blog noir

    Double Indemnity. This film was made in 1944 and now still stands as an icon in film, well in film noir. The term film noir was first used by the French in the 1940's to describe films that portrayed the cynical or sexual, and featured dark elements, all in black and white, of course. The male lead character, Walter Neff, is introduced right away and sets the suspenseful mood. It starts at night and he is clearly anxious, exhibiting fidgety signs of guilt and fear, sweating and smoking cigarettes. He begins a serious voice over, a narration, which helps to guide the storyline after the intriguing introduction. From then much of the movie could be classified as dark, most importantly the characters and setting. The men in the movie, Neff and his boss, Keyes, are dressed in suits, typically dark colored, with hats- these create shadows and allow for hiding of one's face. In contrast, the women are portrayed as elegant and glamorous, with sexual undertones. Phyllis Dietrichson is the leading woman character, and her step-daughter makes appearances too. Her blond hair waves and shines, and the clothing she wears appears luxurious; when she is introduced, she plays innocent and is shown in a glowing light. This image of women as fancy beings and sexual objects persists, though Phyllis' character develops in to something much more conniving and dark.  

The intense narration and fitting clothes are paired well with a visually heavy setting. The darkness of the setting progresses with the duration of the film; such as Phyllis appears lighter in the beginning, so too does the rest of the city. From then on, more and more of the action occurs at night, or in a dark room. The trick of film noir is to create the scene composition based on using minimal lighting, and often times interesting angles will allow for meaningful shadows too. The building darkness if furthered by the use of music as well. With the voice of Neff and a dramatic, somewhat repetitive score, the audience is pulled in. In Neff's narration, he recalls what mistakes he has made, which reveals the true intent of Phyllis. She used him and seems to desire nothing but the money. The driving force behind film noir is the curiously immoral and cruel mindset of the characters by which the audience is so captivated, caught wondering about their own moral fiber.