darkly romantic movies - nosferatu, twin peaks...


Darkly romantic movies The screen was the main gothic medium in the 20th century. In the 40s, the "genre" Film noir was founded on gothic drama. Today, two directors distinguish themselves - David Lynch and Tim Burton. Bella Cinema is a wonderful site about dark, surreal film. Visit Internet movie database or allmovie, both useful databases, for further information. (For example, I believe that Dracula and Nosferatu have been adapted for the screen over 50 times and I wish I could keep record of them all here). I appreciate tips.
TOP TEN Nosferatu (1922), The Others, The Innocents, Sleepy Hollow, Quills, Breaking the waves, Batman, Bram Stoker's Dracula, Wild at heart, The Name of the Rose
Novels adapted to the screen (see literature) Naked lunch Jane Eyre Wuthering heights Frankenstein Turn of the screw/ The Innocents Fall of the house of Usher Moby Dick Billy Budd The Raven Rappaccini's daughter The Sheltering Sky The Name of the Rose The Trial Tim Burton Batman Batman Returns Sleepy hollow Nightmare before Christmas David Lynch Wild at heart Twin Peaks Blue Velvet Bar romanticism Whos's afraid of Wirginia Woolf? A play about a constantly drunk couple, insulting and threatening each other all the time. Barfly Bukowski. Other suggestions on the web The Stand Dr Heidegger's experiment Bartleby The Good Son Needful things Yellow wallpaper Bride of Frankenstein Music A skin to few A documentary about Nick Drake by Jeroen Berkven. September Songs Nick Cave performs Mack the Knife in the opening scene and then PJ Harvey, William S Burroughs and many others continue this tribute to Kurt Weill. Nick Cave appearing Ghosts of the civil dead Johnny Suede Jonas in the desert Early gothic movies Frankenstein, The Edison Kinetogram (1910) The cabinet of Dr Caligari (1920) Metropolis (1926) Frankenstein (1931) Dracula (1931) Bela Lugosi Bride of Frankenstein (1935) Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde (1932)	Gothic Gothic A movie about Lord Byron and the Shelleys. These authors lived together for some years. Quills Marquis de Sade. The best Darkly Romantic movie. Vampires Bram Stoker's Dracula Coppola's vision of Dracula is poetic and extravagant.. Tom Waits appears. Nosferatu (1922) Murnau. Still the best vampire movie. Suggestive. Shadows of the vampire The making of Nosferatu (1922). John Malkovich portraits Murnau. Nosferatu (1979) Klaus Kinski, the madman himself, portraits Nosferatu. Vampyr (1931) By Carl Th Dreyer By Wim Wenders Until the end of the world Unfortunately the movie is a failure - but the soundtrack is without counterpart: Nick Cave, Crime and the City Solution and many others. Wings of desire Nick Cave and Blixa Bargeld as themselves - I have heard. Other Angel heart Eyes Wide Shut A story about subversive love. The Crow Brannaghan's Hamlet The original tragic drama - a four hour movie. The story takes place in the 19th century. Gothic overtones. Breaking the waves Supernatural love. True love is a miracle for believers. A modern Brontë story in the wastelands. Alien Psycho From Hell The Others The Shining TV Twin Peaks Tanner 21st century American Psycho Fight Club

Film noir is a "genre" closely related to Dark Romanticism. Some similar themes are identified as for example the anti-hero, villany and subversive love. The characters drink whisky and smoke cigarettes. Thanks to my brother for this contribution.

AN INTRODUCTION

by Nikodemus

What is film noir? Actually, I am tempted to answer: "Film noir is a label who film critics use merely because it sounds so good." The correct pronunciation is [film nwar] by the way. Originally, it is a French expression, meaning "black cinema". The term was borrowed from "roman noir", gothic horror stories from 19th century England.
The thing is film noir cannot be easily defined. I would like to distinguish four different categories:

French film noir (1930-1940): The term refers to dark movies from especially the late '30s, e.g. Quai des brumes (1938) and Le jour se lève (1939) by Marcel Carné, which gained international reputation at the time. French film noir is characterized by poetic realism and cruel fatalism, a down-to-earth doomsday feeling, so to speak. In this context, the term film noir is more or less frequently used in certain European countries, but not necessarily always by the French themselves.

Early American film noir (1930-1940): Many cineastes and critics label early crime stories from mainly Warner Brothers as film noir, like Little Ceasar (1930) and I Am a Fugitive from a Chain Gang (1932). Although we would regard them as very conventional and very harmless today, they shocked the audience in the '30s and actually got banned in some countries. It is questionable if those movies really are true film noir.

American film noir (1940-1950): American film noir commonly refers to classic gangster movies from the '40s and '50s, often adaptations of hard-boiled, contemporary pulp fiction, e.g. by Raymond Chandler. Classic examples of American film noir are The Maltese Falcon (1941), Kiss of Death (1947), The Naked City (1948), The Asphalt Jungle (1950), Kiss Me Deadly (1955). A complete site could easily be devoted to this subject only.

Modern film noir (1950-): This is not an established term, but I think it is suitable. To this category I would like to count e.g. film noir nostalgia like L.A. Confidential (1997), film noir parody like The Big Lebowski (1998) and film noir revival like The Spanish Prisoner (1997). It goes without saying this is not a homogeneous or easily demarcated category.

When cineastes and critics use the term film noir today, they mean American film noir of the '40s and '50s in most cases. Those movies have very typical features. They often take place in the underworld of a large city and are characterized by violent brutality and harsh dialouge. Both heroes and villains are cynical and world-weary, classic lonewolfs and "born losers". Much of the action takes place during night in dim rooms and on rain wet asphalt, captured on contrasting, black-and-white photo with disturbing, symbolic shadows.

French film critics were the first ones to use the term film noir about American movies, which probably has contributed to the confusion. Just like French film noir, though, American film noir is more or less realistic, dark, brutal and fatalistic, so it can be regarded as a kind of successor to French film noir.

Today, the term film noir is carelessly used as a label for any dark crime or horror story. There are even examples of westerns and comedies which have been labeled film noir. The only feature those movies seem to have in common is the dark tone. Unfortunately, the term is starting to become hackneyed and arbitrary.