Dark Streets and Strange Detours: Film Noir in Context

Learning Outcomes

Knowledge and Understanding

Having successfully completed this module, you will be able to demonstrate knowledge and understanding of:

• the significance of the historical context of America / Europe in the 1940s and 50s, including the relationship between the US government and Hollywood.
• the significance of iconic stars associated with the genre, such as Edward G Robinson, Joan Crawford, Humphrey Bogart and Barbara Stanwyck.
• the different definitions and critical approaches to ‘Film Noir’
• issues of sexuality, gender, ethnicity, crime and post-war readjustment
• a range of case-studies in Film Noir and Neo-Noir
• borderline examples of the genre, combined with psychological horror, mystery and western genres, melodrama, etc.
• the contribution made by exile / émigré filmmakers in shaping Film Noir.

Subject Specific Intellectual and Research Skills

Having successfully completed this module you will be able to:

• discuss the development of the term ‘Film Noir’ and give examples of differing critical approaches to its understanding as well as the problematic nature of the term itself.
• discuss the significance of the European influence upon Film Noir in terms of directors and other film personnel as well as the issue of cultural influence.
• analyse ways in which critics have dealt with the ‘genre’ thematically, culturally and formally and highlight the value of each approach.
• make connections between American Film Noir and its European and global counterparts.
• evaluate and draw upon a range of academic and filmic sources in order to formulate, structure and justify your own arguments.

Transferable and Generic Skills

Having successfully completed this module you will be able to:

• work productively with others and give an effective oral presentation that informs its audience and generates further debate.
• select, organise and deploy ideas and information in order to formulate cogent arguments and express them effectively in written .
• work independently, making effective use of library resources and demonstrating efficient time management.

Having successfully completed this module you will be able to:

• demonstrate the ability to listen to, contribute to, and lead discussion in group environments of varying sizes.

Film Noir is one of Hollywood’s perennial cult genres, yet it is notoriously difficult to define, as it essentially amounts to a retrospective invention by critics. This module aims to place the main corpus of the genre’s classics within its original historical context of the 1940s and 50s. It will introduce and combine various approaches to the study of cinema history, including genre theory, exile studies, and studies on film economics, and cultural politics. Among the areas covered are: the influence of an international work force in Hollywood in the mid-20th Century (including exile filmmakers such as Billy Wilder, Fritz Lang, Robert Siodmak, Michael Curtiz, etc.); American foreign and internal policy during the Second World War and Cold War; social discourses surrounding gender, ethnicity, and crime as well as the queerness of noir.

We begin with a general introduction into theoretical approaches towards Hollywood genre cinema in the 1940s. The module then moves on to specific case studies of selected ‘classical’ noir films, which are chosen for their representativeness in addressing key issues. We will also look at seemingly more unorthodox and borderline examples which often cross boundaries to other genres such as horror, but which are crucial in understanding the narrative and cultural tensions evident in the more classical case studies. In the latter part of the module, we will consider how the noir paradigm can be found in other, and later, cultural contexts such as Europe and East Asia.

Each week will introduce a specific topic in a lecture, which is usually tied to a representative screening. The seminars are designed to be a forum for discussion and clarification of the issues addressed in the lecture and in the required reading for the week. Each student will be expected to be part of a short seminar-leading session either as an individual or in a small group, which is aimed at producing class discussion. This will enable you to develop your intellectual skills and ability to engage critically with the set reading and the week’s topic. Essay 1 is designed to consolidate your understanding of questions of genre, criticism and historical context, while essay 2 allows you to develop your interests and understanding of more specific topics raised by the module.

Teaching methods include

• lectures
• screenings
• seminars
• individual tutorials

Learning activities include

• individual study / research, including set reading
• large and small group work in seminars
• contributing to seminar leading sessions as an individual or group
• researching and preparing essays and seminar material

Formative

This is how we’ll give you feedback as you are learning. It is not a formal test or exam.

Group and individual presentation

• Assessment Type: Formative
• Feedback:
• Final Assessment: No
• Group Work: Yes

Summative

This is how we’ll formally assess what you have learned in this module.

Referral

This is how we’ll assess you if you don’t meet the criteria to pass this module.