James Naremore
"Film noir" evokes memories of stylish, cynical, black-&-white movies from the 40s & 50s--melodramas about private eyes, femmes fatales, criminal gangs & lovers on the run. ,More Than Night, discusses such pictures. It also shows that the central term is more complex & paradoxical than realized. Film noir refers both to an important cinematic legacy & to an idea projected onto the past. This wide-ranging cultural history offers an original approach to the subject, as well as new production information & commentary on scores of films, including ,Double Indemnity,, ,The Third Man,, & ,Out of the Past,, & such neo-noirs as ,Chinatown,, ,Pulp Fiction, & ,Devil in a Blue Dress,. Naremore discusses film noir as a term in criticism; as an expression of artistic modernism; as a symptom of Hollywood censorship & politics in the 40s; as a market strategy; as an evolving style; as a cinema about race & nationality & as an idea that circulates across all information technologies. This interdisciplinary book has valuable things to say not only about film & tv, but also about modern literature, the fine arts & popular culture in general. In a field where much of what's published is superficial & derivative, this work is certain to be received as a definitive treatment.
Culture,Film,Nonfiction,Mystery,Noir,Media Tie In,History,Textbooks,Academic,School
More than Night: Film Noir in its Contexts