The Black Film - Blog #2: Film Noir

   

    In the American Cinema Documentary film Film Noir Director Errol Morris says "..for me great Noir films, are films about the fall guys, a person who finds himself caught in a net, the more he struggles the deeper and deeper he becomes entwined  in nightmare" This relates to the film Double Idemnity. You have the fall guy "Walter Neff" played by fee MacMurray, who at the end of the film goes to prison. Also the character Walter Neff keeps digging himself in a deeper hole the more he tries to get away with his crime. Another way I see the relation between what Morris said and the film "Double Indemnity" is the character "Phyllis Dietrichson" played by Barbara Stanwyck is like the net Walter Neff got caught on and the more he struggles with his feelings and principles the more he makes a mess of things. When Errol Morris said " for me great Noir films are films about the fall guys" I'm sure "Double Idemnity" was one of the greats he was talking about.

   

Barbara Stanwyck as Phyllis DietrichsonDouble Indemnity" (1944)

    Scholar Janney Place describes the femme fatale characteristics as if she was describe the characteristics of Phyllis Dietrichson from the film "Double Indemnity". "...she's very smart, she's very powerful, and she's extremely sexual.... she uses her sexuality to get what she's after and what she's after us not the man in the picture, he's another tool, what she's after is something for herself." The Phyllis character is a self driven selfish woman that uses her intelligence and sexuality to get what she wants. Her well plot out scheme works because her sexual personality can manipulate a man to get her way. She uses the male character Walter Neff  to insure her husband with accident insurance and kill him by making him her puppet with her sexuality and false emotion. Walter believes they're are in love so like a lovefool would do he makes moves that would "ideally" in the mind of Walter let them be together and happy. In the end even though she gets murdered, her puppet Walter is left with the consequences.

 "Double Indemnity" (1944)

     In the film "Double Indemnity" the director and cinematographer use traditional Film Noir techniques to create the feel and look of the film. The amount of shadows and lack of fill lighting creates a mysterious and dark feeling to the scenes you watch. The use of deep focus allows the scene to have a deeper depth of field allowing the viewer to seen whats beyond the main focal point. The angles and camera movement as tools that can make a character seem more superior, for example when Walter first enters the home of Phyllis he is on the first floor and Phyllis is on the second, the shots are point of views of each charter illustrating  there superiority. Phyllis looks down on Walter and Walter looks up at Phyllis. The location of film noir were usually shot on location in cities. Shooting on location as opposed to studio made the film have a "real" feel to the look of the film. "Double Indemnity" was shoot in Los Angeles not as up tempo and maze-like as New York City but it had enough crime and bad reputation to make the stories setting edgier. The music help create suspense and surprise and help exaggerate the climax of the film. It's all very dramatic. 

"Body Heat" (1981)

      The neo-noir film takes the story and some of looks of a traditional film noir. The stories are pretty much the same. The film "Body Heat" has the story of the fall guy and the femme fatal that makes it all happen. Kathleen Turners character Matty Walker uses her sexuality to use William Hurts character Ned Racine to get what she wants and thats money from her husband. Its very much like the film noir "Double Indemnity" but at the end the femme fatale gets away with it and lives to enjoy her accomplishment. The use of color makes the film have a more realistic feel to it, the black and white look to the modern eye looks less appealing on a mainstream level.  The black and white film noir fits better because of the contrast and darkness of the film. It sets the mood.