How to Choose a Film Noir Movie

Before you can learn how to choose a film noir you must first understand what film noir is. At its most basic linguistic level the term film noir is simply a fancy French way of saying black film. Or, sometimes, dark film. This movie genre received its name courtesy of two French writers and the description works on two levels. Film noir movies at the time were all shot in black and white even though color was available; and the overwhelming mood of these movies is one of encroaching and at times insufferable darkness. Although elements of humor are certainly to be found in almost all film noirs, typically that humor is, well, black humor.

Personally, I love film noir. In my opinion, only horror movies are more capable of providing glimpses into the subconscious desires that drive human beings to commit sometimes depraved acts of self-destruction. The best horror films are those that resemble nightmares in the way they disguise and distance our repressed wishes. The best film noirs differ only in that they don’t distance and disguise what is repressed. Horror films derive their popularity by being distinctly unrealistic; film noir is hyper realistic.

But this article isn’t about the deeper significance of film noir; it’s about how to choose a film noir for a great movie experience. Although the golden age of film noir was the late 40s through the late 50s, it is not true that no film noirs have been made since then. The look of the genre has changed with the almost universal use of color, but as Roman Polanski proved with Chinatown, a brilliant film noir can be made without the use of shadows that black and white cinematography provides.