This week I was part of the group presentation for the seminar on Dashiell Hammett's novel The Maltese Falcon and John Huston's 1941 film adaptation and this question became a focal point of discussion. The writing style may be seen as a hard-boiled kind of writing in which there is a suppression of interiority and the inner life. It is a kind of hyper-realism that gives its total concentration to exterior details. This style complements the subject-matter of the novel, focusing as it does on a criminal milieu which demands from its inhabitants an attenuation of feeling for survival.
Literary fiction works oppositely.
As a product of human language it naturally treats human motivation and values, seeking to throw them out onto the external world, elaborating a world out of a story. This contrast is a key issue in the course. The cinematic quality of Hammett's novel led the seminar group to note the high level of faithfulness to the original source in Huston's filmic adaptation. The group generally agreed that the film The Maltese Falcon instituted key elements in what is now termed film noir , including a mood of cynicism and an anxiety-inducing visual style. Emphasis was given to the way Huston cut out key lights to create ominous chiaroscuro effects.