Film Noir
Film Noir ('black film') films developed during and after World War II, taking
advantage of the postwar ambience of anxiety and suspicion. The primary themes
of classic film noir are melancholy, alienation, bleakness, disenchantment,
pessimism, ambiguity, moral corruption and paranoia. Heroes and villains
include down-and-out detectives or private eyes, gangsters, crooks, petty
criminals, murderers, and femme fatales - duplicitous, predatory and desperate
women. These characters are often from the dark and gloomy underworld of
violent crime and corruption.
