Saturday 3 May 2014

Creative Investigation into Film:Final Essay

Film noir is described as‘an atmosphere of disillusion and sense of foreboding, a dark quality that derived as much from the characters depicted as from the cinematographer’s art.’[1], The Departed (2006) Brick (2006) and Drive (2011), are all films influenced by film noir; whether this be through cinematography, lighting or narrative. Additionally these films are more modernized compared to the noirs of the 1940s – 50s, with updated themes, content, style, visual elements or media not available during the 1940s – 50s[2] (the period noir films were most prominent). Due to the differences these more modern movies are called neo-noir films. Some of the most notable classics films from the noir canon include: The Maltese Falcon (1941) Double Indemnity (1944) and Sunset Blvd. (1950). Noir films can be described as a perspective on human existence and society[3]. The debate on whether film noir is a style or genre of film is what I will be exploring in this study. I believe film noir is a genre of film, although it has a style ubiquitous to itself, the general aura of noir includes common characteristics: motif and tone, social background and artistic/ cultural influences, iconography, mood and characterisation, visual style... paranoia and patterns of narration[4]. These are all aspects one would expect to see in a noir film. With parallels to other film genres like a thriller or horror, noir has its own characteristics, which are clearly recognisable. This is why I believe it to be a genre rather than a style of film.
Drive, directed by Nicolas Winding-Refn is a film that embeds various forms of film noir rooted into it but also it is not fully a noir film. The cinematography ‘plays more like an exercise in turn-of-the-Eighties nostalgia.’[5]Predominately the film acquires a brightly lit visual style throughout, which goes against archetype noir films (Double Indemnity and Sunset Boulevard) – that use low key lighting.The term used to best describe Drive is ‘neo-noir’[6] with its overall display as an updated version of the noir films of the 1940s -1950s. An example of the brightly lit film is the elevator scene, in which Ryan Gosling’s Driver stamps a hit man’s face to the ground. Another scene is where driver goes to a strip club and nearly hammers a bullet into the club owners Cook (James Biberi), forehead. This could be a stylistic approach from Refn who says himself that he is very much a fetish film maker[7]. The film uses bright lighting as part of its style throughout whilst still remaining enigmatic and dark in mood as the film progresses.
           
The influence of early noir films is clearly evident on neo-noir, an example being the chiaroscuro lighting brought into noir by people like John Alton and John F. Seitz – who did the cinematography for both Sunset Blvd. and Double Indemnity. The more updated narratives in the late 20th and 21st century noir are the main difference in comparison to the noirs of the 1940s -50s. Visual style as seen in Drive, where it is lit most bright often in the most tense scenes, seems more like a conscious choice of Nicolas Refn’s to go against the conventions of earlier noir films, which still shows there is an influence. In reference to film noir as a genre rather than a style, Drive proves this point. With the films highly stylistic luminous lights, it is still recognized as a noir with there being the loss of identity and sexual motivations.

The Departed directed by Martin Scorsese is also a film that is considered a neo-noir. Although like Drive many stylistic conventions from film noir are not followed. The film is also partly a thriller with its highly suspenseful plot, unlike a noir film in which a bad ending for the protagonists is inevitable. The visual style is also more similar to a thriller rather than a noir. Although it has the low-key darkness through lighting, things like chiaroscuro are not used. Chiaroscuro is used in cinematography to indicate extreme low-key and high-contrast lighting to create distinct areas of lightness and darkness in films[8]. This type of lighting uses brighter foregrounds that contrast against dark backgrounds.


Perhaps this could be because The Departed being a remake of the Hong Kong film Infernal Affairs (2002), directed by Andrew Lau and Alan Mak. Visual stylistic comparisons are evident from these stills from both two films. The contrast both stills show with a dark background and lighter foreground, although the contrasts are not as distinct in comparison to typical film noir lighting.


Drive is certainly influenced by the early noir films with its main character in a loss of identity and although subtle, the sexual motivations involved between Driver and Irene (Carey Mulligan) are evident. Also Irene acts as a damsel in distress[9] throughout, although raising her son alone, she is helped significantly by men, mainly Driver. The character Blanche (Christina Hendricks) also acts as a femme fatale, in the bank robbery scene she already was aware that it was a set up and of Standard’s (Oscar Isaac) inevitable death.

This is also seen in Double Indemnity, directed by Billy Wilder where Phyllis (Barbara Stanwyck) acts as a femme fatale, entering into an affair with Walter(Fred MacMurray)and later trying to kill him. Then she acts as a damsel in distress additionally with her longing for the affection of Walter whilst still being in a relationship with her husband.

Although there is the inclusion of the romantic undertone between Driver and Irene the film is still dark in its mood and tone – like Standard’s unjustified death. Along with Driver being an anti-hero self-excluded from others, committing very violent acts, these acts are to help Standard, Irene and their son Benecio (Kaden Leos). An alternative interpretation could be that Driver is more sexually motivated and that is why he helps so much. This links to the typical noir male characters like Captain Jacobi who is sexually motivated to help Brigid in The Maltese Falcon and Walter who is sexually motivated to help Phyllis in Double Indemnity.This highlights the characterization influences from early film noir into neo-noir.

The theme of identity is included and is a huge part of the narrative. This combined with the dark aura of the film, is what defines it as a noir, similar to Drive, rather than visual conventions of film noir. The differences with cinematography between Double Indemnity and The Departed are clear in these two stills. The use of telephone communication as props in both shots also links into the theme of identity as both characters only show one side of their various personalities they present throughout the film when behind a telephone/ recorder.



Identity acts as a theme embedded heavily through the narrative with each protagonist lying to the other two about who they really are. Additionally fake identities they have created have become so much a part of them that they lose their own identities. An example of this is whenCostigan expresses ‘I want my identity back’.This use of the phone seems to be a re-occurring motif in these noirs – also featured in Brick.Scenes in which characters are on the phone they are often either them investigating something or in Walter’s case from Double Indemnity, confessing something. This links with the typical hard-boiled detective being an archetype character featured especially in many classic film noirs.

The defining aspect that enables The Departed to be a neo-noir is the narrative – an area research professor Steve Neale also discusses with these characteristics being omnipresent in noir films. The narrative of The Departedis similar to all the films looked at in this study. The multiple storylines and events that occur through narrative in all films is something also ubiquitous in noir. The Departed follows all three protagonists: Costigan, (Leonardo Di-Caprio) Sullivan (Matt Damon) and Costello (Jack Nicholson) and their individual stories that follow each of these characters ends up connecting to the overall plot of the film – all 3 main characters creating personas which they convey to one another of being criminals but all 3 secretly informing each other to the police.


Looking at The Departed as a neo-noir – the characterization with the women of the film would suggest otherwise. Gwen (Kristen Dalton), who plays Costello’s girlfriend is partly what you would expect in her being passive and submissive. She always just follows orders from Costello. Although like the other female character in the film Madolyn (Vera Farmiga) she poses no threat to any of the male protagonists. This goes against the typical characterization of a femme fatale character within noir. Madolyn, unlike Gwen has some power in the fact that she is able to leave Sullivan whilst being pregnant with his child. This inclusion within the narrative could also show the more equal rights between men and women now, compared to 60 years ago, in which women do not have to rely on men. This could also explain how both Brigid (Mary Astor) from The Maltese Falcon and Phyllis from Double Indemnity are quite submissive in-terms of needing help from men to achieve their motives in each film. One aspect that is often associated with the femme fatale is sexual seduction – which could be argued to be included in The Departed with Madolyn when she sleeps with Costigan. Another argument is that this sexual liason was out of general attraction, rather than for Madolyn to gain anything from Costigan, which she does not try to do.

The portrayal of women in noir film is an interesting observance. Comparing The Maltese Falcon to Brick there is over a 70 year gap between the two films, yet there are similarities that can be drawn from both films. Looking at two main female characters from both films, Laura (Nora Zehetner) from Brick and Brigid from The Maltese Falcon, both play the role of a femme fatale. Both of them as femme fatales are motivated by expensive possessions (heroin and an extravagant statuette) for them to gain.

Additionally the two characters could be said to seduce men in both their films respectively, although it can be argued they do have genuine feelings towards the men they are in relationships with. The same comparisons go for Phyllis from Double Indemnity. Drive also has a femme fatale character,Blanche,who does not seduce men but is part of the plan that is executed in which Standard gets shot at the bank robbery. On the other hand, she is not the one who orchestrates the plan; she just goes along with it, as she is in the control of men. Irene in the film is not really controlled by men but more relies on them, an example would be Driver helping protecting her and her son. The women in Drive are more helpless rather than femme fatales. This merges into the damsel in distress character, mostly associated with fairytales, also finds itself within noir.
 

The female gaze is another aspect that is prevalent in noir films. As theorist Jonathan Shroeder states, “to gaze implies more than to look at – it signifies a psychological relationship of power, in which the gazer is superior to the object of the gaze” (1998). This quote definitely has legitimacy in relating to films in this study. You can see the various stills in which female characters are subjected to the male gaze here:‘men act, women appear[10]. The gaze seems more subtle in noir films with more of the voyeurism intended to be delivered by the audience, with male actors not necessarily gazing at the women. Additionally women are not necessarily dressed in a sexually revealing and sexual way. The gaze more comes from us as the audience gazing at the women through how the camera positions the audience. It can be argued that the gaze comes from the conscious decision to cast young attractive women like: Carey Mulligan and Christina Hendricks from Drive, Vera Farmiga from The Departed and Emile de Ravin, Meagan Good from Brick.Nicolas Refn states in an interview on how he hired Christina Hendricks after seeing pictures of her and saying how beautiful she was[11]. Although, the only scene in which a male gaze could be featured is the strip club scene. Even here though the nude girls are shot often in long shot, not drawingmuch attention to them but rather to Driver and Cook. Although, in Drive the women are more submissive, and it could be argued that there it does not conform to Laura Mulvey’s male gaze theory as many others do. Blanche and Irene are not really shot in a voyeuristic way in which the viewer should look at them as sexual objects.

Filmography:
1. The Maltese Falcon, Dir. John Huston, Warner Brothers, 1941

2. Double Indemnity, Dir. Billy Wilder, Paramount Pictures, 1944

3. Sunset Blvd. Dir. Billy Wilder, Paramount Pictures, 1950

4. The Departed, Dir. Martin Scorsese, Warner Brothers, Plan B Entertainment, InitialEntertainment Group, Vertigo Entertainment (in association with) Media Asia Films, 2006

5. Brick, Dir. Rian Johnson, Bergman Lustig Productions, 2006

6.Drive, Dir. Nicolas Winding-Refn, Bold Films, OddLot Entertainment, Marc Platt Productions, Motel Movies, 2011



[1]Neale, Steve (2000) Genre and Hollywood, Routledge (Taylor & Francis Group), 151, 2 – 4
[3]Neale, Steve (2000) Genre and Hollywood, Routledge (Taylor & Francis Group), 153, 23  - 24
[4]Walker, Michael (1992) Film Noir: Introduction, Cameron, Ian, ed. Studio Vista, 8-38.
[9]Dyer, Richard ed. (1977), Gays and Film, London: British Film Institute
[10]Berger, John (1972) Ways of Seeing, British Broadcasting Company &Penguin Books Ltd
Posted by at

No comments:

Post a Comment

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)