Noir. To the Francophones among us, it’s just a word. No, seriously, English language, why you gotta do us like that? But it was a French movie critic, Nino Frank, who introduced the term “film noir” (“black film”) in 1946 to describe the new genre of movies that Hollywood was churning out by the dozens. Since then, the term has also come to describe literature that shares characteristics with those films.
But what is “noir,” precisely? Well, like the man said about pornography, you’ll know it when you see it. The trouble with pinning down noir as a category is that it crosses genres, styles and time periods effortlessly. For example, most of the films now called noir would have been released as “melodramas” at the time.
On the other hand, since we want to focus on noir for our October Focus on Fiction, let’s sit down for a minute and look at some of the classic elements of noir. You don’t have to use all these elements to write a story that counts, of course (and in fact, some of them are outright incompatible) but this should get you started. I’ll include a suggested reading and watching list at the end of this post to get you in the mood.
hard-boiled characters
From the tough private eye to the gangster’s moll with a derringer in her garter, hard-boiled characters are a staple of noir. These characters aren’t expected to show a lot of emotional depth; their role is often to grit their teeth and take whatever the cold world dishes out to them. Often they have some lingering trauma like the death of a lover or childhood poverty that makes them behave the way they do, but just as frequently their backstory is as mysterious as their ability to withstand torture.
the antihero
One notion that noir as a genre introduced was the antihero- that is, the protagonist of the story isn’t always the good guy – or even a good guy. Although the protagonist is often a private detective, he’s not shown as a bastion of law and order. Rather, he’s a tough guy trying to get by in a hard world, and sometimes that means doing whatever it takes. A defining characteristic of the noir antihero, though, is his strict personal code of ethics. So if you want to cast a gangster as your protagonist go ahead- just make sure he’s true to his own code.
dim lighting
Film noir got its name partly from the dim lighting used on-set. When writing noir, remember to think about the scene as well as the characters. Describe neon, flickering bulbs, warehouses illuminated by a single dangling lamp, the glare from the interrogator’s flashlight. Because noir is an intensely visual genre, setting the scene with particular attention to lighting can help get your reader in the mood quickly.
bleak settings
Whether it’s bread lines, slums, cities or neighborhoods, noir exploits the grittiest, grimmest settings it can find. From the streets of New York to the alleys of Casablanca, noir takes you on a tour of danger. The key word is tour – the intended consumers of noir are supposed to be getting a thrill from the contrast between reading or watching the story in the safety of their own home and the constant peril posed by the environment in which the main characters find themselves. Al Capone’s Chicago? Totally fair game. One key to writing successful modern noir, though, is to keep an eye on the fine line between presenting actual danger, and using racial or geographical shortcuts to indicate “danger” through stereotyping. Don’t do that.
the femme fatale
Whether it’s Bond or Batman, Sam Spade or Max Payne, noir’s heroes have always had a thing for bad girls. The femme fatale leads your protagonist into danger through a combination of allure and wiles. Some things to keep in mind: she’s smart. She’s not just another pretty face, she’s actually using her wits and whatever tools she has to get something from the hero. She also has an ulterior motive, which can be selfish or altruistic. Does the bad guy have her baby as a hostage? Is the bad guy her brother, for whom she’ll do anything since their parents were killed? The femme fatale was actually one of the most well-rounded and complex characters in the films that made noir famous. Want to play with the trope? Try an homme fatale.
violence
Murder. A boxing match. A car chase. Whatever your flavor of violence, it’s likely that noir has it. Noir is, at its heart, deeply concerned with crime and specifically violent crime. With Halloween coming up, feel free to get as macabre as you need to. On the other hand, be careful when you’re writing about crime not to fall into stereotyping, racism, sexism or classism. That’s lazy writing. When you’re writing about rape and murder particularly, think about what that particular crime adds to the story. Don’t be George RR Martin.
And add a content warning if your work merits it: if someone’s a survivor of sexual assault, or if their sibling was murdered, they don’t need to be surprised with your story in the middle of their commute to work.
Now that you have a grasp of the elements of noir, let’s get to some suggested reading and watching! This is the good part, right?
I could list a billion movies for you to watch, but it’s probably faster to head on over to wikipedia. For our purposes, film noir doesn’t end with Orson Welles – Hard Boiled is as valid an example of the genre as The Maltese Falcon.
In your reading, watch out for elements of noir in most crime drama. Raymond Chandler and Rex Stout are good classic authors, along with Dashiell Hammett. For a more modern spin try Andrew Vachss or Ed McBain.
For your TV viewing pleasure, look to crime serials or procedurals like Wire in the Blood, Breaking Bad, Waking the Dead or Sons of Anarchy, but don’t miss out on noir elements in period pieces like Ripper Street, Copper, or even Sleepy Hollow.
Aww yiss this is going to be fun!