Film Noir The Maltese falcon Essay - 966 Words

Film Noir was extremely trendy during the 1940’s. People were captivated by the way it expresses a mood of disillusionment and indistinctness between good and evil. Film Noir have key elements; crime, mystery, an anti-hero, femme fatale, and chiaroscuro lighting and camera angles. The Maltese Falcon is an example of film noir because of the usage of camera angles, lighting and ominous settings, as well as sinister characters as Samuel Spade, the anti-hero on a quest for meaning, who encounters the death of his partner but does not show any signs of remorse but instead for his greed for riches. All throughout The Maltese Falcon the camera angles change with the character. Camera angles and lighting affected the mood of the scene; scenes in†¦show more content†¦There were only a few inhabitants on the sidewalks at one point in time; creating a deserted and mystifying scene; when characters walked on the rain-slicked ground, their footsteps could be hear echoing through the vacant city. When the characters were not outside they were in shabby and dimly lit apartments and hotel rooms. Spade spent the majority of his time in hotel rooms and apartments gathering his information about the Maltese Falcon, by visiting the people who knew anything about the falcon. The eerie settings added to the mystery of where the falcon could be. The Maltese Falcon contained many different types of characters. Spade was a protagonist. While on the other hand Kasper Gutman, Joel Cairo, and Wilmer were antagonists and Brigid O’Shaughnessy was a femme fatale. Each of the characters portrays characteristics of Film Noir. Spade is known as an anti-hero, â€Å"a protagonist who lacks the attributes that make a heroic figure, as nobility of mind and spirit, a life or attitude marked by action or purpose.† (dictionary.com) Spade plays by his own rules and is tough and a bit radical, he doesnt seem to be upset that his partner is dead. But instead tells his secretary to remove his name from the window and put Samuel Spade, instead of Spade and Archer. A hero would not do remove the name because brings suspicionShow MoreRelatedMaltese Falcon as a Film Noir Essay1144 Words   |  5 PagesMaltese Falcon as a Film Noir Film Noir is a French word which means: dark or black film. This is very fitting as Film Noir and the Maltese falcon are stories of dark deceptive people who often cannot be trusted. Film Noir is a good example of this as the story is about a detective called Sam Spade who gets dragged into the quest for the Maltese Falcon with a compulsive liar Kasper Gutman. The Maltese Falcon is a large bird made of solid gold worth millions. The mainRead MoreElements of Film Noir between the Movies Maltese Falcon, Chinatown, and L.A. Confidential572 Words   |  2 Pageselements of Film Noir between the movies Maltese Falcon, Chinatown, and L.A. Confidential. This will also discuss if Chinatown and L.A. Confidential remain true to the classical form or if they are in the baroque level of genre. This essay will also identify these discussions using examples for each film. Maltese Falcon could be explained more precisely as transitional films that mark limitations amongst true film noir and film that may have some elements or none noir. Maltese Falcon presents elementsRead MoreMaltese Falcon, L.A. Confidetial, and Chinatown940 Words   |  4 PagesMaltese Falcon, L.A. Confidential, and Chinatown are all considered a classic for noir films. Even though these films are not actually black film they are a Hollywood crime drama. Not all of them are in the Hollywoods classical film noir period from the early 1940s to the late 1950s. The Maltese Falcon is more like a classical noir film than the other two movies. Maltese falcon has all the traits a noir film should have. Like fatalism, the femme fatale, the male protagonists, shadows, gloomy,Read MoreThe Maltese Falcon Essay1183 Words   |  5 PagesTheater 120C: Final Paper In The Maltese Falcon (1941), Humphrey Bogart plays Sam Spade, a private eye detective who is lured into the chase for a bird statue by a mysterious and deceitful woman named Ruth. His objectives are to find the Maltese Falcon, and discover the murderer of two crimes: the death of his former partner, Miles Archer, and another man named Thursby. He also wishes to prove his innocence for the murder of his partner because the police have him as the prime suspect. Sam approachesRead MorePaint It Black: The Evolution of Film Noir Essay examples1578 Words   |  7 Pagescan consider this an example of a classic film noir ending. Film noir is a term used in cinema to describe a visually styled crime drama. Where did it come from? What are the key elements in a film noir? Why did this kind of cinema emerge when it did? What affect did it have in the film world? And finally, where is film noir now? The term film noir means, â€Å"black film† and was originally coined by French critic Nino Frank in 1946.. The author of â€Å"Film Noir†, Bruce Crowther, points out that â€Å"in someRead MoreEssay on The Hays Code in Film Noir2003 Words   |  9 PagesThe Hays Code in Film Noir The Motion Picture Production Code, commonly known as the Hays Code, was adopted in March 1930, though it was not truly enforced until four years later in 1934. This set of rules had tremendously influenced the way Hollywood movies were made for a number of years. This code was based on the ethics and norms if that time. There were three main principals of the Hays Code. The first was no picture shall be produced that will lower the moral standard of those who see itRead MoreEssay about Film Noirs Effect on Modern Cinema1365 Words   |  6 PagesFilm Noirs Effect on Modern Cinema High heels click on wet pavement, shady detectives stand in the shadows, shots ring out through the cold, dark city night-just another moment in film noir. These seedy, almost underground films are considered to be some of the best and most influential pictures in the history of Hollywood by anyones standards, most certainly some of the darkest. Even though the glory days of film noir have long passed and given way to big budget productions, their influenceRead MoreL.a Confidential Film Noir Essay978 Words   |  4 PagesThe Key Conventions Of Film Noir In L.A Confidential L.A Confidential (Curtis Hanson, 1997) is a neo-noir film about a shooting at an all night diner and the three Las Angeles policeman who investigate in their own unique ways. It is based on the book by James Ellroy and after a very well adapted screenplay, won nine academy awards. It starred actors with big names like Russell Crowe, Guy Pearce and Danny Devito, which made it a very high earning film. The Narrative or storyline is muchRead More`` No Country For Old Men `` By Cormac Mccarthy2255 Words   |  10 Pagessame name in 2007. The film adaptation represents both continuity within the film noir styles and also breaks away from them in relation to films such as â€Å"The Maltese Falcon,† â€Å"The Big Sleep† and â€Å"The Killers†. In the film there are multiple characters that are hard-boiled and each try to figure out â€Å"who did what† and â€Å"what happened† for their own individual reasons. This characterization and the actions done by the main characters are remnant of film noir styles. In film noir, the main character isRead MoreComparison of Noir and Neo Noir Themes in the Films Double Indemnity and Chinatown1117 Words   |  5 PagesThe attempt of this overview is to discuss the similarities, differences and influences of Noir Film and Neo Noir Film and analyzed how they have evolved taking Double Indemnity and Chinatown a nd as generic examples.To achieve this attempt, first of all. It is important to know what it is considered Noir Film, when it began and how this was developed into the Neo-Noir cinema. It is considered Noir Cinema those made between 1940 and almost 1960 in which very inner characteristics were the individual