Definition of Film Noir Remains Unknown

After reading the Introduction of “Film Noir Reader” it still remains unclear what the definition of film noir truly is. “Almost every critic has his own definition of film noir, and a personal list of film titles....How many noir elements does it take to make a film noir noir?” This quote said by Paul Schrader, was memorable after reading this introduction because I thought the same thing. It is hard to put a definition on this type of film which many of the critics have said cannot even be considered a genre. Arguing that a genre is something created after-the-fact, how could it not be? I doubt these types of films were titled noirs right from the beginning. If that was the case, what makes any film distinguishable as a particular genre?

When I try to invent my own definition of film noir, it does not just come down to a single sentence or two. There is much more to it than that. Film noir is about the characters and their emotions to those that they come in contact with throughout the film. Film noir is focused around the events that were taken place in America at the time, although it seems like the authors were mainly European. If the name were broken down literally, it would mean dark film. This has to do with the actual lighting of the scenes and shadows that evolve as well as the sometimes dark or even “shady” personality of one or more of the characters.

I would say that noir films are timeless. Even watching them now, fifty or so years after they were first made, they still keep me entertained. I think this is due to the fact that film noir is told from the eye of the criminal rather than the ones protecting the city, the police. This is done using the private detective. It is interesting learning about the crime as an inside source and developing our own ideas of what has happened rather than having to be told, step-by-step, through evidence.

When it comes down to it, I take film noir to be that of realistic drama with a protagonist and antagonist although it it usually difficult to determine who the actual antagonist is until the end. The antagonist may be the women of the story, known as the femme fatale whom is, “frustrated and deviant, half predator, half prey, detached yet ensnared, she falls victim to her own traps” or even the victims themselves. The violence of the film is not typically what keeps the audience intrigued, it is simply the twists and turn of events that draws them in.


Questions:

1. What films do you think are modern day examples of film noir?

2. Is it possible to give a one sentence definition of film noir?