D
Deleted member 133
Guest
I've mentioned previously that, among other "types" of movies, I collect Film Noir.
While my love for Film Noir dates back to my university days and my attendance at the university's film club screenings, my understanding and true appreciation of Film Noir was only solidified after I took a course on the subject some ten or so years later (as part of my plan to take the longest time possible to obtain a degree in film studies - a plan still in progress.)
Anyhow, one of the reference texts for that course was Silver and Ward's Film Noir: An Encyclopedic Reference to the American Style. Within its pages the authors lay out a well-crafted but relatively narrow (by some folks' standards) definition of what truly constitutes a Film Noir, and list the 266 movies that satisfy their definition. I won't go through that definition in detail, except to say that it has as boundaries date, stylistic elements, themes, and geography at its heart. In short its a type of film, set almost exclusively in the US, made between 1940 and 1959, that has a certain look, style, setting, and plot elements.
So, for example, pre-noir gangster films of the 30's don't make the list. Neither do neo-noir / post-noir (etc.) films like Blade Runner. (However I need to note that Silver and Ward do consider a small number of 30's films to be Film Noir. On that point I disagree - for reasons that I'd be happy to discuss.)
So with the exception of their inclusion of a few 30's titles, I agree with their definition of Film Noir and consider their list to be a definitive and complete accounting of "pure" or "classic" Film Noir titles.
With list in hand I set out on a decades-long quest to collect copies of all 266 titles.
At first it was VHS and laserdisc. Late-night television and PBS recordings. Then came DVDs. I shopped in countless video stores over the years. The internet then became an invaluable resource to track down titles.
This week I pulled out the list again, after putting it away for some time, and made a final push. I had 5 (out of 266) titles to go. I managed to obtain 3 via torrents and 1 very decent copy had just recently been posted on YouTube. And this morning I placed an order for a DVD copy of the last needed title - which should arrive in the mail next week.
What to do now?
Well I'd been saving a good chunk of the collection for future viewing, so I'll now slowly make my way through those titles that I've not yet watched. Last week it was the most-excellent The Mask of Dimitrios (1944) starring Sidney Greenstreet and Peter Lorre.
And there are many titles that I can watch multiple times and enjoy them more with each viewing, like The Big Sleep which I screened at Bats' last GTG.
Jeff
While my love for Film Noir dates back to my university days and my attendance at the university's film club screenings, my understanding and true appreciation of Film Noir was only solidified after I took a course on the subject some ten or so years later (as part of my plan to take the longest time possible to obtain a degree in film studies - a plan still in progress.)
Anyhow, one of the reference texts for that course was Silver and Ward's Film Noir: An Encyclopedic Reference to the American Style. Within its pages the authors lay out a well-crafted but relatively narrow (by some folks' standards) definition of what truly constitutes a Film Noir, and list the 266 movies that satisfy their definition. I won't go through that definition in detail, except to say that it has as boundaries date, stylistic elements, themes, and geography at its heart. In short its a type of film, set almost exclusively in the US, made between 1940 and 1959, that has a certain look, style, setting, and plot elements.
So, for example, pre-noir gangster films of the 30's don't make the list. Neither do neo-noir / post-noir (etc.) films like Blade Runner. (However I need to note that Silver and Ward do consider a small number of 30's films to be Film Noir. On that point I disagree - for reasons that I'd be happy to discuss.)
So with the exception of their inclusion of a few 30's titles, I agree with their definition of Film Noir and consider their list to be a definitive and complete accounting of "pure" or "classic" Film Noir titles.
With list in hand I set out on a decades-long quest to collect copies of all 266 titles.
At first it was VHS and laserdisc. Late-night television and PBS recordings. Then came DVDs. I shopped in countless video stores over the years. The internet then became an invaluable resource to track down titles.
This week I pulled out the list again, after putting it away for some time, and made a final push. I had 5 (out of 266) titles to go. I managed to obtain 3 via torrents and 1 very decent copy had just recently been posted on YouTube. And this morning I placed an order for a DVD copy of the last needed title - which should arrive in the mail next week.
What to do now?
Well I'd been saving a good chunk of the collection for future viewing, so I'll now slowly make my way through those titles that I've not yet watched. Last week it was the most-excellent The Mask of Dimitrios (1944) starring Sidney Greenstreet and Peter Lorre.
And there are many titles that I can watch multiple times and enjoy them more with each viewing, like The Big Sleep which I screened at Bats' last GTG.
Jeff
