Film noir (French for “dark film”) refers to approximately 300 black-and-white mystery and crime melodramas popular in the US in the 1940s and 1950s. Described as “one of the more complex and intelligent Hollywood styles,” it features hard-boiled detectives, femmes fatales, and flawed anti-heroes whose lives are jeopardized by bad choices. But film noir is not just an American film genre, but a international style of filmmaking. And no other country has better films noir than the one whose critics gave them their name. In this course, students will be expected to watch, in advance, six classic French films noir from the 1930s through the 1960s. The study leader will provide background information about the films and lead a discussion of the major themes of each movie and their relationship to the historical period of its release. No prior course work or knowledge of film noir is assumed.
((Lloyd Stires - Wednesday - Zoom))