There are many interesting genres in literature and cinematography. Some allow you to relax, others help get rid of a bad mood, and still others appeal to the moral side of a person, making you think. One of the latter is the "noir" recognized in the 70s of the XX century.
In the beginning there was a word
"Noir" is a French word that means "black". However, no racism: this term covers the American literature of a mass character, popular in the period of the 20-60s of the XX century. Genre noir implies that the work is notable for realism, tough and tense plot.
The heroes of literature created in the noir genre are more like antiheroes. They are prone to self-destruction, self-oppression and self-flagellation. Very often, detective stories were created in the noir genre. But, unlike the classical picture of the investigation, the reader got acquainted with what was happening, observing it from the point of view of the perpetrator, victim or suspect. At the same time, the writers managed to keep the intrigue, gradually revealing the details of the events and revealing the true role of the hero.
Noir literature often "reveals" human weaknesses, shortcomings, cruelty inherent in real life. Dashil Hammett is considered to be one of the founders. "The Maltese Falcon", "Bloody Harvest", "Dane's Curse" are now recognized as detective classics of noir. Also from the authors working in such a complex and tough genre, one can single out Ray Bradbury ("Death is a lonely affair", "Memories of a murder", "Something terrible is coming", etc.), Raymond Chandler ("Goodbye, beauty", "Eternal Dream. High Window", etc.), James Ellroy ("Secrets of Los Angeles", "Black Orchid", etc.).
Genre noir in cinematography
Cinematic films, filmed in the 40s of the XX century, were "summed up" under one genre only by 1955. At this time in France, the film studies bestseller by Etienne Chametton and Raymond Bordet "Panorama of American Cinema Noir" was released. The authors considered the films The Maltese Falcon (John Houston), The Woman in the Window (Fritz Lang), The Lady in the Lake (Robert Montgomery), The Postman Always Rings Twice (Tay Garnet) and others as films, kept in a single gloomy manner.
The main words that most fully describe the genre of noir in cinematography are eroticism, cruelty, hopelessness, strangeness, nightmare, alienation. The main event around which the plot developed was the murder. As a rule, it was distinguished by bloodiness, dynamism, and spectacular visual solutions.
A big role in the noir genre is given to the so-called "femme fatale". Indeed, one of the key moments of this style (both in literature and in cinema) is fate, which intervenes and completely destroys the hero's plans faster than the police. A woman, met by chance, completely changes the life of the main person and "knocks" him off the intended path.
Noir filmmakers focused on murder. The punishment, as a rule, did not matter much. For example, Billy Wilder chose to remove from the ending of the movie "Double Insurance" the scene of the execution of a criminal with an electric chair.
It should be noted that the noir genre has its own philosophy. For every sin, crime or immoral act, the hero will inevitably face reckoning. However, she often does not appear in the frame. Some films (for example, "Let's Pay After Death") generally offer the audience to condemn the criminals. This redirection is supposed to make people think about life, death, and what they are doing.
