German Expressionism

Film Noir

 

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Created in Hollywood and christened by the French, film noir (black film) has long been believed to be the most American film genre. But film noir has its roots in German Expressionism. In an online excerpt from his book, The German Way , Hyde Flippo states that film noir is "largely influenced or created by German and Austrian directors. In fashioning film noir, Hollywood borrowed heavily from the expressionist film techniques and lighting used by German directors in the 1920s, including F.W. Murnau, G.W. Pabst, and Robert Wiene. Many others, such as the Austrian cameraman Karl Freund, came directly out of the German Weimar cinema to Hollywood. German and Austrian film stars, including Peter Lorre, Marlene Dietrich, Paul Henried, Conrad Veidt, and others, have literally played vital roles in film noir. In the 1940s Austrian filmmakers such as Billy Wilder ("Double Indemnity" 1944), Otto Preminger ("Laura" 1944), Fritz Lang ("The Big Heat" 1953), and Hungarian Michael Curtiz ("Casablanca" 1942), as well as American directors John Huston ("The Maltese Falcon," 1941) and Howard Hawks ("The Big Sleep," 1946), among others, painted their urban underworld landscapes and characters with a black-and-white palette accented with a bare-lightbulb contrast between light and shadow."

Flippo also lists the following elements as necessary to film noir:

1. Dark, shadowy, contrasted images filmed in black and white (a contribution of German Expressionism) -- often at night and usually in a gritty urban setting
2. Hard-boiled, cynical, disillusioned characters -- who are nevertheless usually likable
3. male protagonist facing a moral dilemma and/or some kind of threat
4. An alluring, sassy, independent and usually dangerous woman
5. Flashbacks -- a wavering past and present, inextricably linked
6. A voice-over narration
7. A healthy dose of paranoia or, at the very least, a strong sense of insecurity, betrayal, or being trapped
8. Angst, American style
9. Required for "pure" film noir: NO happy ending. A happy ending turns a film noir into a film gris or a melodrama done in noir style.

Among my own favorite film noir classics are: Kiss Me Deadly starring Richard Meeker as Mickey Spillane, Out of the Past with Robert Mitchum and Jane Greer, Gun Crazy starring Peggy Cummins and John Dall, and a current Coen Brothers film, The Man Who Wasn't There starring Frances McDormand and Billy Bob Thornton. Why not make a list of your own favorites?

Film noir essays

Classic Noir Online

shadows (of Expressionism)

The Noir Connection