Point Blank - 1967 -
John Boorman's film gives a modern view of Noir. Graphic violence is a necessary part of the plot.
MODERN NOIR
This period extends from approximately the mid fifties until the mid eighties
The mid fifties saw the appearance of more HB-orientated Noir in fast and violent plots with modern backgrounds and concerns. Criminality evolved, and organized crime in the USA was no more a fantasy as Edgar Hoover wanted the American public to believe. The streets were dangerous, psychos were everywhere, teenagers were part of the crime scene -- all matters reflected in the works of new writers and in corresponding films. New writers on the HB scene and talented newcomers for film making made a new brew that generated even higher realism on the screen.
As seen in the Noir of that period, violence became more graphic and filming techniques could render new moods appropriate for these stories. Be it with high speed film allowing low light direct filming or the widescreen allowing for "multi-layer" actions in the same screen, all helped to explore further the illustration of modern Noir tales.
These films were still strongly linked to the classics of the genre of the previous decade, but transcended those earlier films with new stories and modern filming techniques. A lot of them still appeared as B series films, as it was a tradition for Hollywood since the mid-forties.
( Above: Kiss Me Deadly- 1955- Masterpiece by R Aldrich
Emblematic and precursor of modern Noir )
The fifties and the sixties would see brilliant productions and many modern classics to add to the already long hit-list of the genre! Western films would be a territory of election for derived Noir, often served by the same writers or the same directors as the ones famous for their detective and crime films.
Soylent Green- Science Fiction in Noir territory!
Superb film about a not so speculative futur
A new territory would appear in the sixties: Science Fiction. Hollywood discovered then the modern school of speculative SF and produced excellent films in that genre. Our future world is far from rosy, as figured by many authors, and some film makers translated this view quickly into Noir.
Even during the decline in the number of productions of HB/Noir films, starting at the end of the sixties until at least the mid eighties, quality was still very often present and supported by confirmed directors in full-featured films.
FOREIGN NOIR...
Another source of film Noir arose during that period as well: European Noir.
FRENCH NOIR
France was nearly the only country producing enough of these films to have some significant impact on the film history of the genre outside the USA. Starting in the early fifties, this type of French gangster film would produce some masterpieces, often with an original approach and typical stories, even if some technical characteristics were evidently borrowed from the American films.
Jean-Pierre Melleville- Influential French film Director
Photo taken at his debut on a film stage (with scarf)
As said, the French New Wave emerging at the end of the fifties acknowledged its references found in American B movies and film Noir. But their roots were also in French precursors such as Vigo, Bresson, Melleville, and the French realism of the 30's, or in the Italian school of postwar "neo-realism." The same New Wave creators also paid a brilliant tribute to the "film policier" and Noir by extending the genre with first-class innovative films, whether by Malle, Chabrol, Goddard, or Cavalier, to name only a few.
IN THE UK...
In Britain, even if the production of films was high in the 60's and even with the presence of the "angry" young directors, Noir did not induce a real cinema movement there. It is significant that the best of the directors (Schlessinger, Boorman) created real thriller-Noir when they worked in the USA. But for a few exceptions, did the UK produce some valuable HB/Noir films during that period.
IN ITALY...
A very interesting and rich cinema emerged in Italy after World War II, with a significant number of first-class creators. Even if first-class films having crime, police, and corruption as subjects were produced (mainly in the 60's and later), there was no systematic exploration of HB/Noir by the talented directors as could be observed in France at the time. There were, however, a fair number of very good Italian films that we could link to the genre, by directors such as Fellini, Bertolucci, Elio Petri..... amongst others.
THE REST...
Except for Japan, there was no consistent production of Noir or HB films in the rest of the world, only isloated films. However, in Japan, some directors and producers specializing in the "export" market (read the Western world) released some typical Noir film, but it was always in the continuity of existing American productions. And even if some of them were good films, they always lacked real innovation. Kurosawa, being the typical "export" director, flirted with the Noir genre in films like High and Low.
As for Hong Kong productions, besides their habitual "gore and ghost" stories, a lot of pastiches of western crime films were issued since end of the seventies. The lack of inovation and poor characterization of the protagonists of the plots gave these films no intrinsinc value, and they were certainly no match for the kind of films we are analysing here from other origins.
FILMS LIST
Our list next page gives you our selection of what we would recommend as the best of hard-boiled and Noir cinema for that period. This includes the emerging of the genre in some foreign productions.
