Joaquim da Silva Fontes, Significação e Estabilidade do Género no ...

Figure 41. Stranger on the Third Floor
All these lighting techniques, from chiaroscuro to deep-focus and odd angles,
constituted the visual look of noir and helped to shape many of the other elements of postwar
film noir. Abraham Polonsky’s Force of Evil is in my view one of the best noirs to
employ this meticulous type of iconography to the full. This early film is predominantly
relevant for its influential stylistic touches, such as the use of shades of black and white,
and is also notable for its realist on-location photography. George Barnes, a skilful
photographer of advertising photos, shot New York City’s Wall Street in this film with an
expressiveness not often seen at the time. The two scenes below depict Joe Morse (John
Garfield) carefully framed in escape from the many physical obstacles in his way (fig. 42
left). His fearful look is enhanced by all the vertical lines that fill the image as a clear sign
of his entrapment, with the bridge in the background.
The low angle shots from a distance, as seen in fig. 42 right, call the spectator’s
attention to all the possibilities for defeat of life in this city. This image shows the
silhouette of Morse running down a stairway to retrieve the body of a loved one cast on the
ocean rocks, a physical prefiguring of his personal preparation for the long descent into a
haunting final. The lighting and camerawork in this shot were inspired by the paintings of
Edward Hopper who painted wide shots of solitary figures moving through urban scenarios
and stark lamplight in nocturnal landscapes. The aesthetic component of this shot is further
accentuated by the low angle of the photography fusing expressionism and action.
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