how these films all fall under "film noir"

I never used the term “film noir” until this class, but when I read the article describing it and we began watching the Maltese Falcon, I recognized this genre of film. I knew the 40’s style film with a detective, a crime that he would solve by the end, and at least one pretty lady thrown into the plot. However, it wasn’t until I watched more film noir and we discussed and debated the traits of a true “noir” that I recognized the more subtle, but quite important, qualities such as the moral ambiguity of the detective himself (in addition to the suspects), the melancholy mood or attitude, and an ending that remains unresolved in some way. Another aspect of the bleak storyline is often the corruption of police who may thwart the efforts of the detective or even be as dangerous as the criminals. The element of the police is not necessary for a film to fall under this genre, but it was present in all four film noir’s that I viewed.

In the four film noirs I watched, instead of feeling secure when the police arrived on the scene, there was a sense of uneasiness because they were dishonest or dangerous.
In Maltese Falcon, the police basically have no idea who is involved in the two murders or how the search for the Maltese Falcon is related. They are prepared to take detective Spade in for killing his partner, which would be useless because the true murderer would never be caught without Spade’s understanding of the people involved. If the police had their way, Spade would be in prison and the murderer would remain free.

In A Touch of Evil, the police frame Sanchez and arrest him for murder (although Sanchez is guilty, so ironically they framed the murderer). The police chief tries to take down Vargas, who is working as a detective on the case, and the police chief ends up killing his partner.
Initially, the police in Chinatown disregard the case of Mr. Muwlray’s murder as accidental. However, it becomes clear that they are involved somehow in the political corruption of the city. In the final scene, the police refuse to believe (or admit) that Mr. Cross is the murderer, and they end up shooting and killing the woman who is in fact innocent.

Finally, I watched Sin City which is the most recent film noir I have watched (made in 2005) and it is much more violent and complex than the older film noirs. Some of the elements were familiar to me as I compared it to the other films, including the conflict between the main characters and the police. Specifically, in two separate storylines, the police arrest a man for killing or raping the woman who he actually loves. The big ugly guy is framed for Goldie’s death so he works alone to find the murderer, but he ends up being killed by the electric chair for her murder. The police put Hartigan in prison for 8 years for the rape of Nancy, who he saved from the rapist. It is up to Hartigan to make sure that Nancy remains safe because the police will not condemn the rapist because of his political involvement.

After seeing Maltese Falcon, I expected some classic elements, such as an office and secretary for the detective and a tell-all at the end (with everyone seated in the living room to hear the explanation of the murder), to be included in every film noir. Most of the film noirs excluded those and more important traits remained.

Of these four film noirs, and others described by people in the class, the ending was never what I expected or what would have been satisfying. Like in other films, the characterization allows me to understand and even relate to the characters, but in film noir they do not reach a happy resolution in the end – a main character or his lover ends up dead, or the lovers are separated, or the guilty escape without punishment. Also, I want to trust the protagonist in these films, but I’m often questioning his decisions or actions because despite his intentions, he is not all good himself (such as killing 10 people in response to a single murder).

These feelings can be replicated in films without necessarily rainy city streets to replicate the mood (although it can be helpful) – I think film noir requires characters with certain motivations, usually in response to a crime, who are complex rather than just good or just bad, and a plot that moves towards a resolution but never quite wraps up loose ends. Film noir can keep me considering the conflict and the characters long after it ends, and in several ways it often provides some kind of comparison to real life.