In a message dated 5/14/04 11:33:59 PM,
donna.moore@virgin.net writes:
<< There's was a marvellous panel at Bouchercon in Las
Vegas with Eddie Muller, Con Lehane, Rudy Franchi and
Marianne MacDonald. They had some great things to say
including the quote from someone whose name I've forgotten,
that noir is:
"... when the character is "f***ed on page 1 and it doesn't
get any better". That will do as a definition for me, as will
Eddie's distinction between noir atmosphere and noir
content.
There's a great quote from the movie Detour which catches the
feel of noir for me:
"That's life - Whichever way you turn, fate sticks out a foot
to trip you up."
For me, 'hardboiled' holds out some hope, whereas 'noir'
doesn't. There's something compelling about a noir
protagonist that keeps you reading, and, sometimes, hoping
that he'll win through, even though you know that any light
at the end of the tunnel is just a really, really big train.
>>
this, for me, has always been the definition of noir. it's a
philosophical approach rather than a stylistic one. authors
and filmmakers who take this theme, which basically is
similar to the idea of Original Sin- you're born screwed- are
creating noir, no matter what the superficial stylistic
elements may be. so by my definition, there have been plenty
of noir films since 1964. and certainly no end of prose
fiction.
John Lau
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