LLHU 319 - Film Noir

The Maltese Falcon. The Postman Always Rings Twice. The Big Sleep. Films such as these mark the origin of the movie genre known as film noir. They suggested the dark side of American life, a vision of despair and deceit that generally included a femme fatale undermining men's trust with her feminine wiles. We'll start by viewing and discussing these early examples of film noir, then compare them to more recent neo-noir films like The Last Seduction and Red Rocks West. See how movies reflect our culture and history as we examine the layer of irony that neo-noir films bring to the art form