Term Paper on "Film Noir"
Term Paper 4 pages (1428 words) Sources: 0
[EXCERPT] . . . .
Film NoirThe heist film is a sub-set of film noir, and it is key to such a film that the audience have sympathy for the criminals who are at the center of the film. This is a common element in the film noir even when the central character is committing crimes and even killing other people along the way. The film noir also has its own sense of morality as a component of fate, emphasized in the way the story is often told in flashback, suggesting that what is seen has already happened and so that it is set and unchangeable. Fate has a sense of morality in these films so that the criminal is often punished by forces greater than him or herself. A prime example is Stanley Kubrick's 1952 film the Killing, a film that is in many ways typical of the film noir genre as it developed into the 1950s.
The Killing was not the first of the heist films by any means, for the form extends back at least to High Sierra (Raoul Walsh, 1941). Just before the Killing, a very similar tale was told in the Asphalt Jungle (John Huston, 1950), and this film is often compared to the Killing not just because of the similarities in the heist plot but because both films star Sterling Hayden. Both were adapted from novels, the Asphalt Jungle from a novel of the same name by W.R. Burnett, and the Killing from a novel called Clean Break by Lionel White. Both films feature a sympathetic lead and his girl friend, along with a number of somewhat sympathetic partners-in-crime and some very unsympathetic criminals seeking to cut into the action. A major difference is in the fact that the Huston film is told in chronological order, while the Killing is told out of order and makes good use of a sense of fractured ti
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The heist genre continues to this day. A more recent example would be Heat (Michael Mann, 1995), a film that develops sympathy for its criminal by linking him to the cop pursuing him, with both shown to be professionals following their own codes. Kubrick's criminals also live by their own code, and one of the marks of the gang that tries to rob the robbers is a lack of any such code. By the time the heist is actually under way, all the characters have been intruded, and the audience is well aware of the part each is to play in the crime to come, having been in on many of the planning session and the rehearsals for the actual crime. The non-linear structure of the film keeps the audience attentive and sorting out what really happens and in what order it happens. The Killing has a complicated plot and characters who, while typical in the sense that nearly all films of this genre employed similar types, are still unusual because they all have jobs of one sort or another and are thus seen as respectable citizens by people they know. Only the mastermind, Johnny, is focused only on the heist. None of the main plotters are really bad people, and the audience sees some of their background stories in flashback. Each has a real need for money, which itself generates some sympathy on the part of the audience. The one element of the crime that threatens to reduce that sympathy is the killing of the racehorse, but that is not revealed as part of the plot until it actually happens, and the one who actually kills the horse is himself killed immediately as well.
The heist sequence actually begins in earnest with the announcement of the start of the fifth race. The robbery itself told in a further series of flashbacks revealing parts of the plot that Johnny had kept from his co-conspirators and from us, based on the view that each man has to do his part but does not need to know the whole plot. Only he knows everything that… READ MORE
Quoted Instructions for "Film Noir" Assignment:
Academic level: Further Education College - taking courses and exams to gain admission to University in September.
Course: AS Film Studies
Assignment: Macro analysis of the production of meaning and spectator response.
Task aim - written analysis: choose 10 - 15 minute sequence or two 7 minute sequences from a film or films of your choice, an***** or compare how:-
Genre and narative in film noir 1)creates meaning and understanding for the audience 2) generates response in the audience.
Objective: pose an appropriate question that you can answer in your essay to adddress the above assessment requirements.
e.g. How does your knowledge of genre and narrative style help your understanding and involvement with 'The Last Seducttion' or How important is film noir and its conventions to your understanding and involvement with 'The Last Seduction'
Make sure you: Refer to a specific sequence of the film to discuss your points: Illustrate points with examples from that sequence: always refer back to the conventions of your film genre: Discuss how your example is either similar or dissimilar - how have things adapted or changed or stayed the same - to the original genre: Discuss your personal response, involvement pleasure and understanding of your films sequence/genre: Discuss how your response may be typical or not of an audience response to your sequence genre: At all times make references to other relevant films to help your argument.
I wrote an essay already. It was returned to me with the comment 'Neo Noir required. Re-do' Couldn't find the tutor to discuss and now there is no time. Final submissions have to be Tuesday morning British time so I need to have this MOnday evening, our time to go over it.
You have to use 'The Killing' Stanley Kubrick 1952. The sequence to focus on in The Killing is the one that starts at the race track when the commentator is announcing the start of the fifth race. You need to mention The Asphalt Jungle which is also a heist film about a jewellry robbery. The Killing is a racetrack heist. You need to refer to some neo noir films. 'Heat' would be a good one but whatever.
I will email the essay I wrote. You can change the question posed to a better one. I couldn't think of anything very good and I know that the whole thing is not up to scratch. Thanks.
How to Reference "Film Noir" Term Paper in a Bibliography
“Film Noir.” A1-TermPaper.com, 2008, https://www.a1-termpaper.com/topics/essay/film-noir-heist/2286841. Accessed 3 Jul 2024.
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