryinvestigatorsare traditionallyportrayed as righteousmen, brave and incorruptible.The navalmedical
officer in Ponicin the Streetsis a hero. So is, if less obviouslyso, the diminutive
lrish detectiveof fhe NokedCity,who believesin God and works on his own time
to see justicedone. As messagefilm, the American"police documentary''is more
accuratelya glorificationof the police, much as is the Frenchproduction ldentit1
Judicioreor the British The BlueLamp.
This is not the casefor the noir series.lf police are featured,they are rottenlike the inspector in fhe AsphaltJungleor the corrupt hard case portrayed by
Lloyd Nolan in lhe Ladyin the Loke-sometimes even murderers themselves(as
Ends).At minimum, they
in Otto Preminger'sFollenAngelor Where the Sidewo/k
let themselvesget suckedinto the criminalmechanism,like the attorney in Ihe
Fileon ThelmoJordon.As a result of this, it is not haphazardlythat screenwriters
have frequentlyfallenback on the privatedetective.lt would have been too controversialalwaysto impugnAmericanpoliceofficials.The privatedetectiveis midway betweenlawfulsocietyand the underworld,walkingon the brink,sometimes
but puttingonly himselfat risk,fulfillingthe requirementsof his own
unscrupulous
code and of the genre as well. As if to counterbalanceall this, the actual law
breakersare more or lesssympatheticfigures.Of course,the old motto of the
pre-War shorts from MGM, "Crime does not pay:' is still the order of the day,
and there must be moral retribution. But the narrativeis manipulatedso that at
identifieswith the criminals.Rememberthe
times the moviegoersympathizes,
suspensefulscene of the jewel theft in The lspholt Jungle.What viewer failed to
identify with the thieves?And Gun Crozy,we dare say, brought an excePtionally
attractivebut murderouscouPleto the screen.
As to the unstablealliancesbetween individualsin the heart of the underworld,
few films have describedthem as well as fhe Big Sleepand, in its noir sequence
(Rico'stestirnony),The Enforcer.We perceive in this rogue's gallery of suspects
and conVcts, a complex and shiftingpeckingorder basedon bribery, blackmail,
organizedcrime and the code of silence.\n/howill kill and who will be killed?The
criminal milieu is an ambiguousone, where a position of strengthcan be quickly
eroded.
This uncertaintyis also manifestin the ambivalenceof the charactersthemtyPe, hasdisselves.The integralprotagonist,the elementalfigure of the Scarfoce
neurotic
killers,
of
sanctified
to
a
crowd
given
way
and
noir
appearedfrom flm
cronies.
or
tainted
perplexing
their
and
bosses,
crime
gangsters,megalomaniac
Night,
by
Wolked
in
He
killer
serial
scientific
and
solitary
are
the
Notable examples
gang
boss
so athyperactive
or
the
the
City,
ond
in
Night
loser
the self-destructive

22

F IIM N O/R R E AD E R

tachedto his mother in White Heot.Justastwisted are the vicious,drunken,grublike henchmenin TheEnforcer.
There is ambiguity,too, with regard to the victims, who usuallyare under
some suspicionas well. Their ties to the unsavorymilieu are what attract the attention of their executioners.Often, they are Vctims preciselybecausethey cannof be executioners. The decadent partner in fhe Lody from Shonghoiis such a
type, a man who finds death when he tries to simulatehis own murder and who
will long remain a prototype of the sharnvictim. One could also cite the terrorized woman, who seems destined to be killed before the end of Jacques
Tourneur'sOut of the Postbut who had alreadyset up her would-be assassin
for a
fall. This tough guy had no more chancethan a steer consignedto the slaughterhouse.
As for the ambiguousprotagonist,he is often more mature,almostold, and not
too handsome.Humphrey Bogarttypifieshim. He is alsoan ingloriousvictim who
may suffer, before the happy ending,appallingabuse.He is often enough masochistic,even self-immolating,
one who makeshis own trouble, who may throw
himselfinto peril neitherfor the sakeof justicenor from avaricebut simplyout of
morbid curiosity.At times, he is a passivehero who allows himselfto dragged
acrossthe line into the gray areabetween legaland criminalbehavior,suchas Orson Welles in lhe Lodyfrom Shanghoi.
As such, he is far from the "superman"of
adventurefilms.
Finally,there is ambiguitysurroundingthe woman: the femmefotolewho is fatal
for herself. Frustrated and deviant, half predator, half prey, detached yet ensnared,she fallsvictim to her own traps.V/hile the inconstancyof LaurenBacallin
The BigSleepmay not cost her her life, BarbaraStanwyckcannot escapethe consequencesof her murderousintriguesin fhe Fileon ThelmoJordon.This new type
of woman, manipulativeand evasive,as hard bitten as her environment,ready to
shake down or to trade shots with anyone-and probably frigid-has put her
mark on "noir" eroticism,which may be at times nothingmore that Molenceeroticized. We are a long way from the chasteheroinesof the traditionalWestern or
historicaldrama.
Film noirhas renovatedthe theme of violence.To beginwith, it abandonedthe
adventurefilm conventionof the fair fight.A sportingchancehasgivenway to settling scores, beatings,and cold-bloodedmurders. Bodyguardskick a powerless
victim back and forth like football then toss his bloody body on a common thoroughfare (Rldethe Pink Horse),in a back alley (fhe Set-up),or with the garbage(/
Wolk Alone).Crime itself is performed by the numbers,professionally,
by a contract killerwho does hisiob "without angeror hate."The openingof RobertSiodmak's The Kllers,the celebratedscenein a roadhouse,where two men searching
for their victim terrify the other patronswith their callousconfidence,will remain
one of the most grippingmoments in Americanfilm, an unforgettablesliceof life.
Twitching and stigmatized,an unknown breed of men rose up before us.Their lot

I olvs'; 5

i n c l u d e sm i l d - m a n n e r e d h i t m e .
brutes (William Bendix), and r*e
in Ihe Enforcer).lt also includes:
miliated by their cronies, wf c
Burr).

As for the ceremony of exe,cples. Random samplings are re

sends a bothersome witnSS;r -

all that was needed was to 0 3 :

"
chatting (The High Wol/)_o- :*e
kick to a car jack (Red Lrghr
wheelchair and hurled down : ::

side a Turkish bath and the s:e:_

under a pile driver by the thre* :
by a tractor, another drownec cruelties and torments are pa.e.

The anxiety in frlm nolr poss b

from its Volence. A private :e,

Below, "the ambiguousprotagonisr

the woman: the femme fotole
fryp f. _

im
T o w o rd so D efi ni ti onof Fi l mN oi r
rke^ gruba-e under
.a:: :he ate :^ey cant' '' such a
r' :^C who
r^ ierrorct.acques
1 3 - . 3 , rfno F ?
e 3 :ughterc : and not
'' :: m who
c -i^ maso-rY throw
r-tr y out of
'::
Cragged
:-:fr as Or!3e'"nan" of

23

includesmild-manneredhit men (Alan Ladd in This Gun for Hire), indiscriminate

brutes (William Bendix),and the clear-eyedmenacingorganizers(Everett Sloane
in lhe Enforcer).ltalsoincludesthe twisted, corpulentkillers,sweatingin fear, humiliated by their cronies, who suddenlyboil over (Laird Cregar and Raymond
Burr).
As for the ceremonyof executionitself,flm noirhasthe widest arraYof examples. Random samplingsare the offhandedgesture of a wealthy publisherwho
sendsa bothersomewitnesswho was washingwindows down an elevatorshaft;
all that was neededwas to tip over the stool with the handleof his canewhile idly
chatting (The High Woll)-or the atrocious death by razor in fhe Enforcer-or a
kick to a car iack (Red tight). In other films, a paralyzedwoman is tied to her
wheelchairand hurled down a stairway(KrssofDeoth);an informer is locked inside a Turkish bath and the steamvalveis opened [(I-filen)]; a convict is impelled
under a pile driver by the threat of red-hot irons (BruteForce);one man is crushed
by a tractor, another drowned in slime (BorderIncident)...An unparalleledrangeof \..crueltiesand torments are paradedbefore the viewer in film noir.
The anxiety in flm noir possiblyderives more from its strange plot twists than
from its violence. A private detective takes on a dubious assignment:find a
surrounding
HumphreyBogarttypifieshim"and"ambiguity
protagonist...
Below,"theambiguous
Sleep."
lhe
Brg
in
Bacall
Lauren
of
inconstancy
the
by]
the
woman:
the
femmefotole[typified

l .'.'o is fatal
l^e: yet enrre^ Bacallin
a the conl. : ^ew tYPe
e.-: readY to
--- put her
rc e^ce eroti| ." estern or
r:-:oned the
r .":ly to setr : :cwerless
c- -cn thorcr : garbage (l
)y a conI
:
:
l
e
rt Siodf
re- searching
:e .'. t remain
ie : ce of life.
-[herr
lot
e -:

rf

'i

24

FILMNO/RREADER

woman' eliminate a blackmailthreat, throw

someone off track, and suddenly
corPsesare scattered across his path. He
is followed, beaten, arrested. He asks
for some informationand finds himselftrussed
up and bloodied on the floor of a
cellar' Men glimpsedin the night shoot at
him and run off. There is somethingof
the dream in this incoherent
brutal atmospher., th" atmospherecommon to
"na
most noir films: The BigSleep,
Rlde the Pink Horse,The Lodyin the Loke,Chicogo
Deodline'Georgessadoul remarked in this
legard that "The plot is murky, like a
nightmare or the ramblingsof a drunkard."S
l-n fact, one of the rare parodies of
the genre, Effiott Nugent's My Fovorite
Brunette,begins exactly this way. Bob
Hope wants to play detectiveand Dorothy
Lamour giveshim a retainer to tackle
one of these vagueassignments
that only Americansunderstand,such as ,,Find
my
brother" or "Find my sister." lmmediatelya
hail of daggersmenaceshim, bodies
pile up by the roadside,and inexorabtegears
of mischince drag him towards the
electricchair by way of a hospitarthat aJuutes
as a gangrandhide_out.
Usuaflythe mysteryis a bit more realistic:an amnesiac
tries to discoverhis past
and flushesa crime out of its den. This theme
was explored by Robert Florey in
The crooked woy. and by
Joseph Mankiewicz in Somewherein the Nrght. But in
these instances,the context of the narrativedilemma
is such that the viewer exPectsconfusion'In a true film noir,the bizarre is inseparablefrom what
might be
cafledthe uncertaintyof motivotions.
For instance,what are Bannisterand his partner hopingto accomplishwith their shadowy intrigues
in The Lodyfrom Shonghoi?.
All the weirdnessof the movie is focusedon this:ln
these mysteriousand metamorphosingcreatureswho tip their handsonly in
death. Elsewheredoes a fleeting
figure in a nightclubindicatea possibleally or an
enemy?The enigmatickilter, will
he be an executioneror a victim?Honor among
thieves,an extortion network,
unexplainedrnotives,all this vergeson madness.
fn our opinion,this resoundingconfusionis at
the core of f;lm noir'speculiar
oneirism' lt is simpleto find severaltitlesthe action
of which is ieliberately associated with dreams, such as Fritz Lang's lhe Womon
in the Window.The same is
true of pictureswhere the artific" f*rr", on
the symbolicand the imaginary,as
with Sternberg'sShanghoi.
But, as a generalrule, the perspectiveof
fitmnoir is realisticand eachscenein isolation.orld passfor an
excerpt from a documentary.lt
is the sum total of these realisticsnapshotsof a
weird theme which createsthe atmosphereof the nightmare.
As we might haveguessed,all the components
of filmnoir leld the same result:
disorientingthe spectator,who can no longer
fina ihe farniliarreference points.
The moviegoer is accustomedto certain conventions:
a logicaldevelopmentof
the action, a clear distinction between good
and evl, *"ll-d"fined characters,
sharp motives,scenesmore showy then authenticafly
violent, a beautifulheroine
and an honesthero. At least,these were the
conventionsof Americanadventure
films before the War.

To*c':: r

Now the moviegoeris ber^! ;

world, with likablekillersand cJ_poi nt of b eingindist inguishable
;i
love youngwomen, and just wa--:
tim seemsas guilty as the hit r.na
ence point of earlierdays,the ,.^:_
The heroine is depraved,m!_:,
the gun or, as they say in boxrng
are settled up. So the second"ri _
chastefianc6e,alsofades.
The action is confused,the r-c:
classicdramas or the moraj tales r
other (The BigS/eep),
a policerna,.r
a
and does nothing but enhancerhe
the sober processby which a ma(The Lodyfrom Shanghoi)A film -.a
viewer searchesin vainfor sorne
oc
In the end, the chaosgoes ..:v
weening rewards for murder, a_
:*
dread persistsuntil the finalrmage:
The conclusion
is sim ple che*:
contradictionsin motivesanc e,e_:
encethe anguishand insecunr,/
,-l_ :
noir.All the filmsof this cyclecree:e
instilledin the sfrcctatorwhenLf.
,s.':
of flm noir was to create o spcF:
: "

Notes

l. TheAuthorswishto thankMr F---of Lausanne,

who agreed,o Oua=. ]
2. EcranFrongois.
No. 61,Augustig :.l
3. LeFigaro,M^y
8, 195I .

4. Editors'Note: the quoteis frons3

pre-surrealistic
writer.The Fren<.-.
la logiqueauxabois.,,
5. Reviewof TheBigSieepin les -e::.:: :.

T o w o rd so D efi ni ti onof Fi i nrN oi r

s"ddenly
| '''1easks
foor of a
n e :hr ngo f
)r.nnontO
e. Chicogo
rk y , like a
arodiesof
way Bob
' :o tackle
i
; Fincmy
n ' , b odi e s
wards the
e- nrspast
: = orey i n
h: But in
ie,#er ex; - r ght be
d ^ rspart9onghoi?
rd meta; a leet i n g
k r e r ,wi l l
"erwork,
s pecu l i a r
e y associe same is
l' . ary, as
n :, r is r e nertary.lt
ls the at-

25

Now the moMegoeris being presenteda less severeversionof the underworld, with likablekillersand corrupt cops.Good and evil go handin handto the
Robbersbecome ordinaryguys:they have kids,
point of being indistinguishable.
love young women, and just want to go home again(The AsphokJungle).The victim seemsas guiltyas the hit man, who is just doing his job. The primary reference point of earlierdap, the moral center, is completelyskewed.
The heroineis depraved,murderous,doped-upor drunk. The hero is under
the gun or, as they say in boxing,he absorbsa lot of punishmentwhen accounts
are settled up. So the secondaryreferencepoint, the myth of Supermanand his
chastefianc6e,alsofades.
The action is confused,the motives are unclear.There is nothing resembling
classicdramas or the moral tales from a realisticera: criminalsvie againsteach
other (The BigS/eep),a policemanarriveson the scene,revealshis criminalintent,
and does nothing but enhancethe viewer's apprehension(Ihe Lodyin the Loke);
the sober processby which a man's fate is determinedconcludesin a fun house
(The Lodyfrom Shonghoi)A film takes on the characteristicsof a dream and the
Vewer searchesin vainfor some old-fashionedlogic.
In the end, the chaosgoes "beyondall limits."Gratuitousviolence,the overweening rewards for murder, all this addsto the feelingof alienation.A senseof
dread persistsuntil the finalimages.
The conclusionis simple:the moral ambivalence,
the criminality,the complex
contradictionsin motives and events,all conspireto make the viewer co-experience the anguishand insecuritywhich are the true emotionsof conternporaryfilm
noir.All the films of this cyclecreate a similaremotionaleffect:thot stoteof tension
instilledin the sryctatorwhen the psychologicol
referencepointsare removed.The aim
of flm noir was to create o spcific olienotion.
Translated from the French by Alain Silver

Notes
| . The Authors wish to thank Mr. Freddy Buache,secretary-generalof the Cin6matheque
of Lausanne,who agreedto publishthis Introduction in the review Correou.
2. EcranFrangais.
No. 6 | , August 78, 1946.

r-e result:
c Por n ts.
lF - e nt o f
h a'acters,
u.erolne
3C "'l'llUF

3. Le Figaro,Ma)r8, 195L
4. Editors' Note: the quote is from lsidore Ducasse,Count Lautr6amont,l9th Century
pre-surrealisticwriter. The French reads: "Les filidres sanglantespar oi l'on fait passer
la logiqueaux abois."
5. Review of The 8ig S/eepin les LettresFrongolses.