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

Figure 100. Out of the Past
This particular image of Bridgeport, where the camera catches the couple in a
tender moment by a peaceful lakeside, is the actual location of the movie. We might note
about noir films that they are usually not shot on location but instead prefer to use studio
backgrounds and other artificial settings. Most of the Bridgeport we see is the real place,
which contributes to a different inflection of the theme and a heightening of the mood of
the film. Thus, the opening scenes of the film, with this idyllic scenery and low-key
lighting, suggest that film noir’s most iconic images need not be its darkest. The first
glimpse of Jeff Bailey in these pastoral, bucolic scenes accentuate his new immersion in
the landscape, as a way of constructing visual alternatives to the dark alleyways, blind
corners, and expressionistic shadows.
However, in the same sequence of scenes, the spectator understands that all is not
well when Bailey’s expression turns to a perpetual frown as a sign of uneasiness. In the
scene above (fig. 100), his body is pushed back in the two dimensions of the frame against
a leafless weather-beaten tree trunk. Their smiling faces become troubled and pensive with
Jeff’s remarks about his past, contrasting with the clear open waters of the lake, its
promising vastness, and the mountains in the background as a symbol of a natural retreat,
but one which cannot be reached. According to film noir convention, a retreat or escape to
the countryside is either unfeasible, disenchanting, or ill-fated. As their conversation goes
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