CIN105Y1 Lecture Notes - Lecture 18: Paul Schrader, Auteur Theory, Humphrey Bogart
July 14, 2016
CIN LECTURE 18: GENRE 2, THE CASE OF FILM NOIR
• Genre of determinate space takes place in a specific arena, both geographically and
symbolically
Ex. THE GANGSTER FILM
Determinate space of the Western is the wide open farm atmosphere
Gangster films are often seen in busy, urban spaces
• Genre of indeterminate space takes place in a context that “depends less on a heavily
coded place than on a highly conventionalized value system
• “The Americans made FILM NOIR and then the French invented it.” – Marc Vernet
• GENRE IN 3 STEPS
1) Visual/Aural/Technical Conventions
2) Narrative Conventions
3) Thematic Conventions
• Noir between 1941-1958 (has historical circumstances, only really exists during this
time)
Noir as a postmodern culture
Noir “belongs to the history of ideas as much as to the history of cinema; in other
words, it has less to do with a group of artifacts than with a discourse—a loose,
evolving system of arguments and readings that helps to shape commercial
strategies and aesthetic ideologies.” – James Naremore
• How did the French invent Film Noir?
Post WWII
Used journals from the “Cahier du Cinema”
Within the post-war moment, France was showing a lot of American films, which
were treated as art, rather than disposable and commercial entertainment
Influx of films that have the ability to come to French shores and theatres at this
time (from America, as this was stalled during the war)
Binge-watched American cinema while catching up on the films (so they picked
up on things they wouldn’t normally pick up on if they weren’t watching them all
consecutively/constantly)
Auteur theory comes from this
French film theory and creative directors developed during this period, by picking
up on all of these American tendencies
Between 1945-1955 there was a strong American sense amongst the French film
community
Direct influence of Humphrey Bogart characters
• “Double Indemnity” “a murder melodrama” (The New Yorker), “an intellectual
exercise in crime” (The Los Angeles Times)
• Post WWI, there were surrealist elements, too
Ex. “Kiss Me Deadly”
• McGuffin term used by Hitchcock to explain an element of a film that is seemingly
important to a film but isn’t
• Film Noir is often about light and dark, black-and-white; works against the definition of
Noir as a genre (leans more towards a mode/movement)
find more resources at oneclass.com
find more resources at oneclass.com
Document Summary
Cin lecture 18: genre 2, the case of film noir: genre of determinate space takes place in a specific arena, both geographically and symbolically. Determinate space of the western is the wide open farm atmosphere. Used journals from the cahier du cinema . Within the post-war moment, france was showing a lot of american films, which were treated as art, rather than disposable and commercial entertainment. Influx of films that have the ability to come to french shores and theatres at this time (from america, as this was stalled during the war) Binge-watched american cinema while catching up on the films (so they picked up on things they wouldn"t normally pick up on if they weren"t watching them all consecutively/constantly) French film theory and creative directors developed during this period, by picking up on all of these american tendencies. Between 1945-1955 there was a strong american sense amongst the french film community.
