International Noir 101

Series Curator Christopher Funderburg presents an evening of clips and discussion about the shadowy world of film noir.

Is film noir American? The defining elements of noir—the amoral hero, hard-boiled dialogue, cynical worldview, dark silhouettes, killer dames, and down endings—stem from the films of Hollywood’s classic noir period of the ’40s and ’50s. Yet many of the most famous examples were helmed by foreign directors: Billy Wilder, Robert Siodmak, Fritz Lang. The term itself was coined by French critic Nino Frank and wasn’t commonly used in America until 1973, when the New York Times applied it to Mike Hodges’ Pulp—a British movie!

Stylistically, these films actually owe as much to German Expressionism as they do to American crime fiction, and it was due to the efforts of the French New Wave pioneers that they have enjoyed lasting fame and influence. While Hollywood was cranking out Double Indemnity, The Killing, and other black-and-white tales of dark fatalism, Europe was releasing films like Pépé Le Moko and Ossessione on the same gritty subjects.

This series looks at film noir as an international movement and a ubiquitous style whose flexible aesthetics are adaptable to any number of genres, epochs, and settings, from the streets of South Central Los Angeles to the Norwegian wilderness.

The night of International Noir 101, all ticket buyers will receive a pass redeemable at the box office for one free ticket to any film in the International Film Noir series.

Thu, August 6 7:30 Q&A w/series curator Christopher Funderburg. Tickets: $10 (members), $20 (nonmembers), which includes a FREE TICKET to any film in this series.

I will meet you prior to the movie at the Membership Desk. Look at my picture, come up and introduce yourself. I will be at the Membership Desk from 7:10 To 7:25. The Movie starts at 7:30 pm.