Noir film
ninjai
Registered User regular
Registered User regular
I really like noir. I love it in fact, but it's something that is often lost on hard boiled crime movies. It's hard to find them these days. Something like the Road to Perdition is a good example of what I'm looking for.
The TONE of the movie is what I'm looking for, not necessarily trench coat wearing, tommy gun wielding, fadora wearing bootleggers from the bygone era, but something with that same tone and mood. Anyone have suggestions for modern noir film? (seen blade runner and that's about all I got. Untouchables doesn't have that same tone for me)
I've seen the classics, so the Maltese Falcon and M are out for sugguestions.
The TONE of the movie is what I'm looking for, not necessarily trench coat wearing, tommy gun wielding, fadora wearing bootleggers from the bygone era, but something with that same tone and mood. Anyone have suggestions for modern noir film? (seen blade runner and that's about all I got. Untouchables doesn't have that same tone for me)
I've seen the classics, so the Maltese Falcon and M are out for sugguestions.
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and most importantly, have you seen Brick?
FYI.
EDIT: and *shudder*, Mulholland Drive? Although, I personally can't stand it.
Sin City?
The Black Dahlia? (terrible, terrible film.)
I'm asking, because these are some pretty obvious ones.
Also, Memento.
maybe i'm streaming terrible dj right now if i am its here
EDIT: Please tell me you have seen Blade Runner?
EDIT2: To some extent:
Eastern Promises, The Departed, Minority Report, Mr. Brooks, Black Swan, Léon: The Professional, 8mm (Nicholas Cage), The Thing, Seven Psychopaths, In Bruges.
Honestly, I don't like TMWWT due to its dryness. Almost every other Coen Brothers movie is better, and they're all good examples of neo-noir. No Country For Old Men, Fargo, Miller's Crossing (although that has tommy guns).
There's Tarantino's films, notably Pulp Fiction, Reservoir Dogs. Sin City is obvious. For foreign films, Wong Kar Wai hits the tone really well, notably with Chungking Express, In The Mood For Love, and some of his other 90's movies.
Here are other movies that, to me, fit the TONE argument, but not necessarily the typical noir tropes:
Black Book
Children of Men
Eastern Promises
Following
Memento
Ghost Dog
The Godfather (and II)
A History of Violence
Kiss Kiss Bang Bang
Lucky Number Slevin
In addition, to me a lot of darker westerns fit into the Noir mold. I found the Man With No Name movies to carry a similar tone, along with some of the modern westerns like True Grit, 3:10 to Yuma, Unforgiven, Appaloosa.
No, no nothing against tommy guns, I liked millers crossing. It's just the fact that noir doesn't HAVE to be that :P I like a good gangster film as much as any other. I like Untouchables, but it isn't noir because of the fadora's is all I meant.
Also i like tarantino, but the tone of sin city due to the fictitiousness of it, it felt REALLY over the top and too corny for noir. Though I really liked reservoir dogs. It wasn't fun to watch, but damn was it good.
Thanks for all the suggestions guys. This is going to keep me busy for a while.
As for stuff people haven't suggested already, The Assassination of a High School President is pretty good, especially as a double feature with Brick. And aside from that, the TSPDT site I linked also has lists of other noir films and neo-noir films, so that should keep you busy for basically the rest of your life.
Edit: What about The Big Bang? Honestly not all that great, but trying to figure out what constitutes film noir. There a detective and successive reveals. Melancholia? Man that movie threw me into a funk for awhile.
Specifically it would be neo-noir. Wikipedia is a good resource for learning about the genre, as is the TSPDT page.
Film Noir in general is not clearly defined, so don't freak out about it too much. The OP's point is a good one -- he likes the tone, not the setting, so a gangster film is not necessarily a film noir.
In general, in your typical film noir, there's a mystery, someone is working to solve it, not everyone is helpful, and he may not succeed. If he does succeed, it is often not clear if the success is good, nor does it mean that everyone involved succeeds. The classic story is a detective who reluctantly takes a case, gets drawn into the story because of a waif or idiot man-child. He seems close to solving the case but something stops him, and bad stuff happens. After the bad stuff, he may be able to solve the mystery or not -- or usually the mystery is solved but the people who are dead were the ones involved so who really cares now?
This is often supplemented by the direction and cinematography. Film noir is usually relatively slow paced, allowing tension to build, and there are numerous dark scenes with strong shadows (hence the name). The characters are ambiguous and often the direction leads the viewer to be disoriented in some way -- either by changing things chronologically or by moving between locations in a way that leave the viewer unsure, to match the feeling of the protagonist.
There is usually some violence involved but not always. The violence is often realistic, even if it's over the top. People do not get shot and then have dramatic death sequences -- they get shot and die. Shit will even happen off-screen, like getting put in a wood chipper. A movie may have film noir elements but not be a film noir -- a lot of thrillers and psychological movies have these themes but are not film noir. For example, "Source Code" is not a film noir.
And yes, where I say "film noir" above I should really say "neo noir" since these are newer films in color and with more modern influence.
I've devoured everything I can of that movie. I guess Ridley Scott is remaking it now :O
ot sequel or something
Visual style characterized by the tension created by unbalanced composition and a low-key lighting style that emphasizes the contrast between light and dark?
Check.
An troubled protagonist trying to make sense of right and wrong in a world where the lines between good and evil are becoming blurred?
Check.
A femme fatale who, though initially appearing to be in desperate need of the protagonist's help, is actually using him to achieve a secret objective?
Check.
Nø Šh¡†!¿ Nothing good can come out of that. It would only tarnish the Original Perfection. Well, the "Final Cut" in this case.
Thought of another cute "noir" film. "City of Ember".
I originally hated it, as The Long Goodbye is one of my favorite books(I put it above Maltese Falcon), but I rewatched it a couple of years ago and really loved it. It's a really interesting take on noir.
Also, one that doesn't get mentioned a lot is Devil in a Blue Dress.
Some more;
Drive. Fucking Drive, man. If you haven't watched it, it's one of those movies you'll either love or hate. I loved it.
Winter's Bone. Really good too.
Gone Baby Gone/The Town - Gone Baby Gone more so than the other.
The Long Goodbye is likewise one of my favorite Raymond Chandler books, and I still hate the movie. I was so certain I'd love it that I purchased it impulsively, and gaaaaaah.
I don't know if it was the 15 different ways they decided to arrange the theme song, or if it was the way the actor would say "It's alright by me."
Maybe I'll give it another try for half an hour and see if I like it better now.
It's almost works as a rip van winkle story too, with Marlowe transplanted from1940's LA into the 70's of the film.
That said, fuck the ending.
Well to be fair I can see why he still feels betrayed by the studio, and to top it off audio problems, old and lost video, and the ridiculous 80's fashion... I think it could be made quite a bit better, though it is one of my favorite movies of all time.
Taxi Driver?
No Country for old men
Gran Torino
Black Rain
Moon
Martin Scorsese's first "gangster" movie and I think the one that takes you closest to the lives of street level thugs
Fargo has almost none of the accoutrement of noir films yet deals with very similar themes
Also almost every movie Michael Caine made in the 70's
Amazon Wishlist: http://www.amazon.com/BusterK/wishlist/3JPEKJGX9G54I/ref=cm_wl_search_bin_1
Fantastic idea though. Let's put the nicest people you'll ever meet against the backdrop of brutal murder. Hilarious