Film Noir (reflection paper)

Film going in the late 1940’s was like going to the candy store, it was for everybody.  The colorful costumes, fancy music and lively performances were all that comprised the film society then. But Film Noir is not about all that fancy stuffs.

            Film Noir is also known as black film which could be considered as dark and mysterious showing stories about the life in the streets,  shady characters, crooked cops, twisted love and bad luck. Furthermore, film noir is really about the darker side of human nature.

            Martin Scorcese, a director, grew up in the era of film noir which showed him the darker side of humanity in an honest way. By saying in an honest way, directors of film noirs got their inspirtation based on what was currently happening in the society in a much deeper context focusing mainly on a person’s anxiety. The reasons why they kill people, matters concerning about each character’s personal interests which resulted to multiple complications in the story.

            Film Noir being films in black and white made it more mysterious in a sense that it added more drama and effect which led the viewers to be affected emotionally, psychologically and critically. In my own context and belief, the black and white effect in the film noir paved a huge way for it to be known before and even upto now wherein when talked about film noir, black and white films come to the minds of some film viewers. The black and white phenomenon was somehow a recall of what film noir looked like back in the days.

            Narration or soliloquy of the major characters was also one noticeable factor in the film noir. A character was always presented with monologue which represented his unspoken thoughts and ideas in mind.

            Women in film noir were portrayed to as more dominant over men when it comes to the point wherein women of long hair, tight clothes and long fingernails decide to seduce men who are by nature, are easily attracted and persuaded by women.

             To sum it all up, film noir allows one’s imagination to take over where the material is not exactly exemplified. It challenges the mind to think, have a battle over curiosity and the emergence of psychological phenomenon.