History and Social context of Film Noir

History and Social Context of Film Noir

After the war a lot of films arrived in France from Hollywood that they had missed during the war when the focus was on sending supplies for the war. French critics noticed that a lot of these had similar dark undertones and a negative sensibility. 
WW2 Influence
The threat of the Nazi's during the war cast a dark shadow over Europe. That is reflected in the pessimism, depression and hardship in Film Noir. A combination if the mood political and social factors led indirectly to helping to contribute to the evolution and characteristics of Film Noir.
How it started
German Expressionism
It's a technique that was extremely used in Film Noir. It makes use of heavily stylized sets, lights, shades and shadows.
Why Film Noir?
The French film critic, Nino Frank created the term 'Film Noir' for this body of work in 1946. Frank and Jean-Pierre Chartier wrote the two earliest film articles that described Hollywood crime dramas from the 1940s as film noir. Film Noir started off as a cheaply made 'B' kind of movie, re-using old sets and giving breaks to new or little known actors and directors. 


In Film Noir the characters they normally have in every film are

• The Everyman

• The Femme Fatale

• The Villain

• The Henchman

• The girl next door

They will always have 'The Everyman' and 'The Femme Fatale'  for example in 'Double Indemnity' the everyman is 'Walker' and the femme fatale is 'Phyllis Dietrichson'.