Neo Noir

Background Of Neo Noir

Neo noir can be a range of things, it could be that they use the general rule of noir, dark and thriller, but they put a modern twist on it. They could have color in certain parts of the film or have the location set in a future settings.

One of Misfits episodes had a Noir spin on it. In the episode one if the main characters, Curtis, falls in love with a Femme Fatale. This episode has some conventional methods of Noir with there being a Femme Fatale, an Everyman. 

Yet apart from its conventional characters, it has very unconventional twist to it aswell. One of the main things being a zombies who weren't really in films apart from horror. Also a Black main character would not have happened in 1950's. Also aside from all of that its set in Britain rather than america, the whole thing is in colour although a grey sort of filter seems to have been put over the top.

Sin City can be mistaken for a traditional Noir from the black and white posters and covers. But it has some very interesting style types and unique colour choices. The one I watched had two of the main characters, Everyman and the Villain. A majority of it is narration from the Everyman. Another thing is that is contains traditional Noir music even though it set in modern day.

The film is an adapatation of the graphic novel 'Sin City' The unique style they use is having all of the film in black and white, yet when a definitive colour, such as a bright red dress comes into the scene, this will be the only thing in colour meaning all attention is drawn to this. In the Sin City I watched there was a villain called 'Yellow Bastard' and quite literally his whole body was yellow, and this drew attention to him in any scene

Red Riding is set in the 1950's and is a British film. This is slightly more conventional, it has the dark and grimy feel, and it starts at the end and tells the whole story. Along the lines of characters it has the usual ones like the Everyman. It also uses smoke the same way typical Noir's do.

Although the story draws away from the traditional noir, this time the trouble is being caused by the Femme Fatale. The music is also more guitar based, and has a very effective way of building up tension. Finally the Everyman is a lot younger than you traditional Noir, he is more in his 20's