Classic versus Modern Film Noir

         In the “Film Noir” documentary, the first filmmaker to speak is martin Scorsese.  He  explained how film noir movies represented real life, especially for him growing up in the neighborhood that he did.  He said, “[Film Noir] portrayed a world that I hadn’t seen on film before, and [in] a very honest way too.”  This quote explains film noir very well because these movies showed the dark side of life which movies of the time rarely showed.  Most movies in the 1940’s were musicals or love stories, where nothing horrible happens.  In “The Postman Always Rings Twice,” Cora is married to a man who she is not truly in love with.  When Frank shows up at the diner, she realizes that it is her chance to make something of herself.  Unlike other movies of its time, this movie shows Cora trying to murder her husband with Frank’s help.  In a modern film noir, “Red Rock West,” Michael is thrown into a life of murder because of his need for money.  When he takes a job, what he thinks is working at a bar, he is paid thousands of dollars to murder by the sheriff to murder his wife.  His one little decision may be one that changes his life. 

            A Femme Fatale was one of the main aspects of film noir.  The femme fatale was usually the character that leads the main character to crime. Cora, in “The Postman Always Rings Twice,” is a femme fatale because she leads Frank into helping her killing her husband.  Although she is not evil, she does convince him to go against his morals in order to help her.  Suzanne in “Red Rock West” is very similar to Cora, but she is more deliberate.  Suzanne knows exactly what she is doing and she is willing to use Michael with the intention of forgetting about him after she gets her money.  Although “Red Rock West” is a modern film, the femme fatale has the same characteristics of femme fatales from the 1940’s. 

            In “The Postman Always Rings Twice,” the lighting and deep focus is a very important aspect of the experience of the movie.  The use of light and shadow is used to show good and bad.  In the beginning of the film, Cora is wearing all white but towards the end, she wears black; this shows how her character changes.  The location of this film was important in two scenes.  The scenes at the beach are important because if it weren’t really filmed at a beach, it would have been very obvious and would not have given the same ambience.  The location was also important when they are driving up the mountain because it adds more suspense.  Light is also used to enhance something which, because the film was in black and white, what the only way.  Although “Red Rock West” is in color, the lighting is also very important.  The last scene in the graveyard uses lighting to show that it is nighttime, but there is enough light for the viewers to see everything that happens.  The location of “Red Rock West” was also important because there is a certain setting that was needed for this film.  It is set in the west, so a location that is similar, if not exact, to where the movie is set was necessary.