Description
Book Synopsis American classic films noir, beginning with 1941''s The Maltese Falcon and ending with 1950''s Sunset Boulevard, and the neo-noir films made from the 1970s onward, share certain thematic aspects, stylistic qualities, and cultural contexts. Their concern with politics, their depiction of con artists, and the way their characters are shaped by America''s puritanical religious roots show that these films are examples of a unique American genre, even when the films'' directors are German emigres with artistic roots in European Expressionism.
The films'' psychological depth is revealed stylistically through complex narratives, with select directors generating visual poetry as they deal with sex, violence and betrayal. Some films are based on popular novels inspired by true crime cases. A unique approach to film noir scholarship, this book discusses the genre''s thematic aspects, cultural contexts and stylistic qualities. For those films based upon novels, in-dep
Table of Contents
- Acknowledgments viii
- Preface
- Introduction
- One. Lit from Behind: The Genesis and Continuity of Film Noir
- Two. All the Guys with Eye Patches: Hard Bitten Film Noir
- Three. Commies, Nazis and Fascists: Politics in Film Noir
- Four. "Something Further May Follow…": Con Artists and Scams in Film Noir
- Five. Double Crosses: Religious Delusion in Film Noir
- Six. Highways, By-ways and Dislocations: The Self in Neo-Noir
- Chapter Notes
- Filmography
- Bibliography
- Index
