What is Noir?

This blog isn't going to be simply focused on the subject of Noir. I'll be writing about comics, books, films and music. But, as noir -or my idea of it- informs much of what i read and write; it will be a returning theme in the subject matter around here.

Everybody has their own idea of what 'noir' , and they're all as valid as each other. Textbooks and dictionaries are full of definitions, and they're all just as valid also. Here's what it means to me...

What is NOIR?

What is a can of worms, and why is it open?

The definition of Noir is changeable. Film theorists will give you one set of ideas; they’ll talk about camera and lighting techniques, they’ll talk of German expressionism, they’ll talk of themes.

They also have their own family tree of Noir, they have Film Noir, they have Post Noir, they have Neo Noir. They sell a lot of books and teach a lot of classes.

The term Noir for books, certainly in the sense we tend to use it now, is a relatively recent addition. It really followed on from film noir, from the pop culture knowledge of the term, to describe a book…to sell it. Film Noir, of course, was largely drawn from books in the first place, using growing trends in cinema, and the influx of European directors, Hollywood began adapting the pulp, hardboiled, stories by the likes of Hammett, Chandler and Cain.

It doesn’t stop there though, the pop culture idea of NOIR gets applied to an ever growing array of entertainment, nightclubs, fashion, films, books, television, comics.

If we’re honest, these days it’s more of a marketing term than anything else. Slap the name onto a product, and a certain demographic is going to buy it, or at least look at it.

For example, look at the recent BLACK DHALIA film. It had a period setting, and costumes, straight out of Film Noir. It had many stolen camera shots and lighting techniques that were meant to invoke the genre. But at its heart it was empty, it was copied and soulless. It had none of the style, subtlety, or humor that (to me) makes noir.

A lot of films, such as DHALIA borrow stylistic tricks from film noir, without really having the interior meaning to justify the claim. Whilst there are other films, such as BATMAN BEGINS which (as I’ve stolen from listening to the ‘out of the past’ podcast available on itunes) have the substance and the themes of film noir, without sacrificing its own visual style.

So, is it a visual thing, or is it the themes and content? Style or substance?

I don’t claim to be an authority, and people who have the opposite view have just as much right to it as me. But, for me, and for this blog, it’s the latter.

I often read crime fiction, in fact, I’ve become something of an addict. But that’s not to say I look for a book simply because its in the crime section, or that I particularly sought out the genre. Growing up, I was always looking for certain things in the books that I read; I like ambiguity. I like simple, stripped back, prose. The writing has to flow like a rock song with a good beat, and it has to be written in such a way that the author steps back and allows the plot and characters to do the talking.

As you’ll see though, I’ve linked to the author Cormac McCarthy. Aside from NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN, which I would argue is a crime masterpiece, he’s considered more of an ‘Americana’ or simply ‘western’ writer. (though to say McCarthy writes westerns is to say Chandler wrote crime. It’s vaguely true, but misses the point).


So, a definition for me, and for this blog.

Noir, as I mean it here, is fundamentally about the substance. Its about moral ambiguity. I’ve never believed in good or evil, just in people that make good and bad choices. That’s reflected in the fiction, films and music I seek out.

Its also about a lack of judgment, its rarely a simple morality play, the author steps back and presents the story. The right and wrong of the events is between the characters and the reader.

Its flawed characters, holding onto some part of their past, or some self delusion, that won’t let them go.

Its social comment, buried somewhere in the plot or the characters is a mirror to the world that produced it. Something that films like BATMAN BEGINS understand, and THE BLACK DHALIA missed. The route of noir must always be contemporary, the fears and anxieties of our time.

There's also something slightly political in the background of much of it. Not overt, not pushing buttons in anyone’s faces. Certainly never crossing the line into partisan politics and telling you who to vote for. But a large part of the work is born out of the fact that there is something wrong with the world. Not everybody gets a fair chance, or gets to have what they want. Out of that grows desire, anger and crime.

Stylistically? I love the old Films Noir as much as anyone. I love the black and white, the hats, and the smoke. The drinking, the dames…

But, as I’ve said, the accent to noir should always be on the contemporary, it should mirror the world that produced it. So the styling, the trimmings, and the trappings, should grow from that. The camera work, the writing, the drawing or the music, in whatever form we’re finding the noir, should grow out of the themes I’ve discussed above. Otherwise, it’s an empty pastiche. An echo of what was true two or three generations ago.

Capture all of that;

Simple, effective writing.
Human characters.Sex.Desire.Fear.Greed.Politics.Sex.Money.Sex.

There is something wrong with the world. Noir may not be able to fix it, but at least it's honest about that.