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

More documents

Recommendations

Info

Crime, violence and the modern American city were all present in the gangster films that burgeoned in the early thirties and which could not help but pave the way for film noir later on. The classic gangster film trilogy Little Caesar (1931), The Public Enemy (1931), and Scarface (1932) was seminal in the representation of the subversive image of the gangster, and certainly defined the genre: iconically, from fast cars to luxurious fedoras and “fancy molls”; in narrative terms, the gangster as the modern entrepreneur and his story of immediate rise and inevitable fall; visually, with conventional studio (and for the majority) interchangeable settings and flatter lighting backgrounds. In acknowledging gangster films as a genre and the profound influence they exerted on film noir, I discriminate them from noir movies as the latter are more self-conscious and more versatile in their storytelling patterns and more diverse in their lighting techniques, in their use of chiaroscuro, for example. The authentic physical maze of the noir city does not have the same heightened presence in gangster films. The gangster is often a public figure who moves about in the neutral places of the city with a kind of low profile realism, whereas the doom-laden noir hero is generally a denizen of the mundane world of the city, which only occasionally collides with the more fantastical world of organised crime. The Gothic legacy is presented as the other large tradition of “blood melodrama” which was just as significant in generating the noir style. Dark mysteries related to the supernatural sphere and depicting psychological horror were often present in the English Gothic romances of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. From Horace Walpole’s The Castle of Otranto (considered as the forerunner of the type) to the works of Ann Radcliffe and Mary Shelley with her novel Frankenstein, the influence of the genre would later be noticed in certain conventions of noir period films such as Gaslight (1944) and The Spiral Staircase (1946), or in Robert Wise’s The House on Telegraph Hill (1951). These films were indeed seemingly modelled on the Gothic novels which would often portray lively young women, usually in the role of governesses or new brides. As a rule, they ended up living in labyrinthine ominous mansions peopled by odd servants and feeling attracted to the enigmatic good looking men of the house. The central enigma in the Gothic plot is normally constructed around the figures of husband and wife, in which the husband bears a malicious anger towards his spouse. These settings and their symbols would later be exploited in noir productions, with Hitchcock’s Rebecca (1940) standing as the classic example. In fact, in the noir inflection of this type 10
we also find a disruption of the woman’s everyday world, like in Litvak’s Sorry, Wrong Number (1948), in which the female protagonist (Barbara Stanwyck) gets killed, or Orson Welles’s The Stranger (1946), with Mary’s life in jeopardy because her husband, Charles Rankin (Orson Welles), is misidentified as the genocidal Frank Kindler. But, as film noir continued into the fifties, the imperilled victim-heroine of the Gothic romances gave way to the male-oriented crime thriller (the third phase of film noir that I mentioned above). Finally, the narrative elements present in the Gothic romance, such as chaos, alienation, and fear migrated to the American noir style, generating the above Gothic noirs which share a strong resemblance to hard-boiled noir productions in terms of style and themes. However, while the Gothic novels concentrated on exploiting the mental conflicts and disturbances of their female characters, film noir was more concerned with the individual cases of decay and corruption inherent in an underworld dominated by men. It should be further explained that the breach that exists between good and evil is well defined in the Gothic novels and maintains moral (and social, for that matter) stability, whereas in noir this type of narrative clarity seems to be non-existent. I hence conclude that here too film noir eludes easy genre classification. Expressionism flourished in Germany from approximately 1910 to the midtwenties, and as a cross-cultural movement encompassing the different arts, it attempted to express the distortions, chaos and despair of modern life during the period of recovery following World War I. I show how the German filmmakers developed their own style by using symbolism and mise-en-scène to suffuse their films and provide them with a deeper mood and meaning. German Expressionism was translated into films through distorted images and delusory transformations of reality. The filmmakers of the German UFA studio would convey their dark themes (of dreams and visions, paranoid states of mind) using a distinct visual style (primarily chiaroscuro and high-contrast lighting) where the minimalist space is fractured into an extreme fabric of unbalanced lines and surfaces. Some famous and influential examples will be briefly discussed, like Robert Wiene’s Das Kabinet des Dr Caligari (The Cabinet of Dr Caligari, 1920) or Stellan Rye’s Der Student von Prag (The Student of Prague), first released in 1913, but remade in Expressionist style in 1926 (under Henrik Galeen’s direction), with the archetypal Doppelgänger story. Both films, concerned with the instability and volatility of identity, find multiple resonances in film noir. 11
Page 1 and 2: Joaquim da Silva Universidade de Av
Page 3 and 4: To Antonio, who made this possible.
Page 5 and 6: Acknowledgements This long journey
Page 7 and 8: Finally, I owe a huge debt of grati
Page 9 and 10: keywords abstract Film Noir, genre,
Page 11 and 12: 2 Social and Political Influences o
Page 13 and 14: 2.4 Joseph H. Lewis................
Page 15 and 16: Figure 42. Force of Evil ..........
Page 17 and 18: I. Introduction: Paving the Way for
Page 19 and 20: term that the film industry itself
Page 21 and 22: about which films themselves consti
Page 23 and 24: also, in the films’ fundamental n
Page 25: American films after the Nazi occup
Page 29 and 30: oth in these French productions of
Page 31 and 32: Hollywood feature films but it did
Page 33 and 34: throughout this work); and c) to di
Page 35 and 36: odies, or as killers and crooks, bu
Page 37 and 38: these films was to confer on them a
Page 39 and 40: writer, director, producer, and art
Page 41 and 42: cinema does not have the power of
Page 43 and 44: Before working on The Dark Mirror,
Page 45 and 46: y taking it “from the outside.”
Page 47 and 48: and many, if not most, films would
Page 49 and 50: 1.1.1 Dashiell Hammett In 1929, Das
Page 51 and 52: tough appearance, by their occupati
Page 53 and 54: Apart from “The Continental Op”
Page 55 and 56: unsettling when for example shootin
Page 57 and 58: 1.1.2 Raymond Chandler Raymond Chan
Page 59 and 60: Figure 4. The Big Sleep the chaotic
Page 61 and 62: eleased to the big screen by MGM wi
Page 63 and 64: most fastidious visions of London i
Page 65 and 66: hometowns and move into bigger citi
Page 67 and 68: Double Indemnity started the trend
Page 69 and 70: has happened, but, as if hypnotized
Page 71 and 72: destructive, or used by stronger wo
Page 73 and 74: Tomorrow Goodbye (1950) into a noir
Page 75 and 76: Home (1937) - were two living proof
Page 77 and 78:
which collapses the distinction bet
Page 79 and 80:
Figure 10. Deadline at Dawn Alex’
Page 81 and 82:
1.1.6 William Riley Burnett Another
Page 83 and 84:
Figure 11. High Sierra The Asphalt
Page 85 and 86:
1.1.7 Conclusions What made the det
Page 87 and 88:
fiction managed to provide for a de
Page 89 and 90:
escalation in illegal drinking plac
Page 91 and 92:
Ben Hecht story and despite being p
Page 93 and 94:
Mercy! Is this the end of Rico?”
Page 95 and 96:
The third originating gangster movi
Page 97 and 98:
part of the recurrent patterns of v
Page 99 and 100:
protagonist of Edgar Ulmer’s Deto
Page 101 and 102:
exemplify in Part III (“Space and
Page 103 and 104:
1.3 The Gothic Romance 87 And trave
Page 105 and 106:
titlecard when the film opens alert
Page 107 and 108:
In Rebecca the beautiful, desirable
Page 109 and 110:
forties. Thematically, the represen
Page 111 and 112:
To complicate this matter further,
Page 113 and 114:
trampled under by war and revolutio
Page 115 and 116:
he says, when Expressionism ended,
Page 117 and 118:
These early Expressionist films, wi
Page 119 and 120:
student, Balduin (Paul Wegener hims
Page 121 and 122:
(Tragedy of the Street, 1927, aka W
Page 123 and 124:
plots with calculating precision. G
Page 125 and 126:
perverted and neurotic sex murderer
Page 127 and 128:
1.5 French Poetic Realism Poetic Re
Page 129 and 130:
(Michèle Morgan), whose godfather
Page 131 and 132:
strikingly atmospheric view of the
Page 133 and 134:
Jean Paulhan, editor of La Nouvelle
Page 135 and 136:
Julien Duvivier’s Pépé Le Moko
Page 137 and 138:
the combination of lighting effects
Page 139 and 140:
peculiar expressionistic lighting a
Page 141 and 142:
Figure 28. Son of Frankenstein This
Page 143 and 144:
Figure 29. Murders in the Rue Morgu
Page 145 and 146:
alienation mixed with nuanced perfo
Page 147 and 148:
2 Social and Political Influences o
Page 149 and 150:
Liberal reforms soon became a spuri
Page 151 and 152:
Polonsky, Jules Dassin, and Edward
Page 153 and 154:
which are themselves historical eve
Page 155 and 156:
Production Code Administration. Thi
Page 157 and 158:
In this particular case, one can se
Page 159 and 160:
Neff: Will you be here too? Phyllis
Page 161 and 162:
against any possible theft of groce
Page 163 and 164:
2.3 Postwar Readjustment If the moo
Page 165 and 166:
In this group of films, the bleak a
Page 167 and 168:
explain, these noir heroes of the f
Page 169 and 170:
(Gilda, White Heat, Scarlet Street,
Page 171 and 172:
seething excitations” and adds th
Page 173 and 174:
Romanticism present at the very hea
Page 175 and 176:
to persist and overcome difficultie
Page 177 and 178:
III. Noir Thematics 1 Essential Ele
Page 179 and 180:
its modernist sensibility, enabled
Page 181 and 182:
Wyatt), cooks breakfast, domestic r
Page 183 and 184:
structures of constituted authority
Page 185 and 186:
1.2 Space and the Noir City Film no
Page 187 and 188:
other people and developing a calcu
Page 189 and 190:
I am the city. Hub and heart of Ame
Page 191 and 192:
1.3 Trouble With Girls: The Femme F
Page 193 and 194:
intelligent and powerful, if destru
Page 195 and 196:
significant discussion of film noir
Page 197 and 198:
Nevertheless, the message is quite
Page 199 and 200:
Another example of the evolution of
Page 201 and 202:
deceiving women. Like many of their
Page 203 and 204:
Either as a femme fatale or an homm
Page 205 and 206:
1.5 Dazed and Confused: The Voiceov
Page 207 and 208:
an impersonal “you” giving the
Page 209 and 210:
of war veterans who, unfolding thei
Page 211 and 212:
1.6 Noir Atmospherics: Cinematograp
Page 213 and 214:
John Alton’s highly stylised phot
Page 215 and 216:
Figure 41. Stranger on the Third Fl
Page 217 and 218:
indoctrination in the movie in the
Page 219 and 220:
in the popular imagination. While t
Page 221 and 222:
1.7 Sounds of the City: Jazz Soundt
Page 223 and 224:
music, combines with images of patr
Page 225 and 226:
Figure 45. Out of the Past Non-dieg
Page 227 and 228:
ealm of near-explicit sexual metaph
Page 229 and 230:
the two, affirming that “Jazz is
Page 231 and 232:
City, Paramount’s Union Station a
Page 233 and 234:
In my analysis of The Big Combo in
Page 235 and 236:
Consequently, in the fifties, we st
Page 237 and 238:
2 Noir and the Film Auteur 2.1 Aute
Page 239 and 240:
noticeably the case, for example, w
Page 241 and 242:
point out the fact that it is only
Page 243 and 244:
elationship to the way a director t
Page 245 and 246:
2.1.1 Billy Wilder Billy Wilder pla
Page 247 and 248:
performance is full of understated
Page 249 and 250:
Figure 54. Sunset Boulevard Wilder
Page 251 and 252:
Figure 55. Ace in the Hole All of B
Page 253 and 254:
2.1.2 Orson Welles He may have only
Page 255 and 256:
For example, in the scene above (fi
Page 257 and 258:
As Leo Braudy in The World in a Fra
Page 259 and 260:
slanting compositions, and brillian
Page 261 and 262:
2.1.3 Otto Preminger Austrian film
Page 263 and 264:
plans, June still shows her love fo
Page 265 and 266:
Figure 61. Where the Sidewalk Ends
Page 267 and 268:
project my viewpoint on the audienc
Page 269 and 270:
postulated as the “doctrine of si
Page 271 and 272:
pouvait espérer sortir de la déno
Page 273 and 274:
I am at the barber's, and a copy of
Page 275 and 276:
certain community, our subjective r
Page 277 and 278:
interpretant” (Stam 1992:6). Here
Page 279 and 280:
The notion of “text” as a disco
Page 281 and 282:
only agree that these disciplines s
Page 283 and 284:
2 The Universe of Motifs and Symbol
Page 285 and 286:
Andrew Sarris once wrote that “If
Page 287 and 288:
exception to this rule, his movies
Page 289 and 290:
independent production companies in
Page 291 and 292:
Figure 66. Double Indemnity In the
Page 293 and 294:
Figure 67. Scarlet Street The symbo
Page 295 and 296:
contorted Expressionistic grimace,
Page 297 and 298:
Figure 70. Metropolis The clock mot
Page 299 and 300:
Figure 71. Strangers on a Train The
Page 301 and 302:
“When I was young I wanted to be
Page 303 and 304:
themselves in the projection of inn
Page 305 and 306:
woman in the portrait throughout I
Page 307 and 308:
scenes as the attachment is purely
Page 309 and 310:
(namely The Spiral Staircase and Ou
Page 311 and 312:
Chris meets by accident, is a hellc
Page 313 and 314:
2.1.1.4 Conclusion All in all, ther
Page 315 and 316:
Question: Scarlet Street had the sa
Page 317 and 318:
an accepted and well-known screenwr
Page 319 and 320:
Siodmak’s next two films for Univ
Page 321 and 322:
money from Dundee. A more harrowing
Page 323 and 324:
2.2.1 The Spiral Staircase (1946) a
Page 325 and 326:
here increased by the unsteady blac
Page 327 and 328:
Figure 83. The Spiral Staircase Thi
Page 329 and 330:
Warren, making either of them the p
Page 331 and 332:
2.2.1.2 The “Optical Unconscious
Page 333 and 334:
camera is expressive, as it informs
Page 335 and 336:
ordering” - appears to match this
Page 337 and 338:
eyewitness, but at the same time, a
Page 339 and 340:
Figure 87. The Spiral Staircase Bas
Page 341 and 342:
While Cross implicitly acknowledges
Page 343 and 344:
Figure 89. Affair in Trinidad Other
Page 345 and 346:
However, much of this iconography t
Page 347 and 348:
long, wooden staircase while trying
Page 349 and 350:
Figure 93. The Spiral Staircase Fig
Page 351 and 352:
of Nathaniel Hawthorne’s “The B
Page 353 and 354:
almost part of a game, emphasising
Page 355 and 356:
2.3 Jacques Tourneur Born in Paris
Page 357 and 358:
a laughing audience), and broken la
Page 359 and 360:
violent mishaps could have led to h
Page 361 and 362:
writers like Dashiell Hammett (who,
Page 363 and 364:
Chuck Tatum, a cynical, frustrated
Page 365 and 366:
on, Ann, who represents his hope fo
Page 367 and 368:
This kind of temporal manipulation
Page 369 and 370:
ought forward by the characters of
Page 371 and 372:
found Kathie: “I was glad it was
Page 373 and 374:
Figure 102. Out of the Past In this
Page 375 and 376:
Figure 104. The Lady from Shanghai
Page 377 and 378:
Jeff: Give him time. Kathie: You ar
Page 379 and 380:
Figure 106. Out of the Past The sce
Page 381 and 382:
Gun Crazy, a barrage of police gunf
Page 383 and 384:
2.4 Joseph H. Lewis Considered as a
Page 385 and 386:
untold storied of ordinary men and
Page 387 and 388:
through windows, to provide the ind
Page 389 and 390:
2.4.1 The Big Combo (1955) and the
Page 391 and 392:
of most noir films including The Bi
Page 393 and 394:
2.4.1.1 “First is First and Secon
Page 395 and 396:
In The Big Combo the unconscious tr
Page 397 and 398:
It is not only in terms of narrativ
Page 399 and 400:
Although the idea is not to go into
Page 401 and 402:
Figure 113. Scarlet Street Neff’s
Page 403 and 404:
2.4.1.2 The Big Combo and Generic T
Page 405 and 406:
and knowing they are both surrounde
Page 407 and 408:
As the noir movement entered the la
Page 409 and 410:
V. Conclusions: 1 Genre Revisited T
Page 411 and 412:
on social aspects through a dramati
Page 413 and 414:
Buscombe is right: if we take a gen
Page 415 and 416:
constructions that make it difficul
Page 417 and 418:
Such factors have been scrutinised
Page 419 and 420:
Thematically, noir films as a group
Page 421 and 422:
While enforcement of the Production
Page 423 and 424:
are “as often nihilistic, cynical
Page 425 and 426:
which is normally not associated wi
Page 427 and 428:
morality brought about by these noi
Page 429 and 430:
It is within this cinematic and cri
Page 431 and 432:
____________ (1994). The Semiotic C
Page 433 and 434:
____________ (1992b). Farewell, My
Page 435 and 436:
E Easthope, Antony (1993). Contempo
Page 437 and 438:
Greenberg, Joel & Higham, Charles (
Page 439 and 440:
James, David E. (2005). The Most Ty
Page 441 and 442:
Malkiewicz, Kris (1986). Film Light
Page 443 and 444:
N Naremore, James (1978). The Magic
Page 445 and 446:
Polan, Dana (1986). Power and Paran
Page 447 and 448:
____________ (2006). Ava Gardner:
Page 449 and 450:
Sullivan, Ellie (1986). Jacques Lac
Page 451 and 452:
Wilson, Edmund (1962). Classics and
Page 453 and 454:
Appendix I: Annotated Filmography T
Page 455 and 456:
Beware, My Lovely RKO 1952. Prod: C
Page 457 and 458:
Christmas Holiday Univ 1944. Prod:
Page 459 and 460:
Dark Corner, The Fox 1946. Prod: Fr
Page 461 and 462:
Framed Col 1947. Prod: Jules Schern
Page 463 and 464:
House on 92 nd Street, The Fox 1945
Page 465 and 466:
Killing, The UA 1956. Prod: James B
Page 467 and 468:
Mildred Pierce WB 1945. Prod: Jerry
Page 469 and 470:
One Way Street Univ 1950. Prod: Leo
Page 471 and 472:
Repeat Performance EL 1947. Prod: A
Page 473 and 474:
Stranger, The RKO 1946. Prod: S.P.
Page 475 and 476:
Unsuspected, The WB 1947. Prod: Cha
Page 477 and 478:
B) Other Relevant Filmography The f
Page 479 and 480:
Last Laugh, The ScreenSound 1924. P
Page 481 and 482:
Appendix II The Motion Picture P
Page 483 and 484:
VIII. Religion 1. No film or episod
Page 485 and 486:
B. By reason of the mobility of fil
Page 487 and 488:
Reasons Underlying the Particular A
Page 489 and 490:
VIII. Religion The reason why minis
Page 491 and 492:
146, 152, 186, 192, 229, 250, 298,
Page 493 and 494:
high-contrast, 11, 46, 172 Highway
Page 495 and 496:
350, 352, 353, 354, 356, 357, 359,
Page 497:
Walsh, Raoul, 56, 57, 66, 73, 223,
show all

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

You also want an ePaper? Increase the reach of your titles

Delete template?

Save as template?