Billion Dollar Noir: Christopher Nolan and the Reconstruction of Film Noir in Hollywood

Number: 32 October 1, 2010
Peter Labuza
EN

Billion Dollar Noir: Christopher Nolan and the Reconstruction of Film Noir in Hollywood

Abstract

Near the opening of Robert Siodmak’s noir classic The Killers 1946 , young and naïve Nick Adams Phil Brown stares confusedly at Ole “Swede” Andersson Burt Lancaster as he warns him of the two men coming to kill him. The Swede lies smothered in shadows, lying flat, as if ready to enter his coffin. In protest to Nick’s pleas, he mutters “I did something wrong … once” as an explanation. What better line describes the fatalism often displayed in film noir? Our labored hero accepts his guilt and his inescapable fate. As Raymond Borde and Etienne Chaumeton describe in their seminal text, the film noir protagonist is “often the masochistic type, his own executioner […] through a morbid curiosity” 9 .

References

  1. Altman, Rick. “A Semantic/ Syntactic Approach to Film Genre.” Film Genre Reader III. 2nd ed. Ed. Barry Keith Grant. 27-42. Austin: U. of Texas Press, 2003. Print.
  2. The Asphalt Jungle. Dir. John Huston. Perf. Sterling Hayden, Louis Calhern. Metro GoldwynMayer, 1950. Film.
  3. Batman Begins. Dir. Christopher Nolan. Perf. Christian Bale, Michael Caine. Warner Bros. 2005. Film.
  4. The Big Heat. Dir. Fritz Lang. Perf. Glenn Ford, Gloria Grahame. Columbia Pictures, 1953. Film.
  5. Blade Runner. Dir. Ridley Scott. Perf. Harrison Ford, Rutger Hauer, Sean Young. The Ladd Company/ Warner Bros. 1982. Film.
  6. Body Heat. Dir. Lawrence Kasdan. Perf. William Hurt, Kathleen Turner, Richard Crenna. The Ladd Company, 1981. Film.
  7. Borde, Raymond, and Etienne Chaumeton. A Panorama of American Film Noir 1941-1953. San Francisco: City Lights Publishers, 2002. Print.
  8. Chinatown. Dir. Roman Polanski. Perf. Jack Nicholson, Faye Dunaway, John Huston. Paramount Pictures, 1974. Film.
  9. The Dark Knight. Dir. Christopher Nolan. Perf. Christian Bale, Heath Ledger, Aaron Eckhart. Warner Bros./ Legendary Pictures, 2008. Film.
  10. The Dark Knight Rises. Dir. Christopher Nolan. Perf. Christian Bale, Anne Hathaway, Tom Hardy. Warner Bros./ DC Entertainment, 2012. Film.
APA
Labuza, P. (2010). Billion Dollar Noir: Christopher Nolan and the Reconstruction of Film Noir in Hollywood. Journal of American Studies of Turkey, 32, 38-43. https://izlik.org/JA83FL82DK
AMA
1.Labuza P. Billion Dollar Noir: Christopher Nolan and the Reconstruction of Film Noir in Hollywood. JAST. 2010;(32):38-43. https://izlik.org/JA83FL82DK
Chicago
Labuza, Peter. 2010. “Billion Dollar Noir: Christopher Nolan and the Reconstruction of Film Noir in Hollywood”. Journal of American Studies of Turkey, nos. 32: 38-43. https://izlik.org/JA83FL82DK.
EndNote
Labuza P (October 1, 2010) Billion Dollar Noir: Christopher Nolan and the Reconstruction of Film Noir in Hollywood. Journal of American Studies of Turkey 32 38–43.
IEEE
[1]P. Labuza, “Billion Dollar Noir: Christopher Nolan and the Reconstruction of Film Noir in Hollywood”, JAST, no. 32, pp. 38–43, Oct. 2010, [Online]. Available: https://izlik.org/JA83FL82DK
ISNAD
Labuza, Peter. “Billion Dollar Noir: Christopher Nolan and the Reconstruction of Film Noir in Hollywood”. Journal of American Studies of Turkey. 32 (October 1, 2010): 38-43. https://izlik.org/JA83FL82DK.
JAMA
1.Labuza P. Billion Dollar Noir: Christopher Nolan and the Reconstruction of Film Noir in Hollywood. JAST. 2010;:38–43.
MLA
Labuza, Peter. “Billion Dollar Noir: Christopher Nolan and the Reconstruction of Film Noir in Hollywood”. Journal of American Studies of Turkey, no. 32, Oct. 2010, pp. 38-43, https://izlik.org/JA83FL82DK.
Vancouver
1.Peter Labuza. Billion Dollar Noir: Christopher Nolan and the Reconstruction of Film Noir in Hollywood. JAST [Internet]. 2010 Oct. 1;(32):38-43. Available from: https://izlik.org/JA83FL82DK