Independent Study: Men and Women in Film Noir

   

Independent Study

Film Noir is a cinematic style that is recognisable by its pessimistic and dark themes. It originated in the 1940s after the Second World War and it reflects the paranoia and scepticism that was present in society at the time. Without the war film noir never would have existed, writers and directors fed off the darkness created by WW2 and the horrors that people had seen.  However, it couldn’t survive the 1950s because people wanted something more hopeful and positive. The conventions of film noir include: shadows, the theme of fate, murder, chiaroscuro lighting, canted angles and rainy streets. These all link into the melancholy atmosphere of film noir. There are also several key character types that are present in film noir. For example, there is the femme fatale, this is usually the main female character that the protagonist falls in love with. These women seem to be ordinary but they have dark pasts and their loyalty lies with the antagonist of the film. This commonly leads to the protagonist being framed by her or tricked into committing a serious crime. The protagonist is usually as man who has no future and is an underdog. This reflects the way many men felt after experiencing the war.

In film noir the protagonist is usually a male detective or private eye, this alienates them for society and creates a feeling a social estrangement. A common trope of the protagonist is amnesia, this further excludes them from society as they struggle to rediscover their memories. They also work in dehumanising areas such as red light districts or desolate office buildings, the cities they live in are metropolises full of corruption and criminals. The protagonist often gets caught up in the crime that dominates their city. Often, these men don’t have a future and they are doomed from the beginning of the film. This reflects the way many men felt after WW2 because the world they knew had been destroyed and they were left trying to put the pieces back together. These cynical and obsessive men struggle to survive and ultimately they lose this battle.

The antagonist of a film noir is usually a corrupt politician or gangster. They are cold blooded and have little regard for other people or how their actions affect them. They are the main source of violence in the film and often have an air of charisma surrounding them. A common motive for the antagonist is money because it was the main way to get ahead in a world full of poverty. The antagonist can also have had a previous or current relationship with the femme fatale. An example of an antagonist in film noir is Harry Lime.

An example of a male protagonist in film noir is Holly Martins from The Third Man. Holly is a pulp writer who has travelled to Vienna after receiving news of the death of his friend Harry Lime. Holly quickly gets caught up in the mystery of his friend’s death and falls in love with the film’s femme fatale Anna Schmidt.

Holly Martins is an unusual protagonist because even though his writing can alienate him from society he lacks the darkness that is commonly associated with the male lead of a film noir. Instead he is a fool that easily falls in love, however, his erratic temper and final decision could connect him with other protagonists. Martin’s decision to kill Lime at the end of the film isn’t unusual for the protagonist of a film noir. By doing this Martins believes he is doing the right thing but in the end it costs him Anna Schmidt and his innocence. Martins often confuses fiction with reality and his disillusion is shown at the end of the film when he believes that Anna would still want to be with him after he killed her old lover.

Harry Lime, Martins “dead” friend was part of a crime ring that sold diluted penicillin that killed several people, including children. Lime is an example of a cold hearted antagonist, when Holly is close to discovering information about Harry from a doorman, Lime has him killed. This shows that he doesn’t care about the lives of others, instead he is only concerned by his own wellbeing. Lime also has no regrets about the deaths that he has caused, this shows his detachment from society because he can’t understand the guilt that he should feel.

         

During this scene Holly and Harry discuss the deaths that Harry has caused and his indifference towards his actions. Lime tries to reason with Martin, saying that the people he has killed are inconsequential and meaningless compared to the amount of money he could make off of their deaths but Holly isn’t convinced. During this scene we discover that Harry’s motive is money, this establishes Harry’s disconnection from humanity and his callous view of society because he doesn’t care about the peoples’ death, only the money he can gain from it. Lime is transparently evil and could be interpreted as Lucifer like as he tries to tempt Holly into committing unforgivable sins.

 

The protagonist of Kiss Me Deadly is Mike Hammer, he is a private eye whose trademarks are brutish violence and a ruthless pursuit of criminals. Hammer is a typical male protagonist of a film noir because he is dark and brooding. Mike’s job separates him from society because he is always looking for the worst in people. This could mimic the paranoia still present in society by the 50s because nobody trusted each other and feared the rise of groups similar to that of the Nazis. His actions lead to death and destruction which is also a common trope of film noir as the protagonists story always ends badly.  Hammer is also prone to violence, this emphasises his masculine strength and would help the male audience connect with him because they had also experienced mass violence and cruelty. Mike is also searching for something more in his life, he doesn’t just want to hunt down cheating spouses, and instead he wants to be involved in something bigger. This could also reflect male views at the time because they felt lost without the war and needed something to ground them.

          

During the opening sequence of Kiss Me Deadly, Mike Hammer nearly hits Christiana Bailey with his car because she runs into the middle of the road in an attempt to hitch a ride. Hammer offers Christiana a ride even though she could have damaged his car, this easily allows the audience to identify Mike as the protagonist because despite his slightly darker side he is still kind enough to help her and to do the right thing. Hammer starts to question her as they drive, this shows his inquisitive nature and hinting at his job as a private eye. As they are pulled over for questioning by the police about a women who escaped an asylum, which turns out to be Christiana, Mike’s intelligence is shown because he is quick to think of an excuse so they avoid further interrogation from the police. This typical of a protagonist of a film noir because they have to use their intelligence to survive the brutal world that they live in.

The most common character type for women in film noirs is the femme fatale. This is a women who is the complete opposite of the perfect housewife and she is repulsed by the idea of marriage because it would mean the loss of her independence and sex life. These women are dangerous as they are driven by their desire to remain free and are willing to kill to escape the clutches of a man who wants to tame them and make them their own. In film noirs women are seen as objects for men to collect and in films such as ‘I Wake Up Screaming’ men are disgruntled by their inability to make the femme fatale their own. This cold represent the way that women were viewed during the 40s and 50s as they were only valued for the looks and little else mattered. Unlike the ideal housewife, femme fatales are incapable of devotion to one man and they are promiscuous, intelligent and narcissistic. They usually manipulate the male protagonist into falling in love with them and then they betray this trust by using them as the fall guy to achieve their own means. However, these women rarely have a happy ending either and like the male protagonist they are doomed to live, or die, is the darkness that fills their world. This independent and commanding female character could be the reflection of the independence and power that women gained during WW2 whilst they took over men’s jobs because they were away fighting. However, the femme fatales tragic end could reflect men’s response and dislike towards this new found authority.

There is also the character type of the dutiful, loving and trustworthy helper or assistant that is the complete opposite of the femme fatale. They represent the ideal of the nuclear family, but the hero rarely has a relationship with this character because they are also opposites of the protagonist as they are gritty and dark. The “good” women is also too boring and safe for the protagonist compared to the dangerous and alluring femme fatale.

Anna Schmidt is an actress in Vienna, she was Harry Lime’s lover before his “death”. We first met Anna at Harry’s funeral when Holly takes interest in her. This reinforces the idea that women were only valued for their beauty because Martins want to get to know her just because of her looks and the air of mystery that surrounds her. Holly quickly develops feelings for Anna leading him to make decisions based on her interests in an attempt to win her and to get her to return his feeling. However, Anna is unwaveringly committed to Harry Lime despite him seeing her as nothing more than a plaything and an object to use. Her devotion to Lime is shown when she rips up the papers that mean her freedom to go and warn Harry that he’s in a trap. Her love for Lime is further shown when she rejects Martins at the end of the film because he killed Harry. Anna under goes a transformation during the film, at the beginning she is passive and destroyed by grief but once she learns that Harry is alive she becomes the femme fatale, she causes actions that she refuses to take the blame for.
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During this scene Anna walks straight past Martins as he calls out to her. This shows just how devoted Anna was to Lime because despite his awful crimes she still loves and hate Holly for causing his death. This kind of dedication was typical of couples of the time, even though Harry and Anna aren’t a normal couple, because when you met someone you tended to stay with them for the rest of your life no matter what. Anna’s lack of care about Harry’s crimes could show that like most femme fatales she has little care for the law or regard for human lives. This could be because she feels excluded from society and therefore has no connections to it. She is also a typical femme fatale because she won’t be tied down to Holly and choses independence instead of him. This shows just how much women valued their new found power after being tied to men for centuries.

Christiana is the first character that we meet in Kiss Me Deadly emphasising her importance despite the fact that she doesn’t survive past the first act of the film. She is only wearing a trench coat which makes her character sexualised but Hammer never takes advantage of her because of this and instead helps her even though he doesn’t know what she is running from. Christiana’s need to be rescued makes her very unlike a femme fatale and instead more like an ideal women of the time as she appears to be fragile and vulnerable to attacks that she would have no chance at defending herself against. This is emphasised by the way she holds onto Hammer when they are approaching the police who are looking for her, this shows that she’s not strong enough to face them alone and instead needs Hammer’s support. However, she also starts to lean on Mike to disguise herself as his wife, this shows her intelligence because she knows that to get past without arousing suspicion she needs to blend in and appear innocent.

 

In conclusion, in film noirs men are represented as strong, brooding cynics that have no future and are doomed to fall prey to the femme fatale and her destructive nature. This suggests that at the time these film noirs were created people didn’t trust one another and had a disapproving view of others. Therefore, it implies that society was full of fear and that people didn’t have anyone to turn to. We could use these character types in our thriller by introducing a character that has an untrusting approach to other characters and is caught up in the crime that is present in their city. Women are shown to be controlling and powerful, we could replicate this in our thriller by having a female character that dominates the shot and captures the attention of the audience.