Film Noir Movies Share example essay topic

Film noir is a type of film that is characterized by its dark somber tone and cynical pessimistic mood. This type of film mostly applies to Hollywood films of the? 40's and? 50's.

For example? Double Indemnity? and? Chinatown? are two film noir classics. Although all film noir movies share common stories, these two in particularly share many characteristics of this film type. The two films were made 30 years apart, but they still keep the film noir characteristics very vividly in their story. The typical film elements for these two films are that they have a double mystery that attracts the viewers into trying to solve the mystery themselves.

Blinds are worldwide known as giving film noir a cool, dramatic, and anguishing look; so surely these movies could not leave them out.? Chinatown? and? Double Indemnity? both take place around the 1940's in LA. Also the clothes, the cars, the make up, and the hair are similarities that they both share. The main characters in the films are always smoking cigarettes, which in my opinion makes them look cool. Sadly the two main female characters in both movies die, but not before causing a sexual theme that leads to greed, guns, violence, and a sad ending.

Thus making the main male characters confused through the whole story, until the end, when they solve the mystery.? Double Indemnity, ? however, is a different movie in many respects. It was filmed in 1944, an era that gave this particular movie a lot of controversy. This film was shot in black & white, which filled the movie with many dark scenes as well as shadows. The film is narrated by the main character, who through the whole film, explains with explicit detail of his story.

His name is Walter Neff; he is an insurance salesman. He killed for money and the love of a woman, but sadly at the end, he ended up with none. The female in this film has the characteristics of being smart, evil, and conniving woman, which makes her truly a femmefatale. However, Neff has the characteristics of being a sucker, unsympathetic, and a killer motivated by lust and greed.

This film has no sex scenes, but it is very explicit into giving sexual intentions through most of the story. This is not a gory film, and at the end the bad guy looses.? Chinatown? also has its own unique personality that makes it different. It was made in 1974, an era when anything could happen without causing too much controversy. This film was shot in color, which gives the movie a lighter brownish orange color.

This movie is told chronologically by the main character J. J Gittes. He is a private investigator, who ends up involve in one of his strange cases. The female character in this film has high morals and is actually a victim of the mystery Gittes got involve in. In the same way, Gittes is also a man with morals who is looking for answers and the truth of the case he got hired for. This film has partial nudity and scenes of the two main characters in bed together. So therefore, this movie can be consider in having a high sexual theme, combined with blood, bad guys that actually win, and corruption in Los Angeles.

These two movies have great reviews through the whole world, but no matter which film noir you see you can always expect it to feature some basic characteristics. For example, the setting is typically in an American big city like San Francisco or Los Angeles. It usually takes place in the 1940's or 50's. The scenes are often shot at night in streets or dark interiors.

The plot is often a double mystery: an introductory mystery and the other a darker more difficult to solve mystery. The femmefatale is usually a beautiful, seductive, and evil woman. The man is usually a? hard boiled? detective or private investigator who is isolated, self reliant, streetwise, and with high morals. Other people that you could encounter in film noir are: gangsters, crooks, psychopaths, hired killers, police men, bartenders, wisecracking office girls, and victims. In my opinion, film noir can be frustrating but also fun, if the viewer tries to solve the cases themselves.