Similar Products- Film Noir Movies

Sin City-

Sin City is a very popular, very modern adaptation of Film Noir movie. Directed by Frank Miller and realised in 2005, it is a movie that has the connotations to being your typical film noir plot. Firstly the film is set in black and white, even though it has been created in the modern era, the directors have decided to retain a adaptation that makes film noir movies so unique. Unlike your average film, Sin City has four different stories going on at once, that also interchange between each other. In the opening scene the anti hero in this case is a very charming, yet very brutal assassin; who is named by the film as the salesman, he is soft yet deadly is the best way to describe such a person. Minimal lighting is used in this very urban, very busy city; the only real flash of colour is her dress, which remains red throughout the whole notion of the scene. This highlights the women’s very seductive, very flirtatious nature which is a unique film noir quality. Her eyes are also briefly shined in colour when he starts describing them. The shots throughout this scene are varied between extreme high or low shots, with the very opening shot being an extremely high shot and the very last also being a extreme high shot. In film noir movies the shots are always on the extreme of each other. And lastly the kill itself is very clean, no blood is shown and he ends it by saying “I’ll cash her check in the morning,” a very smooth, yet very brutal ending.

The Maltese Falcon

The Maltese Falcon is a very famous film noir movie that was made in 1941, from its opening scene it has all the settings that portrays a natural film noir film. Set in Black and White, it is a dark and tedious opening with minimal lighting and a lot of low angle shots, to represent the tenacity of the meeting. Both men who are involved in the scene could be seen as the anti-heroes in this film. Firstly the man that walked in with the walking stick was giving the other person a proposal on some sort of doggy deal where there are no questions asked, he always informed him of the £5000 reward if the process where to be completed. This represents that they are both untrustworthy; firstly the gentleman with the stick for proposing the deal and the other man for considering it. But when the scene develops a nasty twist when the man proposing the deal withdraws a gun, threatening the other one, before he gets pouched in the face. This proves that they are both anti-heroes with a evil streak about them, who are prepared to go to large lengths in order to benefit themselves. There is not too much emphasis on the women in the opening scene, however there still is one. An extravagantly dressed attractive woman that is also the secretary of the gentleman considers the proposed deal.

Double Indemnity

This is a film noir film with a slightly different outlook about it. It is set in an urban city and it does use a lot of high and low angle shots like your normal film noir movie, however way that the story is portrayed is slightly different. The scene starts off with a significant usage of low angle shots, then progressing to an extreme high angle shot as the man enters the building. This man is later revealed as anti-hero, this is discovered when he makes an anonymous looking call to someone with a confession. This confession is based on a killing, this killing took place for them money and a women, the two factors that make a film noir film what it is, the two main features of any film noir movie. Little would anyone have thought on the start of the scene, that this ordinary looking insurance salesman could be involved in such a crime of passion and greed.  

Strangers on a train

A stranger on a train, produced in 1951, has a slightly more low key opening sequence than other film noir movies. Throughout the whole scene the two characters in which the camera was following never revealed their faces and the audience never got to see them from the front on, until they met each other on the train. This style of filming may not be as over whelming as other film noir openings; with no seductive girl, or no anti-hero, however though it is just as powering. By representing the two characters like this, it leaves an air of mystery about them, and it gives us a good sense of direction on there characters. The one with the bright shoes is going to be rather more extravagant and rather more overpowering than the one with the black clumpy shoes. The fact that they make their way towards each other shows that they are strangers, but when they bump into each other on the train that represents a connection, the start of an alliance.

Pick Up on South Street

This starts off as a standard film noir movie, plenty of questions and not many answers. The opening sequence is based in an urban setting, along an inner city train which is currently very busy. There are two characters in which the camera is focused on; it shows throughout a whole range of camera angles, starting off with a low camera angle, then developing onto a mid shot, before ending with a high angle shot, as they approach the end of the journey. There is a tall young man and a bald old man; they both seem taken aback by an attractive young lady who is also on the train.  The older man rather more so than the younger man, as he spots the robbery that occurs when the anti-her approaches the lady and takes her purse without her realising. He was the first to rush on ad attempt to catch the thief, who escaped as the doors shut. This is a typical film noir beginning, where a anti-hero is discover, a attractive lady seduces the attention of three males and where money is the focal point for the villain.

All genuine film noir movies have the same ingredients to make it as successful as possible. They are all filmed in black and white, even if they were produced and filmed in the present day and they are set in a busy urban city. The personalities of each of the characters are revealed as well; the anti hero is revealed, these are usually detectives or businessmen they are usually well respected, well introduced people who have a nasty agenda or a score to settle. They also include a seductive, flirtatious female who is either in trouble, causing the trouble or is the one with the deadly fate. And at the end, the final kill or the “Big kill,” as was described in sin city is usually clean, well planned and immaculately executed. Although the ingredients for film noir movies never change, they remain unique to the audience as excitement of the film comes through the whole process of building up the story, off planning the execution and making sure that all the loose ends are tied up. It is one of the only type of film genres where a predictable ending does not matter to the audience.