I chafe a little at the designation neo-Noir, because it feels like a distinction without a difference. There is plenty of work created in the style of Noir, and much which minics the genre tongue-in-cheek to effect a mood without actually paying tribute.
Noir is a hard thing to pin down, but you know it when you see it.
Unlike some critics, I think genuine Noir can be created today. It is like saying you can't make a western anymore because the golden age of westerns is over. You can make a western, but you will be either doing two things: paying homage or creating a modern reflection which reflects today's ideals. To me, homages are like the new Star Wars film by JJ Abrams, a carefully crafted nostalgia piece which aims to honor the past without upsetting the fans of the past.
Unforgiven by Clint Eastwood is a good example of a modern reflection of the western genre, and I feel Noir can be the same way. You can create something with entirely modern views, ideals, and conflicts in the style of a Noir or a western or any other genre, like Mr. Eastwood has done with his western. Unforgiven isn't a tribute movie by a long shot, and it respects the western past while reflecting what we know now or even modern conflicts onto that canvas.
The canvas is what is am aiming at here. To me, the Noir style is a canvas in which we paint either an homage to the era or a modern reflection of Noir upon.
The production of true, authentic, of-the-times Noir is over. That Noir reflected the struggles and age in which they were filmed, through a narrow lens controlled by the Film Board and limited by the studio system. To produce Noir which reflects those struggles in the same light would be an homage to the genre, and this isn't to diminish homages, but it is important to know what you are doing. Again, it feels like the Star Wars film, the days of making true Star Wars movies is over, and at best we can pay homage to them with careful reproductions of that feeling and look.
Though a new Star Wars movie could reflect today's struggles, and that is what I am waiting to see. Does the new movie take the genre farther? Does it reflect what we know now upon that science fantasy canvas, or does it paint something similar but not challenging our notions of what Star Wars could be?
If you are thinking you run the risk of angering people by creating something new you are on the right track. Many people want to live in the warm, fuzzy glory of the past, and that is their right, and I am also a fan of these works. We all love carefully crafted homages or parodies, and these images and feelings represent the era in which we grew up and love - and also identify with. There is nothing wrong with playing the classics, but there is a beauty in the creation of something new, as well.
A balance, perhaps, but more importantly recognizing and respecting homage versus the new.
Knowing what we know now, we could shine a new light on the era, and use Noir as a canvas upon which to create new works reflecting that era - or even today. This in my feelings would be a new work in the Noir tradition, and worthy of the distinction. As long as it did not slip into parody or rote repitition of some sort of gumshoe presentation, you could create a new work and in a way pay homage while creating something new.
The Noir style can exist today, in my feeling. We can reflect what is happening today upon this canvas and make meaningful and compelling works. The style and way you present things may change, as you again don't want to write about a modern social ill and slip into Sam Spade gumshoe speak. Noir isn't that, at least not to me. It is an outlook, a familiar feeling of helplessness, existing in a world which doesn't care or stop, and an acceptance of the inevitability of "the end". While marching towards that gallows, one can hold onto an ideal despite everything else saying to turn away, or frantically try to weasel your way out of fate and never succeeding.
There are conventions in Noir and an outlook one can pin down as common traits of the genre. Much like an action-adventure serial, there are common traits of heroism and daring-do in that genre that are common pieces to say a movie falls within that genre. Like Bugs Bunny putting on a fedora and busting out a bull-whip to say, "I am Indiana Jones, therefore what I do next is action and adventure!" We see this same trope in Noir of busting out the hard-boiled detective speak and playing the slow saxophone music to say, "My character is speaking like Sam Spade, so therefore I am Noir!"
It's not that. That is homage, and some of it is almost parody.
I feel you can be Noir without those tropes, and without paying homage. You can express the feelings and truth of the genre while being entirely modern, and you don't need to set it in the 1950s or adopt a hard-boiled attitude. Noir is a distinct style of contradiction with a tangible feeling. It exists today, and it lives in our souls. It can be both homage and a reflection of modern times.
I shall leave you with this film to think about...
Noir is a hard thing to pin down, but you know it when you see it.
Unlike some critics, I think genuine Noir can be created today. It is like saying you can't make a western anymore because the golden age of westerns is over. You can make a western, but you will be either doing two things: paying homage or creating a modern reflection which reflects today's ideals. To me, homages are like the new Star Wars film by JJ Abrams, a carefully crafted nostalgia piece which aims to honor the past without upsetting the fans of the past.
Unforgiven by Clint Eastwood is a good example of a modern reflection of the western genre, and I feel Noir can be the same way. You can create something with entirely modern views, ideals, and conflicts in the style of a Noir or a western or any other genre, like Mr. Eastwood has done with his western. Unforgiven isn't a tribute movie by a long shot, and it respects the western past while reflecting what we know now or even modern conflicts onto that canvas.
The canvas is what is am aiming at here. To me, the Noir style is a canvas in which we paint either an homage to the era or a modern reflection of Noir upon.
The production of true, authentic, of-the-times Noir is over. That Noir reflected the struggles and age in which they were filmed, through a narrow lens controlled by the Film Board and limited by the studio system. To produce Noir which reflects those struggles in the same light would be an homage to the genre, and this isn't to diminish homages, but it is important to know what you are doing. Again, it feels like the Star Wars film, the days of making true Star Wars movies is over, and at best we can pay homage to them with careful reproductions of that feeling and look.
Though a new Star Wars movie could reflect today's struggles, and that is what I am waiting to see. Does the new movie take the genre farther? Does it reflect what we know now upon that science fantasy canvas, or does it paint something similar but not challenging our notions of what Star Wars could be?
If you are thinking you run the risk of angering people by creating something new you are on the right track. Many people want to live in the warm, fuzzy glory of the past, and that is their right, and I am also a fan of these works. We all love carefully crafted homages or parodies, and these images and feelings represent the era in which we grew up and love - and also identify with. There is nothing wrong with playing the classics, but there is a beauty in the creation of something new, as well.
A balance, perhaps, but more importantly recognizing and respecting homage versus the new.
Knowing what we know now, we could shine a new light on the era, and use Noir as a canvas upon which to create new works reflecting that era - or even today. This in my feelings would be a new work in the Noir tradition, and worthy of the distinction. As long as it did not slip into parody or rote repitition of some sort of gumshoe presentation, you could create a new work and in a way pay homage while creating something new.
The Noir style can exist today, in my feeling. We can reflect what is happening today upon this canvas and make meaningful and compelling works. The style and way you present things may change, as you again don't want to write about a modern social ill and slip into Sam Spade gumshoe speak. Noir isn't that, at least not to me. It is an outlook, a familiar feeling of helplessness, existing in a world which doesn't care or stop, and an acceptance of the inevitability of "the end". While marching towards that gallows, one can hold onto an ideal despite everything else saying to turn away, or frantically try to weasel your way out of fate and never succeeding.
There are conventions in Noir and an outlook one can pin down as common traits of the genre. Much like an action-adventure serial, there are common traits of heroism and daring-do in that genre that are common pieces to say a movie falls within that genre. Like Bugs Bunny putting on a fedora and busting out a bull-whip to say, "I am Indiana Jones, therefore what I do next is action and adventure!" We see this same trope in Noir of busting out the hard-boiled detective speak and playing the slow saxophone music to say, "My character is speaking like Sam Spade, so therefore I am Noir!"
It's not that. That is homage, and some of it is almost parody.
I feel you can be Noir without those tropes, and without paying homage. You can express the feelings and truth of the genre while being entirely modern, and you don't need to set it in the 1950s or adopt a hard-boiled attitude. Noir is a distinct style of contradiction with a tangible feeling. It exists today, and it lives in our souls. It can be both homage and a reflection of modern times.
I shall leave you with this film to think about...
Comments
Post a Comment