Analyzing Film Noir

Film Noir is commonly considered to be one of the darker periods in Hollywood's history. The dark overtones and somber music and acting can be attributed to the events that were occurring in the real world at the time (World War II was being fought at the time, and people in general were disillusioned). It gave the average citizen a glimpse into a darker world, a world of crime, corruption, and death. Although Film Noir is not generally considered a "genre" the characters in the movies can be broken down into different categories. Below, each stereotypical Film Noir character is outlined in detail.

The detective:

This man was usually the protagonist of any given film noir movie. He usually had a sidekick or two, and is entrapped, without fail, by the femme fatale. The common failing of the film noir detective is that, regardless of his intentions, he will usually end up causing more damage, rather then repairing damage already done. Mike Hammer (played by Ralph Meeker in Kiss Me Deadly (1955)) is probably the best example of this. Through his continued attempts to thwart the plans of the villain(s)
he unwittingly brings their plot closer to fruition. Indeed, the film ends by implying the end of the world as we know it via atomic destruction, and it is not an exaggeration to say that Mike Hammer was in fact the reason that the villains found the box containing the deadly weapon to begin with.


The femme fatale:

Film Noir movies commonly have what is referred to as a Femme Fatale, a generally sexy woman that will usually get the protagonist (the detective) into trouble. The woman in question may or may not be working for the antagonist of the film. The femme fatale' will usually be a lose cannon, and is probably in some sort of trouble with the law (Kathie Moffet played by Jane Greer in Out of the Past (1947) is a great example of this). Without fail, the femme fatale will have some hand in the downfall of the hero (although the hero may or may not die), and will usually have some deep, dark secret that is revealed at or near the end of the film.

The scheming villain:

For me, this is the most interesting character in film noir. Specifically, the villain is interesting not simply because he is a villain. He is interesting because of the way he does business. This is not a villain who takes sadistic pleasure in killing people. You will not see a scene in film noir wherein the main villain laughs insanely while he disembowels so and so (although that could be because of the time period in which these films were created)-indeed, the closest you ever come to that is probably the scene near the beginning of Kiss Me Deadly, when Christina Bailey (Cloris Leachman) is tortured to death with a pair of pliers. However, even during this rather macabre scene, their is no air of true insanity. She is killed quickly, and brutally, yes, but the viewer gets a sense that the main villain is doing only what he thinks is necessary to ensure the success of his scheme. Also, the main villain is almost never seen performing evil deeds himself. Instead, he relies on his trusty but dumb henchmen to do his dirty work for him. Truly, Film Noir villains fit the diabolical scheming mastermind stereotype to a tee.

Of course, their are other characters of less importance that make film noir what it is-the sidekick secretary, for example. But the three character denominations covered above, in my opinion, are the characters that truly make Film Noir what it is- a dark and somber toned film that gives the viewer insight into a world they would never otherwise set foot in.