Really tough question to answer, as it's original definition has broadened to include films which would not have qualified originally. Basically, it's a film where the director uses low level lighting, shadows, smoke, wardrobe,setting, etc. to create an atmosphere of uncertainty and moodiness, which is intended to leave the viewer with a sense of tension, and a percpetion of the world depicted as cold and dangerous. They usually star what would now be called anti-heroes, sort of the knight with muddy boots kind of thing, but the idea being that this character is often the only one we can trust. Take a look at The Big Sleep, for example, and count how many scenes take place during a bright and sunny day, how many shots of faces other than the lead are not obscured by the brim of a hat, a shadow, smoke, etc. Very, very few...Part of the idea is usually an anti-hero trying to look for/stand up for some sort of black and white morality in a world shaded in grey, with everyone else looking out for number one... Also, there are films like, say the Ipcress File, or some Westerns which could be classified Film Noir were they not so easily classified in other genres...sorry if I've confused you more than enlightened, although that would be appropriate...
That's the worst one, IMO, but there are other reasonably recent stinkers...Hoffman winning for Rain Man, which was a 2 dimensional performance, although done very well...Crowe over Hanks for Gladiator over Cadt Away, which, for pure acting and the demands of the role, wasn't even close...Cast Away depended 100% on Hanks ability to act, largley alone, and he pulled it off for 2 hours, an incredible feat...Gladiator, while among my favorite films, was not nearly as dependant on Crowe, nor was the role as demanding...but they were, as they often do, making up for overlooking him for the Insider...Pacino getting it for Scent of a Woman, which was a one note performance was ridiculous...Howard not even being nominated for Apollo 13, whcih was a director based a film as you'll ever see, while the movie itself gets nominated for Best Picture was baffling...Tomei for Best Supp. Actress over the likes of Dench and Thompson has become notorious...Denzel won for a farily pedestrian performance...there are others...but Titanic over L.A. rankles the most...
Can't believe no one has mentioned The Man Who Wasn't There. I think the Coens really captured the feeling of film noir and Thornton is great in it.
My favorite are: Chinatown Blood Simple LA Confidential Usual Suspects Does Gosford Park qualify as Film Noir? If so i would add it to my list I have always heard that Maltese Falcon is suposed to be the top movie in this genre but i have never gotten around to renting it. I will likely rent it this weeked.
A better title to this thread could've been: Top ten movies that Fatty's never seen. Not a one! Oh well, back to watching U.H.F. and Caddyshack for me!
I loved Road to Perdition, but my limited understanding is that film noir has to have a bit of mystery to it. There was really no mystery in Road to Perdition. Still, it's one of my favorite movies of the last 10 years.
Be sure to get a DVD that's been made from a remastered print, if you can. It's hard to believe that this was John Huston's first film as a director. He wrote it as well. I would compare his debut with Orson Welles and Citizen Kane.
I absolutely LOVED Gosford Park, and I considered it, but I'd have to say that IMO, it qualifies more as a classic Murder Mystery/Whodunnit, or a parody of same more so than a Film Noir, although I can totally see why some would see the connection. Many films have used film noir principles and applied them to other recognoized genres; the Hustler and Raging Bull in the sport/competition genre, Ipcress File and Spy Who Came In From The Cold in the spy thriller, Warlock and Pat Garrett & Billy The Kid in Westerns, etc. but these still qualify more in their own genres than as film noirs as such. Mysteries, like Gosford Park, are the most akin/indistinguishable from film noirs...take Klute; in many, many ways it would be a film noir, if it is it should at least get Hon. mention...but it also could be said to be a straight mystery. Tough call...
Macbeth, fine list of one of my favorite genres. Maltese Falcon, Chinatown and LA Confidential would have to be my favorites, with Seven in the mix. I think LA Confidential was one of Crowe's best performances, but to me the best all time performance in a noir film was Bogart. No one could top that guy for screen presence and charisma.
