Rachel Garza

Pd. 4
Double Indemnity and Chinatown
The film Noir style first sprouted after WWII as a way to help urban Americans
deal with the grief of the war. Film Noir is a French term that literally means! blac"
cinema. The genre itself helps to emphasi#e the desperation in the world! tragic death!
and loneliness that many people felt after the war! and connected with at the time of its
arri$al. Noir film connects with these emotions through witty dialogue! ris%u& beha$ior!
low "ey! and high contrast lighting that ma"e the story so gripping. 'ouble Indemnity
()*44+! one of the first e$er noir films! well displays the coo"ie,cutter e-ample of what
the genre is about. .igh angles and unbalanced placement in the scenes ma"es the
player and the played ob$ious. In /hinatown ()*04+! the style of the noir genre is a little
different. The plot is much more comple-! gi$ing you more to follow! howe$er it is still
considered a classic e-ample of what the genre entitles! using high contrast lighting and
dramatic camera angles.
'ouble Indemnity helped de$eloped the Noir Film being one of the first e$er to
come out of the genre. 'ominance between the characters if well established using low
angles to show one person as being taller loo"ing down on the other. In one of the $ery
first scenes! the $iewer can see Phyllis! the 1femme fatale2 character! standing o$er her
husband as he signs the insurance papers. The angles emphasi#e her role and you see
her plot come about 3ust then as you get the first clue as to who is the dominant mind in
the scheme of the mo$ie. Phyllis2 character is de$eloped throughout the duration of the
mo$ie by her ris%u& dialogue and her sugar,coated words. It is only later on that the
$iewer comes to identify her lac" of emotion when the only sign of her true delight
comes about when her husband is murdered ne-t to her. This mo$ie uses lighting to
pro$ide a prison,li"e feel around Walter Neff! the insurance salesman who got trapped
by his own lust and curiosity. The lighting pins shadowed bars around Walter2s figure
when he first meets Phyllis in the li$ing room of the 'ietrichson home ma"ing him seem
helpless and hints to the $iewer that Walter will be trapped from then on in the mo$ie.
/hinatown is a moderni#ed $ersion of these films noir. As time went on! so did
the genre. This mo$ie shows that through the rich language and moderni#ed morals.
The dialogue is straight forward when it comes to the ris%u& beha$ior displayed in the
mo$ie and crude scenes of se- are more openly displayed between the male and
female characters.
Rachel Garza
Pd. 4
.a$ing come out far after the end of WWII! it is much of an homage to the old
coo"ie,cutter films and follows a little bit more of a complicated plot. The same classic
lighting is present! and bars of light pro3ect through the blinds to the bac"ground of
4ittes and his cowor"ers! creating a half,trapped feel around him. The characters are
de$eloped through their speech and references to what are special to them. 4ittes
being a detecti$e faces many problems with his nose and it often leads him to trouble.
5ome may suspect this trouble could be a lady! 6$elyn 7ulwray. 8ust and passion
between them is e$idently shown in the camera wor". Their relationship is shown often
from a bird2s eye $iew to show an outside loo" of their mi-ture of business with pleasure
as it was with 'ouble Indemnity.
The Film Noir style was best displayed in 'ouble Indemnity! of course! because it
came out around the time that the genre did. It was one of the first! using the best and
simplest factors of film to its ad$antage which ga$e it the leg up on /hinatown. The
simple plot lets the $iewer focus more on how they connect to the mo$ie in contrast to
/hinatown2s plot within a plot. 8ow "ey and high contrast lighting is highly emphasi#ed
which draws the audience into the emotion of the story.