Book description
Film Noir
offers new perspectives on this highly popular and influential film
genre, providing a useful overview of its historical evolution and the
many critical debates over its stylistic elements.
- Brings together a range of perspectives on a topic that has been
much discussed but remains notoriously ill-defined
- Traces the historical development of the genre, usefully exploring
the relations between the films of the 1940s and 1950s that
established the "noir" universe and the more recent films
in which it has been frequently revived
- Employs a clear and intelligent writing style that makes this the
perfect introduction to the genre
- Offers a thorough and engaging analysis of this popular area of
film studies for students and scholars
- Presents an in-depth analysis of six key films, each exemplifying
important trends of film noir: Murder, My Sweet; Out of
the Past; Kiss Me Deadly; The Long Goodbye;
Chinatown; and Seven
William Luhr
is Professor of English at St. Peter's College, Co-Chair of the
Columbia University Seminar on Cinema and Interdisciplinary
Interpretation, and Standing Editor of the Oxford University Press
Online Bibliography on Cinema and Media Studies
. He is the editor of The Coen Brothers' Fargo
(2004) and The Maltese Falcon: John Huston, Director
(1995) and the author of, amongst others, Screening Genders
(with Krin Gabbard, 2008), Thinking About Movies: Watching,
Questioning, Enjoying, third edition
(co-author with Peter Lehman, 2008) and Raymond Chandler and Film,
second edition
(1991).
