Free Film Noir Essay Sample

Film Noir means black cinema. Films that have a dark, cynical undertone or have a dark visual style are classified as films of the noir genre. The Man Who Wasn't There, a movie made by the Coen Brothers in 2001, and Tay Garnett's 1946 film The Postman Always Rings Twice are considered to be of the noir genre. Within the noir genre, The Postman Always Rings Twice is considered a classic film noir while The Man Who Wasn't There is considered a post-modern neo-noir film.
There are similarities and differences in the thematic devices used by the classic noir film The Postman Always Rings Twice and The Man Who Wasn't There, which is considered a post-modern neo noir film. Both have a main protagonist who seems to be a good person but whose actions are questionable. They both are willing to go to any lengths for the leading lady in the movie. In The Postman Always Rings Twice, the protagonist is willing to kill the husband of Cora Smith, played by Lana Turner. In The Man Who Wasn't There, Ed Crane kills the character Big Dave who has an affair with his wife. Both movies have a bleak look. The world is seen with a shadowy lens from the viewpoint of the protagonist. Both involve crime and violence, specifically the crime of murder. Both movies disorient the viewer with high angle camera shots and dark shadows. The viewer is kept guessing and hanging on to the edge of their seat. A difference between the two movies is that The Man Who Wasn't There has more storylines, which is more characteristic of a neo-noir film. The Postman Always Rings Twice, on the other hand, is based on only one storyline.
There are similarities and differences in the stylistic devices used by both movies. Both are made in black and white. They are visually dark, shadowy, and smoky, giving the effect of something sinister going on. One difference is that The Man Who Wasn't There is filmed in a non-chronological order while The Postman Always Rings Twice is filmed chronologically. Both movies have a voice-over narration by the protagonist.
Both movies had the protagonists thinking in an existential way. They did not care much about anything or anyone until a certain point, which is a deviation from normal traditional values. They both act outside of moral norms of behavior and even commit crimes. Ed Crane, the protagonist, kills Big Dave but does not get sentenced for it. However, when another character gets killed in a road accident while with him in a car, he gets sentenced for no fault of his. He is not bothered, though, as it seems that he feels that the punishment is overdue. In The Postman Rings Twice, the protagonist escapes the law when he kills Nick but gets caught for killing Cora who actually died in an accident. This shows postmodern existential reality where no one knows the real truth as no one in the outside world knows the real truth. The plots of both films show that the world is full of paradoxes and that the only certainty is uncertainty.