Re: RARA-AVIS: Film Noir Style, Noir Content

From: JIM DOHERTY ( jimdohertyjr@yahoo.com)
Date: 16 Feb 2003


Jack,

Re your question below:

> But I can't think of and film with noir style but
> not noir content. Can anybody out there think of
> an example?

Using your definition, "screwed," for "noir content," then it could reasonably be argued that the following films, since they end on a positive note, are noir-style, but not noir content.

MURDER, MY SWEET HE WALKED BY NIGHT THE NAKED CITY T-MEN THE BIG HEAT THE BIG COMBO THE UNDERCOVER MAN TO THE ENDS OF THE EARTH THE PORT OF NEW YORK THE WINDOW LAURA THE SPIRAL STAIRCASE CORNERED CROSSFIRE CALL NORTHSIDE 777 BOOMERANG

Now, of course, in each of those films, SOMEBODY gets screwed. Someone who is at least relatively innocent gets killed, or at least victimized, notwithstanding the fact that the character who meets this fate might be a less important member of the cast. And, since the criminal is always caught or killed at the end, the criminal inarguably gets screwed, notwithstanding the fact that the criminal deserves it.

But both of those factors are true of even the coziest crime fiction. "Screwed" seems to imply more than that someone, anyone, gets screwed. My inference is that the person who gets screwed is the protagonist
(or co-protagonist); that, to a degree at least, s/he doesn't quite deserve the level of misfortune that befalls him (or her); and, finally, that the story ends on a negative note with the protagonist getting the screws applied to him (or her).

However, this is your definition, so my application of it may be wildly inaccurate.

JIM DOHERTY

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