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I may be old fashioned (I probably am), but like authentic rock & roll music (a combination of rockabilly and rhythm & blues), which is set in a particular era, it seems to have begun forming in the early '50s, ending around 1959. Authentic film noir has certain stirrings in the late '30s and peaks sometime during the '40s, with many excellent noirs being released into the 1950s. But as rock & roll was "Mono," I think film noir is "Black & White," primarily. There's an unmistakable feel to film noir that is aided by being black & white. Films like Chinatown do re-create the genre, but it being a color film seems to take something away from it that's more or less indefinable. There's a certain, bona fide feel to film noir that doesn't seem to happen with more modern films as they seem to be in the post-film noir era. Take L.A. Confidential, for instance. Is it noir? It sure seems to be. But its being in color and R rated, with none of the double entendre or mysterious clues that leave you guessing, it seems to be sort of extra-noir somehow. It's a very fine point, I know, and one that a lot of people will instantly dismiss, but I think it's at least worthy of consideration. |
