Title: Somewhere in the night : film noir and the American city /
Authors: Christopher, Nicholas.
Publisher: Free Press,
Year: 1997
Subjects: Film noir United States History and criticism; Cities and towns in motion pictures.
Abstract: Acclaimed novelist and poet Nicholas Christopher explores the cultural identity of film noir in a seamless, elegant, and enchanting work of literary prose. Examining virtually the entire catalogue of film noir, Christopher identifies the central motif as the urban labyrinth, a place infested with psychosis, anxiety, and existential dread in which the noir hero embarks on a dangerously illuminating quest. With acute sensitivity, he shows how technical devices such as lighting, voice over, and editing tempo are deployed to create the film noir world. Somewhere in the Night guides us through the architecture of this imaginary world, be it shot in New York or Los Angeles, relating its elements to the ancient cultural archetypes that prefigure it. Finally, Christopher builds an explanation of why film noir not only lives on but is currently enjoying a renaissance.
Contents: 1. Into the Labyrinth -- 2. Night and the City -- 3. Postcards from the Ruins: Some Americans Abroad -- 4. Office Buildings and Casinos -- 5. Grafters, Grifters, and Tycoons -- 6. The Dark Mirror: Sex, Dreams, and Psychoanalysis -- 7. Black and White in Color -- 8. Paint It Black -- Appendix. A Brief Genealogy -- Selected Filmography: 1940-1959 -- Selected Neo-Noirs: 1960-1997.