WHAT IS FILM NOIR?

Actually, I am tempted to answer: "Film noir is a label which film critics use merely because it sounds 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 that film noir cannot easily be defined. There are a few movies which most cineastes and critics label film noir, though. I would like to divide these movies into 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 characterised by poetic realism and cruel fatalism, a down-to-earth doomsday feeling, so to speak. In this context, the term film noir is used in a more or less frequent manner in many European countries, but not necessarily in France. 

• 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 category alone. 

• Modern film noir (1950-): This is not really an established label, 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.

Note: Excellent film noir movies have of course been made in other countries than France and USA, but these films have unfortunately become more or less obscure.

When cineastes and critics use the term film noir today, they usually mean American film noir of the '40s and '50s. These 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; 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, e.g. like cyberpunk.

IS BLADE RUNNER FILM NOIR?

As shown above, this is no exact label. Needless to say, it is difficult to decide whether Blade Runner really is film noir or not. 

Nevertheless, the American movies mentioned above — as well as many other movies labeled film noir by cineastes and critics — have some typical features, and these features can be found in Blade Runner:

• Deckard has a couple of superficial, but typical film noir attributes: a trenchcoat and a gun. Originally, he was supposed to wear a fedora hat as well. Furthermore, Deckard is a classic anti-hero: he drinks too much, he is a loner and he mistrusts authorities. Finally, he is a detective.
  
  
• The dialouge is harsh, brutal, witty and rich of memorable one-liners. A couple of examples, which would fit in any film noir movie: "They don't advertise for killers." "I'm not in the business. I am the business." "If you're not a cop, you're little people."
  
  
• The violence is brutal and very graphic. In some European countries, quite a few American film noir classics got restrained with total screening prohibiton. Governmental culture policies are liberal nowadays, but some scenes in Blade Runner were nevertheless saved for the International Cut — ironically with Europe as one of the target markets.
  

• A classic film noir feature is the femme fatale, French for fatal woman, who generally speaking is a seductive woman who lures the hero — as well as other male characters — into ruin. Rachael and Pris can be said to be typical femme fatales and to some extent Zhora too.
  

• Voice-over, as used in the original version from 1982, is a characteristic film noir story-telling technique. Originally, the voice-over in Blade Runner was supposed to be both more poetic and more cynical in a traditional film noir manner.
  

• Wealthy, self-indulgent families fallen into decadent insanity is a film noir cliché, and can e.g. be found in Raymond Chandler's novels. There are indications the Tyrell dynasty might be such a family.
  
  
• The general look and atmosphere resemble film noir aesthetics: night, rain, deserted alleys, bright citylights, dim rooms etc. Throughout Blade Runner, there is an interplay between light and shadows, maybe most obvious when Deckard kisses Rachael in front of a Venetian blind, an explicit homage by director Ridley Scott.
  
  
• The plot in Blade Runner has classic film noir components: the hero is assigned a mission of proportions he cannot really imagine, he meets a dangerous woman and falls in love with her and finally he realises he has been deceived by powerful people.

The possibility that Deckard might be a replicant — and theoretically every other character too — correspondes well with the film noir tradition of deceit and betrayal: everyone might be a victim and everyone might be an offender. A quote from an interview with director Ridley Scott:

To me it's entirely logical, particularly when you are doing a film noir, you may as well go right through with that theme, and the central character could in fact be what he is chasing...

That is a completely different topic, though...