I was working on a presentation on film Noir for my Film History class when I began to notice characteristics of Film Noir in more recent (recent meaning last 20 years) films. now these connections haven't gone unnoticed. Films like Fight Club (1999) and Hard Eight (1996) have been noted for their dark undertones that hadn't been seen since the 1960's with the popularity of Noir. My connections however extend past the films that connect just through style and visuals, but more along the bases of narrative structure.
First I think its important to highlight what film noir is for those reading that have minimal understanding of how film noir is understood. Film noir is marked by a mood of pessimism, fatalism, menace, and cynical characters. Usually we break down Film Noir into three seperate categories; Thematic concerns, narrative concerns, and style.
1) Thematic concerns: Dark moods which reflect the moral structure of the world.
2) Narrative concerns: Plot and story reflection of on the moral climate of society. Can depend on past events told through flashbacks, which gives noir a feel of sensibility.
3) Style: Visually seems dark and fanatical. use of lighting. etc.
I feel that while watching some recent films that the narrative concerns have returned back to the film noir understanding. Now the same historical setting are mirrored during our time. The 1930's which predate noir created instability. We are currently in recession around the world and now our return to finacial stability has been put into question. With the war in the 1940's, people began to feel negatively upon the country. The attack on Pearl Harbor is mirrored with the events of 9/11. The attacks spark an involvement from Hollywood to show positive, almost propaganda like films. World Trade Center would be the best example of this. The view on the current war in the middle east is different from WWII because people in the past believed there was good cause to fighitng against the axis. Now with the middle-east, many people believe that the involvement of both the US and Canada is not necessary. This is significant in my opinion because both events are happening at the same time so the darker undertones are becoming prominent when these events overlap.
Noir: The Departed Part 1 of 2
Of recent films, one I believe take is highly noir like is The Departed (2006) . I don't think of this is noir just because of the crime aspect or its links to mobster films. Narratively, the film outputs two moral arguments in two seperate, but both negative fashion. Through the double plot that follows both Sullivan, the mole in the Police department, and Costigan, the mole in the crime family, we see a moral fluctuation that is seemingly in attempted to be balanced. The characterization of the film is significant to viewing this film as being somewhat noir.
Sullivan was raised under the wing of crime boss Costello, and his work in the police department to some extend make up for his connections to Costello. The ending of their father-son relationship comes to an end when the son kills the father. It is there when Sullivan accepts his moral responsibility, which is that to free yourself of guilt you need to free yourself from the source of guild, Costello. This concept of the father-son relationship was prominent in Film Noir, as many children grew up with strained relationships or opinions of their fathers. Sullivan didn't have a father, therefore he was vulnerable to the security which Costello offered.
Costigan is the reverse of Sullivan. He is a good man asked to do bad things. His wish to be a state police officer is blocked by his past and his families ties to crime. This makes him a perfect took for the police to use in situating him as an informant. He is not reluctant to be placed in such a role, and is almost conned like into the position. None the less, Costigan does it because of the moral good it does. He feels, at least in my opinion, that his service will be an insult to a family that he hates. The noble act comes from his father, who did the same thing to his family, refusing to skin to crime and lives his life doing manual labour to raise his son. I wouldn't consider this part of the father-son relationship because his father does not appear in the film. However this does still have an enormous effect on Costigan. If there is a father son relationship it is Costigan and Queenan. Queenan is the one who offers Costigan a chance, he shelters him and makes sure that he keep his moral integrity. His noir quality are based on his background. He grew up between the north and south of Boston, his violent upbringing separates his views on life between bad and good. Queenan acts as a merger of those two sides, the crime and the high life.
Now financially, both characters are both jobless at the start of the film. This is very similar to other Noir's like Sunset BLVD (1950), where the protagonist start off unemployed but takes a job that is not morally right. Both Costigan and Sullivan must do the same thing at different points in their life. Their ties to crime become a motif for their weak ability to care for themselves. Sullivan more than Costigan because he was a child, but Cositgan still because he needs to be a state police officer, therefore he must take the worst job they have.
In Part 2, I will talk about Madolyn's similarities with the Femme fatale and the style similarities within the visuals of The Departed
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