'The Femme Fatale' in Film Noir : Fatale Attraction?
FemmeFatale is a stock character, a villainous woman who uses the malign power of sexuality in order to ensnare the hapless hero.
The phrase is French for "deadlywoman". She is typically portrayed as sexually insatiable.
She has existed, in one form or another, in folklore and myth in nearly all cultures. Some of the earliest examples include the Sumerian goddess Ishtar and the Judeo-Christian characters Lilith, Eve, Delilah and Salomé.
During the late 19th and early 20th century, the Femme Fatale became ubiquitous in Western culture and can be found in the works of OscarWilde, EdvardMunch, GustavKlimt, among others. This is likely to have been a reaction to women's movements and the changing role of women at the time.
With the introduction of FILMNOIR in the 1940's, the Femme Fatale began to flourish in Pop culture. Examples include espionage thrillers, and in a number of adventure comic strips, such as 'The Spirit' by Will Eisner, or 'Terry and the Pirates' by Milton Caniff.
In the Anglo-Saxon world, she is often of foreign extraction. She is often portrayed as a sort of sexual vampire; Her dark appetites were thought to be able to leach away the virility and independence of her lovers, leaving them shells of their former selves.
Only by escaping her embraces could the hero be rescued. On this account, in earlier Americanslang Femmes Fatales were often called "vamps", a word that is associated with the fashions of the 1920's.
A classic portrayal of a Femme Fatale is given in LawrenceDurrell's 'Alexandria Quartet' in the character of Justine.
In Opera and musical theater, the Femme Fatale is usually played by a mezzo-soprano, and is sometimes the enemy of the Ingenue and/or the damsel in distress.
Some argue that the figure has a male counterpart. Some examples could be Heathcliff from 'Wuthering Heights', or many of the heroes in LordByrons books.
Film Noir is a sub-genre of crime films that developed in the United States during World War II that featured people acting out of desparation in a bleak and morally ambiguous world. They were made in black and white, and had a dark, high-contrast, expressionistic visual style. Film Noir is primarily based on the hard-boiled crime fiction of the thirties (many Films Noir were adaptations of those novels) and the dark gangster films of the thirties.
Film noir is French for "black film", and is pronounced accordingly ("film nwahr"): the plural is Films Noirs.
History
The term FILM NOIR is often attributed to French film critic Nino Frank. Prior use of the term has been cited to the French writing team Thomas Narcejac and Pierre Boileau whose novels were adapted into films: 'D'Entre les Morts/From Among the Dead' became Alfred Hitchcock's "Vertigo" (1958); 'Celle qui n'était plus/She Who Was No More' became "Les Diaboliques" (H-G. Clouzot, 1955).
Ultimately, the term derived from the name of a long-running series of hard-boiled detective fiction books entitled Série Noire, from the French pattern of naming a series of books after the color of their bindings.
Precursors
The aesthetics of Film Noir are heavily influenced by German Expressionism (like LANG's "M - Eine Stadt sucht einen Mörder", 1931). When Adolf Hitler took over Germany, many important (Jewish) film artists were forced to emigrate (among them were Fritz LANG, Billy WILDER, and Robert SIODMAK). They took with them techniques they developed (most importantly the dramatic lighting and the subjective, psychological point of view) and made some of the most famous Films Noir.
Concurrent with the development of German Expressionism were expressionistic gangster films in America in the 30s, such as "I am a Fugitive from a Chain Gang" (M. LeROY, 1932) and "Scarface" (H. Hawks, 1932).
Another important influence came from Italian neorealism.
Many Noir Films adopted a neorealist approach of using on-location photography with non-professional extras. Additionally, some noir films strove to depict comparatively ordinary or downtrodden people with unspectacular lives in a manner similar to neorealist films, such as "The Lost Weekend" (1945) and "In a Lonely Place" (1950).
The main literary influence on Film Noir came from books by The Black Mask writers DashiellHammett ('The Maltese Falcon') and RaymondChandler. "Murder My Sweet" (1944), based on Chandler's 'Farewell, My Lovely' and "The Big Sleep" (1946) became among the most famous films noirs.
Classic film noir
Most experts regard "The Maltese Falcon" (1941) to be the first true film noir and "Touch of Evil" (1958) to be the last. Many of these films were low-budget supporting features without major stars, in which 'moonlighting' writers, directors and technicians, some of them blacklisted, found themselves relatively free from big-picture restraints.
Many of the most popular examples of Film Noir center upon a woman of questionable virtue and are also known as bad girl movies. Major studio feature films demanded a wholesome, positive message. Weak and morally ambiguous lead characters were ruled out by the "star system", and secondary characters were seldom allowed any depth or autonomy.
In "A" films, flattering soft lighting, deluxe interiors and elaborately-built exterior sets were the rule of the day. Noir turned all this on its head, creating bleak but intelligent dramas tinged with nihilism and cynicism, in real-life urban settings, and using unsettling techniques such as the confessional voice-over or hero's-eye-view camerawork. Gradually the noir style re-influenced the mainstream it had subverted.
Film Noir outside of the U.S.
While many consider Film Noir to be a strictly American phenomenon, there have been a number of films made outside of the U.S. that have, from time to time, been considered Film Noir.
Director Jules DASSIN moved to France in the early fifties as a result of the Hollywood blacklist and made one of the most famous 'French films noir', "Du Rififi Chez les Hommes" (1955). Other well-known French films sometimes considered to be Noir include "Touchez pas au Grisbi" (1954), "Les Diaboliques" (1955) and "Quai des Orfèvres" (1947).
Additionally, the British director Sir Carol Reed made "The Third Man" (1949), which is often considered a Noir Film. It is set in Vienna immediately after the war, with the collaboration of Joseph Cotten and Orson Welles, both prominent American film noir actors.
Certainly neo-Noir has not been limited to the United States.
The popularity and influence of Film Noir has expanded all over the world, and neo-Noir Films have been made in most countries with a prominent film industry. These include "High and Low" (Japan), "Insomnia" (Norway), "Alphaville" (France), "The American Friend" (Germany), and "Blind Shaft" (China).
Neo-noir and the influence of Film Noir
In the 1960s American filmmakers like Sam Peckinpah, Arthur PENN and Robert Altman created genre films that broke the strict format of the genre's rule to convey social and political messages.
In "The Long Goodbye" (1973) Altman's hard-boiled detective is presented as a hapless bungler who can't help but lose the "moral battle". While not a direct descendant or derivative, the 'Spaghetti Westerns' of Italian director Sergio Leone incorporated the moral ambiguity and gritty characterizations of Film Noir, reviving the moribund genre of the American Western.
The genre has been parodied (both ruthlessly and affectionately) on many occasions, the most notable examples being Steve Martin's black-and-white "cut and paste" homage "Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid" (1982), and Woody ALLEN's "Play It Again, Sam" (1972).
Many of Joel and Ethan COEN's films are excellent examples of modern films influenced by the Film Noir genre - especially "The Man Who Wasn't There" (2001), the comedy "The Big Lebowski" (1998), whose title recalls 'The Big Sleep', and "Blood Simple" (1984), the title of which was lifted from the DashiellHammett story 'Red Harvest'.
The cynical, pessimistic worldview of Noirs strongly influenced the creators of the cyberpunk genre of science fiction in the early 1980s. "Blade Runner" (1982) is among the most popular films coming from this era. Characters in these films are derived from 1930s gangster films and, more importantly, from pulp fiction magazines such as 'The Shadow', 'Dime Mystery Detective' and 'Black Mask'.
Recent development related to Film Noir-type media include the 2005 comic book movie "Sin City" and even a video game, "Max Payne 2: The Fall of Max Payne". Many films that contain Film Noir aspects but were not made in the 1940s or 1950s are called "neo-noir".
Characteristics
Visual style Noir films tended to include dramatic shadows and stark contrast using low-key lighting and monochrome film, typically resulting in a 10:1 ratio of light to dark, rather than the more typical 3:1 ratio. Noir is also known for its use of dutch angles, low-angle shots, and wide angle lenses. A number of noir films were shot on location in cities, and night-for-night shooting was common.
Setting
Film Noir tends to revolve around flawed and desparate characters in an unforgiving world. Crime, usually murder, is an element of all Films Noir, often sparked by jealousy, corruption, or greed. Most Films Noir contain certain archetypal characters (such as hardboiled detectives, femmesfatales, corrupt policemen, jealous husbands, insurance agents, or down-and-out writers), familiar locations (downtown Los Angeles, New York, or San Francisco), and archetypal storylines (heist films, detective stories, court films, and films about rigged boxing games).
Outlook
Film Noir is at its core pessimistic. The stories it tells are of people trapped in a situation they did not want, often a situation they did not create, striving against random uncaring fate, and usually doomed. Almost all Film Noir plots involve the hard-boiled, disillusioned male and the dangerous femmefatale. Usually because of sexual attraction or greed, the male commits vicious acts, and in the end both he and thefemmefatale are punished or even killed for their actions.
Notable Noir Films :
"The Maltese Falcon" (J. Huston, 1941) "Murder, My Sweet" (E. Dmytryk, 1944) "Double Indemnity" (B. WILDER, 1944) "Laura" (O. PREMINGER, 1944) "Detour" (E.G. ULMER, 1945) "Mildred Pierce" (M. CURTIZ, 1945) "The Big Sleep" (H. Hawks, 1946) "Gilda" (C. VIDOR, 1946) "The Postman Always Rings Twice" (T. Garnett, 1946) "The Killers" (R. SIODMAK, 1946) "The Lady from Shanghai" (O. Welles, 1947) "Out of the Past" (J. Tourneur, 1947) "Lady in the Lake" (R. Montgomery, 1947) "Force of Evil" (A. POLONSKY, 1948) "Key Largo" (J. Huston, 1948) "The Third Man" (C. Reed, 1949) "Gun Crazy" (J.H. LEWIS, 1949) "White Heat" (R. Walsh, 1949) "Sunset Blvd. (B. WILDER, 1950) "The Asphalt Jungle" (J. Huston, 1950) "Strangers on a Train" (A. Hitchcock, 1950) "The Big Carnival" (B. WILDER, 1951) "Angel Face" (O. PREMINGER, 1952) "The Big Heat" (F. LANG, 1953) "Kiss Me Deadly" (R. Aldrich, 1955) "The Big Combo" (J.H. LEWIS, 1955) "Touch of Evil" (O. Welles, 1958)
Directors associated with the Noir style include John Huston, BillyWILDER, Sir Alfred Hitchcock, and Orson Welles.
Further Reading:
PaulaRABINOWITZ, 'Black & White & Noir: America's Pulp Modernism', Columbia University Press 2002
An Atheist Jew is a member of the Jewish community who does not believe in God but still considers himself or herself a Jew. Some Jewish atheists retain customs of the Jewish faith, while others identify as Jewish primarily through ethnic or cultural ties.
Because Jewishness encompasses ethnic as well as religious components, it should be noted that the term "Atheist Jew" does not imply any kind of contradiction, unlike, for example "Atheist Methodist" or "Atheist Baptist." Even the most Orthodox of Jewish authorities would accept as fully Jewish an atheist with a Jewish mother, according to Jewish law's emphasis on matrilineal descent.
Jewish atheism can take both organized and unorganized forms. On the one hand, there is a long tradition of atheistic and secular Jewish organizations, from the Jewish socialist Bund in early twentieth-century Poland to the modern Society for Humanistic Judaism in the United States. Many Jewish atheists feel comfortable within any of the four major Jewish denominations (Orthodox, Reform, Conservative, and Reconstructionist). Again, this presents less of a contradiction than might first seem apparent given even traditional Judaism's emphasis on practice over belief. Much recent Jewish theology makes few if any metaphysical claims and is thus compatible with atheism on an ontological level. The founder of the Reconstructionist movement, MordechaiKaplan, espoused a naturalistic definition of God, while some post-Holocaust theology has also eschewed a personal God.
Other Jewish atheists remain deeply uncomfortable with the use of theistic language, however defined. However, for such Jews traditional practice and symbolism can still retain powerful meaning. For example, to an Atheist Jew, the Menorah might represent the infinite power of the Jewish spirit. No mention of a divine force in Jewish history would be accepted literally; the Torah may be viewed as a common mythology of the Jewish people, not a faith document or correct history.
There are a number of people who were although have Jewish ancestory are atheists and do not concider themselves Jews. The has been some movement in some Jewish groups about deciding that Judaism is a religion, not a race, stating that non-practicing Jews should be called simply 'atheists" not "atheist Jews".
Many Jewish atheists would reject even this level of ritualized and symbolic identification, instead embracing a thorough-going secularism and basing their Jewishness entirely in ethnicity and secular Jewish culture.
Famous Jewish atheists include SigmundFreud, KarlMarx and WoodyAllen.
Charles V (58), Holy Roman Emperor, King of Spain.
Harrison, George (58, brain tumour), English leadgitarist ("The Beatles").
HEINE, Heinrich (58), German poet and essayist.
LÉVY, [aKa Pierre VICTOR], Benny (58), French writer and philosopher.
Proesmans, Roos (58), Belgian Women's rights activist ("Dolle Mina").
Robert, Malcolm (58), English singer.
RUBINER, Ludwig (58), German poet and dramatist.
Sullivan, Sir Arthur (58, bronchitis), English composer and conductor.
TOEPLITZ, Otto (58), German mathematician.
White, Barry (58, stroke), U.S. soul singer.
YANOVSKY, Zal (58, heart attack), U.S. gitarist ("The Lovin Spoonful").
Corelli, Arcangelo (59), Italian composer.
Best, George (59, pneumonia), Irish footballer.
Fry, Varian M. (59, heart attack), U.S. journalist, editor and classicist, known as "the American Schindler"; became a 'Righteous Among The Nations' (Yad Vashem - 1995).
Gable, Clark (59, heart attack), U.S. actor.
Herder, Johann Gottfried (59), German critic and poet.
Holst, Gustav (59), English composer.
LOESSER, Frank (59, lung cancer), U.S. composer.
MONTAIGNE, Michel Eyquem, seigneur de (59), French essayist.
Racine, Jean (59), French dramatist and poet.
Sacher-Masoch, Leopold Ritter von (59), Austrian lawyer and writer.
Satie, Erik (59), French composer.
Springfield [b. Mary O'Brien OBE], Dusty (59, breast cancer), English pop and soul singer.
Biddeloo, Karel (60, cancer), Belgian comic artist ("The Red Knight").
Brassens, Georges (60, cancer), French singer-songwriter and poet.
Derickson [b. Ulrike Patzelt], Uli (60, cancer), U.S. TWA flight attendant of Czech origin ('Silver Cross for Valor').
Klee, Paul (60, tuberculosis), Swiss-born painter.
Ouwens, Kees (60), Dutch poet and writer.
Smetana, Bedrich (60, dementia due syphilis), Czech composer.
Vliet, Eddy van (60, brain tumour), Belgian/Flemish poet and lawyer.
WASSERMANN, Jakob (60), German novelist.
Hegel, G.W. Friedrich (61); German philosopher.
OFFENBACH [b. Jacob EBERST], Jacques (61), German-born French composer.
RASKIN, Jef (61, pancreatic cancer), U.S. computer engineer, mathematician and interface designer (Apple 'Macintosh').
Zimmerman, Denise (61), Belgian actress.
Anthierens, Johan (62, Hodgkin's Lymphoma disease), Belgian journalist, satirist and writer.
Dvorák, Antonin (62), Czech composer.
Faith, Adam (62, coronary), English pop singer and actor.
GAINSBOURG, Serge [b. Lucien GINZBURG] (62, heart attack), French poet and singer-songwriter.
Jean Paul [b. Richter] (62), German novelist.
KRAUS, Karl (62), Austrian critic, dramatist and publisher.
Leoncavallo, Ruggiero (62), Italian composer.
Luther, Martin (62), German religious reformer.
Melcher, Terry (62, cancer), U.S. music producer.
OPPENHEIMER, J. Robert (62, cancer of the throat), U.S. nuclear physicist.
Ravel, Maurice (62, brain damage due a surgery), French composer.
Rubens, Sir Peter Paul (62), Belgian/Flemish painter.
Van Avermaet, Daniël (62), Belgian film producer and restaurateur.
Lord (Gareth) Williams of Mostyn (62), English Labour Party politician and lawyer ('House of Lords').
WITTGENSTEIN, Ludwig Josef (62, prostate cancer), Austrian-born English philosopher.
Zola, Émile (62, accidentally suffocated by charcoal fumes), French novelist.
Brahms, Johannes (63), German composer.
Britten, Benjamin (63), English composer.
Rembrandt van Rijn (63), Dutch painter.
Vivaldi, Antonio (63, infection), Italian composer.
My beloved -maternal- GRANDMOTHER (63, cancer).
Some non-natural deaths:
diarist Anne FRANK (15, murdered in KZ); Lady Jane Grey (16, executed); Caesarion (17, murdered); poet Thomas Chatterton (17, poisoned himself); pharaoh Tutankhamun ["King Tut"] (18, murdered); Joan of Arc (19, executed); Eddie Cochran (21, car accident); revolutionary hero Cpt. Nathan Hale (21); Buddy Holly (22, air disaster); athlete Ivo Van Damme (22, car accident); singer Ian Curtis (23, suicide); actor River PHOENIX (23, drug-induced heart failure); James Dean (24, car accident); John Wilkes Booth (26); singer Nick Drake (26, overdose of antidepressants); Lucan (26, suicide); Gram Parsons (26, drug overdose); Kurt Cobain (27, suicide); Jimi Hendrix (27, overdose of sleeping pills); Janis Joplin (27, overdose of heroin); Jim Morrison (27, drug overdose?); Tim Buckley (28, overdose); singer Marc BOLAN (29, car accident); Anne Boleyn (29, beheaded); poet/playwright Christopher Marlowe (29, stabbed); Romantic poet Sir Percy Bysshe Shelley (29, drowned); Hank Williams (29, accidental overdose of morphine & alcohol); Jeff Buckley (30, drowned); matador 'Manolete' (30); painter Keith Haring (31, AIDS); emperor Nero (31, suicide?); businessman Brian EPSTEIN (32, overdose); racing cyclist Marco Pantani (34, suicide); singer Elliott Smith (34, suicide); actor Patrick Dewaere (35, suicide); singer Mary Hansen (36); Marilyn Monroe (36, overdose of barbiturates); director Rainer Werner Fassbinder (37, overdose); boxer Sonny Liston (38, drug overdose); poet/dramatist Federico García Lorca (38, executed); composer Howard ASHMAN (40, AIDS); John Lennon (40, murdered); actress Marie Trintignant (41, murdered); singer Freddie Mercury (45, AIDS); Yukio Mishima (45, suicide); satirist Kurt TUCHOLSKY (45, suicide?); author Albert Camus (46, car accident); film maker Theo van Gogh (47, slaughtered); Dee Dee Ramone (49, overdose); general Aleksandr Lebed (52, air disaster); master chef Bernard Loiseau (52, suicide); Herman Brood (54, suicide); Pim Fortuyn (54, murdered); politician Jürgen Möllemann (57, suicide); Alain Van der Biest (58, suicide); Rock Hudson (59, AIDS); mathematician Lev D. LANDAU (60, car accident), poet Paul Snoek (47, car accident).
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