Film Noir- What is it, and how similiar is it to the Pulp stories?

After reading a number of "Introductions" on Film Noir, it seems as though even professional critics have trouble coming up wth a clear definition of what exactly Film Noir is. Because I have not seen (or even heard of, in most cases) any of the films mentioned in the reviews on Noir, it was difficult at some points to understand the points the authors were trying to make, especially when the authors were using characters or scenarios in specific films as examples. I was also suprised to learn that film noir is not as similiar to pulp litarature as I thought it was. None the less, after reading both reviews on film noir, I have a clearer, although not completely focused, definition of what film noir is.

One aspect of noir that critics agree on is the time period. From 1941 to 1958, the noir films that we recognize today were made. The time period of the United States was one of darkness; it was soon after the Great Depression, and during World War II. Personally, I would have expected the American public to be drawn to fiction that did not match the world in which they currently lived. Instead of desiring light, positive stories that served as a happy escape from the darkness of their everyday lives, the public was attracted to the suspenseful, depressing stories of the noir films. Borde and Chaumeton wrote that the viewers "co-experience the anguish and insecurity which are the true of emotions of contemporary film noir." (p.25). The literal meaning of "noir" is black, and another aspect of noir films that critics agree on is their physical appearance. The sharp angles and shady, contrasting lighting were appropriate for the rough, violent underworld that the directors were attempting to portray.

Unlike pulp stories, were "Good is triumphant over evil," (Penzler, p. 7), in film noir, "Good and evil go hand in hand to the point of being indistinguishable" (p. 25). According to Borde and Chaumeton, the women in film noir are consistently decieving, and "manipulative and evasive"(p.22), and usually bring themselves to their own demise. While this was sometimes common in pulp literature, according to Penzler, women were likely in need of rescue rather than intelligent enough to decieve. Not only were the women portrayed in a much darker light (both literally and figuratively), but the private detectives, or "heros" were as well. Rather than being infallible, the protagonists "often perished because of an obsessive and/or alienated state of mind"(p.5). These more humanlike qualites of the protagonists made the noir films even more realistic.

Although critics don't seem to be able to agree on a definition of film noir, the darkness and action-packed underworld that filled these movies has made them still interesting to watch and discuss today.


Discussion Questions:

Why or why not can film noir be considered a genre?
What exactly is film noir, and why is it so hard for critics to define it?