Film Noir
...In the case of "film noir" we always begin with the question: What is it? But this is perhaps the wrong question. Perhaps we should ask a deeper question: Is it? In other words, is the word empty of meaning, that is, so general that in practice it is useless? Let us begin, then, not with what it is or even if it is, but trace its use. In the essay you have just read, you have discovered that the term was invented by French film critics to explain something they saw in American films after WW II. Whether Americans saw what the French saw-and they didn't-is an important cultural point. French thinkers have a long history of attempting to understand America, beginning with Alexis de Tocqueville, whose visit to the US in the early 19th century served as the basis of his interpretations of the American national spirit. His work is no less controversial than the French film critics who "discovered" film noir. What are the elements of film noir, as the French see it? Is film noir a genre? Is it a style? Do the observations in this essay conform to your own understanding? Is it possible that there were film noir movies before this essay was written? Also, since this course on film noir is part of the Film Genre Studies sequence, it is essential that you have a hard-and-fast definition of "genre." Just what is a "genre"? How is a genre determined? What is a "form" and how are the two different? What is "style"?
Interactive Assignment 2: Film Discussion
When comparing novel to film there are several questions that need be asked:
1. Is there loss or change of meaning in the translation? There is always some loss because you can't squeeze a 2, 3, or 4 hundred pages of text into a two-hour film. Characters and events have to be expurgated. So the question then becomes:
2. Is the film a good translation of the meaning of a novel or play? You have to discern what the...
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