film noir
Also known as noir film
film genre/style usually deployed in mystery and police procedural detective crime films
AI overview
Film noir is a genre and visual style that emerged primarily in mystery, detective, and crime films, characterized by dark cinematography and morally complex storytelling. It remains culturally significant as a foundational influence on how crime and detective stories are told in cinema, establishing visual and narrative conventions that filmmakers still draw from today.
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A film noir (/nwɑːr/; French: [film nwaʁ]) is a Hollywood crime drama film that emphasizes cynical attitudes and motivations. The 1940s and 1950s are generally regarded as the "classic period" of American film noir. Film noir of this era is associated with a low-key, black-and-white visual style that has roots in German expressionist cinematography. Many of the prototypical stories and attitudes expressed in classic noir derive from the hardboiled school of crime fiction that emerged in the United States during the Great Depression, known as noir fiction. Film noir encompasses a range of plots, commonly featuring mysteries/crime dramas, detective fiction, and stories with themes of corruption, organized crime, redemption, cynicism, and tragedy.
Common archetypical protagonists include a private investigator (The Big Sleep), a plainclothes police officer (The Big Heat), an aging boxer (The Set-Up), a hapless grifter (Night and the City), a law-abiding citizen lured into a life of crime (Gun Crazy), a femme fatale (Gilda) or simply a victim of circumstance (D.O.A.).