Film Noir

What were some of the elements of film noir in the 1940’s and 50’s and can they be seen as symptomatic of cultural anxieties? Film noir is a French label on the American film phenomenon. It wasn’t until Post-war France that they could see many American films. The French observed the relationship between American movies in the forties and literature called “roman noir”, which means dark literature and film noir means black film. The …

…showing the weaknesses and worst of mans efforts. Pam Cook states that in film noirs “the system which gives men and women their place in society must be reconstructed by a more explicit work of repression, and the necessity for this repression must be established unequivocally, by resolving equivocation”(NB 1.f). This supports that film noir can bee seen as symtomatic of Hollywood’s pursuit in facing these problems by redefining lost identity in America.