5. Styles of film noir

Abstract

Contrary to what has sometimes been said, there never was a single narrative or visual style of film noir, even in the 1940s. The major directors played the movie game in slightly different ways and each of the studios also had something of their own style because of the photographers, designers, and musical composers they employed. ‘Styles of film noir’ explains that classic film noirs were as stylistically heterogeneous as any other kind of picture, but they were governed by a generally agreed upon ‘mysterious’ look. Film noir has persisted, but it doesn’t look the same in different periods. The shift from black and white to color is discussed along with parody, pastiche, and postmodern noir.