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| censored-03 |
 Posted: Sun Mar 13, 2005 11:18 am |
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Joined: 24 May 2004
Posts: 3058
Location: Gotham, Big Apple, The Naked City
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I love this analogy from that article.
Quote: B-movie expert Greg Mank sums it up nicely in "Edgar G. Ulmer: The Man Off-Screen," a documentary that will have its U.S. premiere at next month's San Francisco International Film Festival: "He had to take a rat and make Thanksgiving dinner out of it." |
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| Ghulam |
| Posted: Sun Mar 13, 2005 12:31 pm |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
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Location: Upstate NY
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| Fascinating piece on Ulmer. Thanks Billy. He seems to be one of the "Indies" pioneers. |
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| Ghulam |
| Posted: Sun Mar 13, 2005 1:35 pm |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
Posts: 4742
Location: Upstate NY
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| Interesting discussion on noir films on NPR radio this morning. They discussed at length Spielberg/Kubrick's "A.I." and Kubrick's "Eyes Wide Shut" as examples of film noir. They stressed the point that a tragic ending was the hallmark of noir, and repeatedly kept referring to the story of Orpheus in Greek mythology as the prototype of noir. |
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| bocce |
| Posted: Sun Mar 13, 2005 2:31 pm |
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Joined: 24 May 2004
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well, ghulam...
interesting is not always defensible. i wish i'd heard the program. i really needed a laugh this morning when i walked out to find i had a flat tire...
AI as noir. now that's a refreshing concept. if schnitzler's "traumnovelle" (upon which EWS is based) had been filmed in germany in the early 30's, it might have had a noir touch sucessfully applied.
if anything, the main developers and adherents of the style probably evoked a more northern mythologic underpinning to their stories than greek. i could probably defend this but would be too embarrased to bring it up (tho much of lang is shot thru with neibelungen allusions) as way too pedantic. |
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| Ghulam |
| Posted: Sun Mar 13, 2005 2:49 pm |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
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Location: Upstate NY
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| Bocce, I am sure you are aware that the parallels between Greek and Norse mythologies are often striking. |
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| marantzo |
| Posted: Sun Mar 13, 2005 6:42 pm |
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A I, noir? Well it's a stretch but I can see a certain scifi noir mood to it. Eyes Wide Shut, noir? Now that's just stupid.
Who was on this panel discussion? |
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| Rod |
| Posted: Sun Mar 13, 2005 6:49 pm |
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Joined: 21 Dec 2004
Posts: 2944
Location: Lithgow, Australia
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| Eyes Wide Shut has a noir element but I've always thought of it as closer kin to the horror films of Val Lewton (which, actually, especially with The Lepoard Man based on a Cornell Woolrich novel, and Cat People and The Seventh Victim, are today considered vital precursors of noir) and Mario Bava and Jean Rollin. They have the same obsessive mood, the same invocation of inky city streets, many similar visual motifs, the same mix of the banal and the fantastic. |
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| Ghulam |
| Posted: Sun Mar 13, 2005 8:20 pm |
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| Ghulam |
| Posted: Mon Mar 14, 2005 10:37 am |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
Posts: 4742
Location: Upstate NY
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The movie for this week is Night of the Hunter :
The Night of the Hunter (1955)
Directed by
Charles Laughton
Writing credits
James Agee
Davis Grubb (novel)
Genre: Drama / Film-Noir / Thriller / Horror
CAST :
Robert Mitchum .... Harry Powell
Shelley Winters .... Willa Harper
Lillian Gish .... Rachel Cooper
James Gleason .... Birdie Steptoe
Evelyn Varden .... Icey Spoon
Peter Graves .... Ben Harper
Don Beddoe .... Walt Spoon
Billy Chapin .... John Harper
Sally Jane Bruce .... Pearl Harper
Gloria Castillo .... Ruby (as Gloria Castilo) |
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| dlhavard |
| Posted: Mon Mar 14, 2005 11:37 am |
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Joined: 24 May 2004
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Location: Detroit (where the slow are run over)
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SPOILERS!
I know people argued that this wasn't true noir as there were no fem fatales, no detective heroes but I have another slant on it.
What is a fem fatale anyway? Well first off, they have to be female, then dangerous, tricking the hero into doing what she wants, very very sexy in a bird/snake kind of sexual way. And that's why I suggest that HARRY is the fatale in this one. Because he fits (except for the female part  ). He's very smooth and charming, getting Willa to do what he wants, trying to charm the children and almost succeeding with Pearl. He is truly one of the most evil of the fatales what we have discussed.
And John Harper (the boy) is the downtrodden HERO of the picture. He protects his sister, and tries to protect his mother. He refuses to trust Harry even when Harry is trying to charm him.
An excellent picture. And anyone who doesn't think Robert Mitchum could act should see it. He has GOT to be one of the scariest characters in ANY picture. |
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| Marilyn |
| Posted: Mon Mar 14, 2005 12:19 pm |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
Posts: 8210
Location: Skokie (not a bad movie, btw)
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| By definition, a femme fatale is a woman. Sorry, but I don't buy your analysis of Mitchum in those terms. He has more in common with Freddie Krueger than Jane Greer. I do think that Night of the Hunter is a horror film with elements of German Expressionism in it. |
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| bocce |
| Posted: Mon Mar 14, 2005 2:27 pm |
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Joined: 24 May 2004
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marilyn...
what elements of german expressionism do you see in this film? i'm not being persnickety, just curious. |
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| Marj |
| Posted: Mon Mar 14, 2005 3:59 pm |
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Joined: 21 May 2004
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Location: Manhattan
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I really liked this movie. I thought if anything it was very noir lite. It reminded me of gothic fairy tale or fable. Surprisingly I found the stagier it got, the more I liked it. But the only noir element I could find was in the lighting.
I did some research after watching it and found the S/T on Amazon. It is narrated by Charles Laughton and although I was only able to listen to some samples, he was clearly narrating it as if he was telling a bedtime story, albeit a scary one. It's worth checking out.
Stanley Cortez the DP on The Magnificient Ambersons filmed some of the scenes with the angular sets and deep lighting as well as the snow scene at the end. I understand he was the one who got that magnificient shot of Lillian Gish's profile with the shot gun.
Just because it hasn't been mentioned so far, it's worth noting that because Laughton hated children, Robert Mitchum directed all the scenes with the children. |
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| censored-03 |
| Posted: Mon Mar 14, 2005 5:33 pm |
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Joined: 24 May 2004
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Location: Gotham, Big Apple, The Naked City
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Quote: Stanley Cortez the DP on The Magnificient Ambersons filmed some of the scenes with the angular sets and deep lighting as well as the snow scene at the end. I understand he was the one who got that magnificient shot of Lillian Gish's profile with the shot gun.
Just because it hasn't been mentioned so far, it's worth noting that because Laughton hated children, Robert Mitchum directed all the scenes with the children. |
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| Marilyn |
| Posted: Mon Mar 14, 2005 6:23 pm |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
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Location: Skokie (not a bad movie, btw)
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| The river boat sequence was very German expressionist. I also think the story itself is reminiscent in more than plot with M, a proto-noir from Germany. |
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