Who likes noir books and movies? Do you tend to prefer classics or modern twists on the genre? Name some favorites!
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Who likes noir books and movies? Do you tend to prefer classics or modern twists on the genre? Name some favorites!
Hitchcock's 39 StepsQuote:
Originally Posted by AmeliaG
The Postman Always Rings Twice
Sunset Boulevard
Double Indemnity
I always think of Citizen Kane as fim noir, tho it isn't ..... rosebud
I haven't seen a lot of the foreign film noir. Modern twists on the genre meaning derivative? ie cyberpunk etc?
OEC
Big fan...it's a big chunk of my visual and literary diet. It's hard for it not to be really. It's the only genre I can really identify with and understand without forcing anything. Book wise my favourite will always be The Nothing Man by Jim Thompson. It's that kinda book where you go "Hey that's me!" without feeling bad about it. Peter Rabe became my mentor growing up with his books being one of the main reasons I didn't follow the path of a trigger man. His characters showed the other side of coin in terms of emotions like anger, greed, and blind ambition. I think I'm one of the few who can say crime novels pushed me away from where I was headed instead of crashing towards it. Film wise it was similar with Veronica Lake pretty much making me lust for something like no other could. It's hard not to see the romanitic angle of the genre and style but at the same time they were excellent morality plays that were pretty dead on. Many kinda dismiss them for that reason seeing that as too preachy. Thing is if you've ever been caught up in crime at the usual low level that film noir characters are...you really see how anxiety filled and insane it can all get. It's a lot like Poe's Tell Tale Heart in that respect.
Those are the films I learned right and wrong from to be honest. In my real life I didn't put it into practice till I hit 18 and the possibility of "Charged as an adult" really sank in. Even now though I gotta admit that the romantic notion of being a car with a beautiful woman on ones way to hold up a bank is much more erotic to me than anything else in this world. Could be because the women of crime novels and noir films are just so damned addictive. They press a certain guys buttons in a way that makes you see their faults as their most attractive traits. Like Peggy Cummins in Gun Crazy...about as dangerous as a viper in the dark but so damned perfect you'd happily follow her into hell. It's that plain as day danger mixed with cold hearted emotion that appeals to me...it's hard not to love that.
Granted I had to grow up and see the truth in all that but it's still a fun place to play and visit in book and film form. While the reality of the noir world may suck...it is by far the closest you can get to a real hell on earth...and enjoy every moment of it.
Top on my radar is Frank Miller's Sin City film adaptation...with his and Robert Rodriguez's eye mixed in along with amazingly well executed visuals...the film looks to be a modern classic. The ability to translate Miller's art to the screen has to be one of the true miricles of the year.
The DVD is the version many are waiting for ABOVE the theatrical since the DVD will include UNCUT versions of the stories that take place in the film...and if you've memorized Sin City like I have...this is truely something grand.
That's what makes noir as a whole so much fun...it's so personal that even if a person hates it or sees it overrated you don't fucking care cause that's not the point. You either love it or you don't...it's like musicals in that sense. There is no middle ground or psuedo intellectual bullshit to explain it all away.
One thing does have to be said though...MANY and I mean MANY crime novels and noir films are not as potent if you don't live or have lived in L.A. So many things in them are of the city that you almost lose L.A. as a character in many of the stories because you don't know the city. You see this alot when people discuss Raymond Chandler novels, films like L.A. Confidential and a few Steve Fisher stories. Really unless you know the Southwest in some way, shape, or form a lot of stories seem "dull" in that they don't get the enviornment cause they are not aware of it. You see this most in Peter Rabes's materwork "Kill The Boss Good-Bye". If you in some way don't know the enviornment the story takes place in you really lost out on some of the atmsophere and symbolism...but the ones that suffer the most are books like Steve Fisher's "I Wake Up Screaming" if you live in L.A. you know the entertainment industry is like world news here for better or worse. You "Get" the novels mentality much faster and it in a "Creepy as fuck" way can totally fall into it without restraint. It's nothing to be proud of or amazed at mind you and will not take away the joy of the works...but you will miss a little bit of the magic and charm of it. The film version of L.A. Confidential did the best modern version of explaining it but the book is the best example of it...it seems odd to say that geography can impact an entire genre...but in this case it does. For better or worse.