This is Noir

Film Noir

Film Noir Encyclopedia

Film Noir is a term used by French critiques in the 1940's to describe films that were dark and twisted in nature compared to the more positive and uplifting films during that time. In the documentary, "Film Noir," Errol Morris said the following about which type of Noir Films he enjoys watching and why, "The great Noir Films are films about fall guys. A person who finds himself caught in a net. The more he struggles, the deeper and deeper he becomes entwined in nightmare." This "fall guy" principle is deeply rooted from start to finish in the movie "Double Indemnity." Walter Neff becomes that "fall guy" the moment he starts flirting with his insurance client's wife, Phyllis. She ends up flipping Walter's world upside down by having him kill her husband. The nightmare became so harsh for Walter, that in the end he ended up taking the life of Phyllis, which was the person that started this trouble in the first place.

Femme Fatale

Phyllis in "Double Indemnity"

Femme Fatale is the term used to describe a women who uses her attractiveness to lure guys into doing dangerous things that otherwise they wouldn't necessarily do on their own. In "Double Indemnity," Phyllis portrays the description of Femme Fatale very accurately. In the documentary, "Film Noir," Janey Place says that, "In Film Noir is the combination of things in a female that you don't see in film, especially in American film very often. She's very smart, she's very powerful, and she's extremely sexual." Phyllis know that Walter was attracted to her and used that to her advantage to get him to do her mischievous deeds. She was very smart in with calculating every move to guide Walter to kill her husband because of the power that she had over him. Phyllis was very sexual not only with Walter but even going as far as seeing her daughter in law's boyfriend.


Lighting the Darkenss

Walter and Phyllis killing her husband

Walter laying down Phyllis after shooting her.

In "Double Indemnity," lighting was a big part of playing out the plot and for this movie to be characterized as Film Noir. In the beginning of the film, there was a lot more lighting and the exposure was much higher than towards the climax of the film. Even when Walter approached Phyllis with the thought of her wanting to take out the insurance policy on her husband so that she could end up killing him, the director started to cast some shadows from the Phyllis and the objects around them to illustrate the dilemma that they were going to be facing throughout the next several scenes of the movie. Towards the end of "Double Indemnity," Walter says "Goodbye Baby" to Phyllis as he shoots her while they were in the very dark room. This shows that the final dark deed had been completed.

I believe that the black and white characteristics of Film Noir adds so much to that dark persona of these types of films. Light or the lack there of, really plays an important role in showcasing the the scenes which shows the characters facing hard times or getting themselves in trouble, as demonstrated in "Double Indemnity." Neo-noir, which takes a more modern twist to Film Noir by adding color to these films, cannot compare with the original Film Noir movies when trying to deliver a that darker message to the audience.

Award Worthy Movies

There are hundreds of movies made each year and only a selective few can be considered award worthy. There are a few key elements that a movie has to have in order to be considered to be compelling or even nominated for an award. The first element is that a movie must have actors which are truly playing out the role of their character as if they lived in that person's shoes every day. This means that a person watching the movie wouldn't be able to distinguish if the actor is really acting or if he is the actual person that the part is based off of. Another key element to making a movie noteworthy, is that the plot can suck a person into the movie as if the scenes were being played out right in front of the audience member. One last key element is that the movie flows smoothly from scene to scene and at the end of the movie, the majority of the audience members were left with a satisfied look on their face instead of scratching their head while questioning their decision of buying that movie ticket. Overall what makes a movie award worthy is that the entire production from the actors, plot, and scene flow of the movie be seen as authentic as possible to the individual siting on his or her chair being entertained by the movie.

Both A Trip to the Moon and The Great Train Robbery did a great job at paving the way for the entertainment industry to make more and better movies, and I believe that these movies are noteworthy films which meet all of my requirements. In A Trip to the Moon, the actors did a great job at portraying themselves as scientists and explorers. They were believable even though there wasn't any sound. The plot truly did get the audience members engaged because it fore told of the possibilities of a futuristic word in which humans could one day find a way to go to the moon. If I was a film critic at that time, I would given the movie an award on this premise alone. It pushed the boundaries of the limitations in the minds of the individuals watching the film, which is something that I'm very fond about. The Great Train Robbery also had a realistic plot and the scenes flowed real smoothly from and must have left audience members wanting to see the film again.

In my opinion, two of the greatest movies of all time that have all three of the elements that I require a movie to be noteworthy are Seven Pounds and Forrest Gump.

Seven Pounds had the actors, plot, and overall smooth scene transitioning that makes a movie great. Will Smith is one of the greatest actors of all times and he is exceptional in Seven Pounds. Will Smith can definitely fool individuals into believing that the character and him are one (which is a good thing). This movie makes the audience members forget that they are watching a movie and instead makes them feel as if they are an active participant in the film. They created a great story line that pulled the emotional strings of the audience members, by introducing different characters with different life hardships. Even though the film had the movie goers guessing at what the main character's, Will Smith, final decision was going to be, the scenes of the movie flowed very smoothly and it wrapped up perfectly at end. Even from this trailer, an individual can tell that Seven Pounds is going to be a great movie which will be seen multiple times by that individual:



Forrest Gump is a classic movie not only in my eyes but in the eyes of many of the individuals who have seen this film. This movie has won 6 Oscars and many more great awards. It has a great story where Tom Hanks plays Forrest Gump, a character with the heart of a protective warrior who goes through life not acknowledging his disabilities but instead overcoming all of the obstacles that life can throw at a him. The characters played their roles so well that I still view Tom Hanks today as Forrest Gump and Gary Sinise as Lieutenant Dan. The flow of the scenes in the movie went real well. The audience saw the progression of Forrest's life through the eyes of Forrest himself as he recollects different events that occurred along his journey meeting up to the point where he is sitting on the bench waiting for a bus. Just like in Seven Pounds, Forrest Gump is a movie that people will enjoy watching over and over again. Here is a trailer of the movie: