Your favourite Noir films?
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CanterburyTale — 9 years ago(February 08, 2017 03:43 PM)
Aloysius,I adore Touchez Pas Au Grisbi! What a superb film.Jean Gabin is one of my favourite actors of any nationality (Le Jour Se Leve; Quai Des Brumes; Pepe Le Moko), and Jacques Becker's direction is phenomenal (I also love his prison drama Le Trou). Again, I was uncertain as to whether Touchezwould be considered "Noir", but it certainly is a fantastic film, so it gets my vote!
"Barney SloaneThat's my new nameMy old one's a little more Italian." -
CanterburyTale — 9 years ago(February 08, 2017 03:52 PM)
Thanks very much for the recommendation, Tim.I have not come across Gas-Oil before, but from the synopsis and stars, it looks right up my street.Much obliged.
"Barney SloaneThat's my new nameMy old one's a little more Italian." -
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Aloysius_von_der_Trenck — 9 years ago(February 08, 2017 06:02 PM)
Aloysius, I adore Touchez Pas Au Grisbi!
Again, I was uncertain as to whether Touchezwould be considered "Noir",
Canterbury,
Film Noir is an American invention for American films but using a French word
Some people consider it a "Noir" or "gangster Noir" film
https://whatisfilmnoir.wordpress.com/2009/08/19/touchez-pas-au-grisbi/
while others would classify it as a "crime" film.
There 's no objective, scientific definition for "Noir" and anyway I don't believe in "genres" (we recently had a discussion about that when someone affirmed or suggested that 'The Naked Jungle' (1954 again) is a Sci-Fi film). Also, I don't like pigeonholings of any kind. I use genres, but in a very flexible way. In France, the genre of 'Touchez' can be film dramatique, film policier, film d'action, Thriller, etc
Many centuries ago, Byzantine theologians and philosophers wasted their time for many years trying to determine the gender of angels
and didn't find the answer, of course, among other reasons because they weren't able to catch a single one, dead or alive. Talking about "Noir": Some people consider that Barack Obama is the first "black" president of the United States, but other people object and say that he is a "mulatto", given that his father was a"black-black" Kenyan, while his mother was a "white-white" American.
This is subjective. I consider that
Touchez pas au grisbi
(in French you don't capitalise so much) is "Noir enough"
Other people won't agree with this, so I say: well, fine, let's agree to disagree
Same thing for the very notion of Classic Film: is it because of its age or its quality or what? Is a 1984 film a classic film? where is the dividing line? 1980? 1975? 1970? 1945?
(Excuse me for the digression). -
CanterburyTale — 9 years ago(February 09, 2017 03:12 AM)
Thank you,Aloysius. As you say, genre definitions can often be very subjective.I am aware of all the staples of Film Noir: The narrative, the doom laden plot line, the moral ambiguity, the femme fatale, and of course, the dark,shadowy cinematography. I am also aware that not all Noir Films are about crime, or vice versa (even though most Crime films of the 40's and 50's seem to be labelled Noir in TV listings today). As to whether Noir is a style or a genre Well, that debate can rage on without any comment from me.It is rather like "What was the first Rock and Roll record?", everyone (interested) has an opinion, but ultimately the questions are simply exercises in chasing one's own tail.
"Barney SloaneThat's my new nameMy old one's a little more Italian." -
Aloysius_von_der_Trenck — 9 years ago(February 09, 2017 04:13 AM)
You're welcome, Canterbury. Thank you, I entirely agree with what you say. In fact I have discussed so often the "what-is-and-what-is-not-Noir" issue, even at La Sorbonne, where I studied (History, not Cinema); even with 'Cahiers du cinéma' old friends and acquaintances of mine; even at La Cinémathèque française when it was at Chaillot (Paris), and so long ago, that, frankly, it bores me. And in my opinion, it's a totally sterile debate as well. Like the gender of the angels
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Aloysius_von_der_Trenck — 9 years ago(February 09, 2017 04:14 AM)
You're welcome, Canterbury. Thank you, I entirely agree with what you say. In fact I have discussed so often the "what-is-and-what-is-not-Noir" issue, even at La Sorbonne, where I studied (History, not Cinema); even with 'Cahiers du cinéma' old friends and acquaintances of mine; even at La Cinémathèque française when it was at Chaillot (Paris), and so long ago, that, frankly, it bores me. And in my opinion, it's a totally sterile debate as well. Like the gender of the angels
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Spikeopath — 9 years ago(February 08, 2017 01:41 PM)
I have 13 10/10s - these are through the IMDb noir filter though. I'm going to do a proper top 50 one of these days
I Am a Fugitive from a Chain Gang 1932
Night and the City 1950
The Lost Weekend 1945
White Heat 1949
Angels with Dirty Faces 1938
The Maltese Falcon 1941
Strangers on a Train 1951
Gaslight 1944
The Big Sleep 1946
The Night of the Hunter 1955
Riot in Cell Block 11 1954
Sunset Boulevard 1950
The Third Man 1949
The
SpikeopathHospital Number
217 -
CanterburyTale — 9 years ago(February 08, 2017 04:02 PM)
Spike, Night And The City is absolutely sublime! Seeing your mention of I Am A Fugitive has reminded me of two others, both from 1947,Alberto Cavalcanti's
They Made Me A Fugitve
, and Carol Reed's
Odd Man Out
. Both wonderfully dark films with superb performances, particularly James Mason as the wounded IRA foot soldier in OMO.
"Barney SloaneThat's my new nameMy old one's a little more Italian." -
Spikeopath — 9 years ago(February 08, 2017 04:20 PM)
Absolutely! Both 9/10 films for me.
Odd Man Out (1947)
just gets better with each viewing, it's the gift that keeps on giving.
They Made Me a Fugitive (1947)
is still surprisingly something of an under seen gem,
Howard
brings his
"A"
game,
Heller's
photography has noirville written all over it, whilst there's some dark humour in it as well (gotta love the funeral parlour setting!). Due a rewatch for me
The
SpikeopathHospital Number
217 -
glen_esq — 9 years ago(February 08, 2017 01:58 PM)
I have posters (reproductions sadly) of these five hanging in our TV room, I reckon that makes them favourites.
Kiss Me Deadly
This Gun For Hire
Gun Crazy
Nightmare Alley
Brighton Rock (almost a noir, imdb lists it as a noir)
Kiss Me Deadly is one of the crazier films to come out of the 50s. -
FilioScotia — 9 years ago(February 08, 2017 02:47 PM)
I'm restricting my list of "noir" films to those made after WWII, when so many European and American films reflected the "social darkness" the world was facing in those years.
I put
White Heat (1949)
with James Cagney as the psychopathic Cody Jarrett at the top of my list. No other film of that period comes close to capturing the totally amoral mindset of the criminally inclined in an era when social and moral standards almost disappeared.
I'm really unsure whether
Night of the Hunter
(1954) falls into the "noir" category or not, but it seems to fit the prevailing "noir" template of those times. Imagine Cody Jarrett as a psychopath southern preacher.
I don't know if
The Naked City
(1948) fits into the "noir" template or not, but it is a wonderful exploration of urban police work in the early post-war era.
Most of my friends who have inferiority complexes are absolutely right. -
OldAle1 — 9 years ago(February 08, 2017 03:39 PM)
I won't debate the style vs genre, and I won't debate what years are acceptable, and whether or not it's an America-only thing; I'll just note that my own feeling is that "classic" noir extends roughly from '40-64 - a nice round 25 years, and that it's a worldwide phenomenon. So my list take these personal criteria into account - here are a top 25 roughly in order:
Krakatit
The Reckless Moment
Out of the Past
Touch of Evil
Bab el hadid / Cairo Station / The Iron Gate
Detour
Night of the Hunter
The Third Man
Christmas Holiday
Black Angel
Shadow of a Doubt
The Big Sleep
Try and Get Me
Sunset Blvd
Kiss of Death
Mildred Pierce
Champion
The Red House
The Lady from Shanghai
Act of Violence
The Scar / Hollow Triumph
Blues in the Night
The Naked Kiss
The Big Heat
The Seventh Victim
Here's to the fools who dream -
morrison-dylan-fan — 9 years ago(February 09, 2017 05:38 AM)
Awesome to see Krakatit on your list Ale! Florence Marly is such an underrated Femme Fatale,with Marly being stunning in Krakatit & The Damned,are there any other Marly movies you enjoy?
And to reply to your question on another thread,with you being a fan of Blaxploitation,I highly recommend the book Funky Bollywood,which looks at the unique "genre" films from 70's Bollywood,and is the only book on the subject (after half a dozen I've read) that has found a space on my shelf:
https://www.fabpress.com/funky-bollywood.html -
OldAle1 — 9 years ago(February 09, 2017 04:16 PM)
The only Marly films I've seen are
Krakatit
and
Queen of Blood
where she plays a VERY fatal femme of another kind.
Les maudits
is on my to-see list, someday. Looks like she didn't make that many films, and most of them look somewhat hard to find.
Here's to the fools who dream -
rcocean3 — 9 years ago(February 08, 2017 07:01 PM)
Of course, you get into a problem. What is a film noir and what is crime film? (Wasn't there some CFB/FG old timer who kept running around making fun of Film Noir?)
The Third Man
The Lady from Shanghai
The Big Heat
Elevator the Gallows
Night and the City
Odd Man Out
DOA
The Narrow Margin
The Killers
Laura
Pickup on South Street
The Set Up
Quai des Orfèvres
The Singing Detective -
morrison-dylan-fan — 9 years ago(February 09, 2017 05:09 AM)
Hi Maddy,I hope you are having a good week,and want to say that I would like you to pm details on your upcoming blog. For my top Noir's (not counting Neo or other Noir sub-genres) my top 20 (in no order) are:
1: Chair de poule ( Julien Duvivier)
2: Classe Tous Risques ( Claude Sautet )
3: Casque d'Or (Jacques Becker)
4: Death of a Killer (Robert Hossein )
5: Krakatit ( Otakar Vávra)
6: Panic (Julien Duvivier)
7: Night Is Not for Sleep (Robert Hossein)
8: The Damned (Rene Clement)
9: Who Killed Santa Claus? (Christian-Jaque)
10:The 7th Juror ( Georges Lautner)
11: Razzia sur la chnouf ( Henri Decoin)
12: Le monte-charge (Marcel Bluwal)
13: Goupi mains rouges (Jacques Becker)
14:Manon (Henri-Georges Clouzot)
15: Assassins et voleurs (Sacha Guitry)
16: Retour de manivelle ( Denys de La Patellière)
17: Le Jour se Leve (Marcel Carné)
18: Pépé le Moko (Julien Duvivier)
19: The Murderer Lives at Number 21 (Henri-Georges Clouzot)
20: Terrain vague (Marcel Carné)