The detective genre in film is hard to define because the
content and conventions of the detective film can be seen as crossing over into
other genres, and it can be regarded as a subcategory of crime films (along
with gangster films and thrillers). Detective films have two main features,
these are; A narrative that follows an investigation and a protagonist who
functions as a detective figure. Usually the investigating hero defines the
detective film and sorts it into a subgenre. The subgenres include; The
Classical Detective, The Transitional Detective and Noir Detective.
We are looking at the Noir Detective genre, here is a bit of
background information we collected; In the 1940s, the hard-boiled detective
came to the screen as the hero of Film noir. Film noir is said to have started
with "The Maltese Falcon" (1941) and ended with "Touch of Evil
" (1958), it is a group of films that were visually and morally dark. The
films were set in the seedy underbelly of American society and followed a
general progression from protagonists with questionable morals like Philip
Marlowe in "The Big Sleep" to detectives who were borderline criminals
themselves like Mike Hammer in "Kiss me Deadly". Film noir were a
comfort for the veterans returning from World War II who struggled with
feelings of displacement. American society had changed in their absence and
upon their return they faced unemployment, changing gender roles, alienation,
and often disablement. These films, with their hard-boiled heroes and
anti-heroes, presented audiences with traumatized but tough men that could
express and work through America's post-war disillusionment.
Touch of Evil
The Maltese Falcon
Our Private Detective
Our Private Detective
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