Film Studies (FILM) 305.12 L03
Topic in Genre
FILM NOIR
Fall 2007
Screenings, Monday 14:00-16:50 PM
Lectures, Wednesday 14:00-15:50 PM

Instructor:	Lee Carruthers
Office Location:	TBA
Office Phone:	TBA
E-Mail:	lcarruth@uchicago.edu
Web Page:	TBA
Office Hours:	TBA

Additional Information

Viewing Requirements

This course has one weekly screening time (Monday from 2:00 - 4:50 pm).

You are required to attend the screening so as to be prepared for the Wednesday class. For repeat viewings and/or close analysis, some of the films on the course are available for rental at local video stores. These resources are not a substitute for the scheduled screenings, but will prove helpful for completing assignments.

Participation Requirements

Attendance and informed participation are essential components of this course and will help to determine your final grade. Please note that a percentage of your grade-equal to that of the in-class quiz- is based on participation. To this end, consistent contributions to in-class discussion are expected. This involves a simple task to be completed on a weekly basis, as follows:

After the Monday screening, go to the Blackboard site to submit a brief response to the film and/or weekly reading. There will be a general question or prompt there, for you to consider. Your response can be a paragraph or so in length; it should focus on a detail or raise a specific question that you'd like to talk about in class. These responses are mandatory and must be submitted by Tuesday PM (no later). They will serve as a cue for Wednesday's discussion.

Course Description

Film noir refers, most concretely, to a group of films produced during the 1940s and 1950s in Hollywood that share distinct formal and ideological features. At the same time, it may be understood as something more contemporary, as a style or sensibility that remains compelling for filmmakers and viewers today. In our course, we will focus primarily upon titles produced during the studio era, situating film noir within its original contexts. This is to examine the emergence of noir within the Hollywood system, alongside its cinematic and literary antecedents; further, it is to consider noir's critical reception in France and within subsequent academic film study. Finally, this course will move beyond the studio era to discuss the phenomenon of  'neo-noir' and its manifestations from 1960 to the present.

Objectives of the Course

This course has three main objectives:

1. To develop a nuanced understanding of film noir that considers the films' historical and conceptual significance.
2. To develop viewing and film-analytical skills that allow us to approach these films as complex, aesthetic objects.
3. To appreciate the extent to which film noir is also a critical construct-or idea- that has meant different things to different people over time.

Textbooks and Readings

James Naremore's More Than Night: Film Noir in its Contexts (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1998).

James M. Cain, The Postman Always Rings Twice. Vintage Crime/Black Lizard Edition (New York: Random House Incorporated, 1989).

All other readings (see schedule, below) are available in a course package for purchase. These readings are also mandatory.

Assignments and Evaluation

Grades will be determined as follows:

In-class Quiz                                      week 4                                    15%

Brief Formal Analysis                       week 7                                    30%                                       

Final Essay                           week 12                                 40%

Participation                                      weekly                                    15%

It is the student's responsibility to keep a copy of each submitted assignment.
Note: Please hand in your essays directly to your tutor or instructor if possible. If it is not possible to do so, a daytime drop box is available in SS110; a date stamp is provided for your use. A night drop box is also available for after-hours submission. Assignments will be removed the following morning, stamped with the previous day's date, and placed in the instructor's mailbox.

Registrar-scheduled Final Examination:  NO
 
Policy for Late Assignments

Assignments submitted after the deadline may be penalized with the loss of a grade (e.g.: A- to B+) for each day late.

Writing Skills Statement

Faculty policy directs that all written assignments (including, although to a lesser extent, written exam responses) will be assessed at least partly on writing skills. For details see www.comcul.ucalgary.ca/info. Writing skills include not only surface correctness (grammar, punctuation, sentence structure, etc) but also general clarity and organization. Research papers must be properly documented.

If you need help with your writing, you may use the Writing Centre.  Visit the website for more details: www.efwr.ucalgary.ca

Grading System

The following grading system is used in the Faculty of Communication and Culture:

A+ (96-100); A (92-95); A- (86-91); B+ (81-85); B (77-80); B- (71-76);
C+ (65-70); C (62-64); C- (59-61); D+ (55-58); D (50-54); F (0-49)

Plagiarism

Using any source whatsoever without clearly documenting it is a serious academic offense. Consequences include failure on the assignment, failure in the course and possibly suspension or expulsion from the university.

You must document not only direct quotations but also paraphrases and ideas where they appear in your text. A reference list at the end is insufficient by itself. Readers must be able to tell exactly where your words and ideas end and other people's words and ideas begin. This includes assignments submitted in non-traditional formats such as Web pages or visual media, and material taken from such sources.

Please consult your instructor or the Writing Centre (SS 106, efwr.ucalgary.ca) if you have any questions regarding how to document sources.

Students with Disabilities

If you are a student with a disability who may require academic accommodation, it is your responsibility to register with the Disability Resource Centre (220-8237) and discuss your needs with your instructor no later than fourteen (14) days after the start of the course.

Students' Union

For details about the current Students' Union contacts for the Faculty of Communication and Culture see www.comcul.ucalgary.ca/su

"SAFEWALK" Program -- 220-5333

Campus Security will escort individuals day or night -- call 220-5333 for assistance. Use any campus phone, emergency phone or the yellow phone located at most parking lot booths.

Ethics
Whenever you perform research with human participants (i.e. surveys, interviews, observation) as part of your university studies, you are responsible for following university research ethics guidelines.  Your instructor must review and approve of your research plans and supervise your research.  For more information about your research ethics responsibilities, see the U of C Research Ethics "Information for Applicants," sections 3.0 to 9.0, inclusive: http://www.ucalgary.ca/UofC/research/html/ethics/info_undergrad.html

Schedule of Screenings, Lectures and Readings

Unit One: Defining Noir

Week 1: Introduction

Screening                  Double indemnity (Wilder, 1944).

American Cinema Series: Film Noir (documentary)

Reading

John Alton, "Mystery Lighting," in Painting With Light, (1949, rpt. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1995), pp. 44-56.

J.A. Place & L.S. Peterson, "Some Visual Motifs of Film Noir," Film Comment, 10, 1 (Jan/Feb. 1974), pp. 30-35.

David Bordwell, "The Case of Film Noir," The Classical Hollywood Cinema:  Film Style and Mode of Production to 1960 (New York:  Columbia University Press, 1985), pp. 74-77.

Week 2: Early Formulations: A French Reception

Screening                  Murder, My Sweet (Dmytryk, 1944)

Reading

Naremore, MTN, pp. 1-39.

Nino Frank, "The Crime Adventure Story: A New Kind of Detective Film," 1946, rpt. in Perspectives on Film Noir, pp. 21-24.

Jean Pierre Chartier, "The Americans Are Making Dark Films Too," 1946, rpt. in Perspectives on Film Noir, pp. 25-27.

Henri-Francois Rey, "Hollywood Makes Myths like Ford Makes Cars (last installment):  Demonstration by the Absurd:  Films Noirs," 1948, rpt. in Perspectives on Film Noir, pp. 28-29.

Pierre Duvillars, "She Kisses Him So He'll Kill," 1951, rpt. in Perspectives on Film Noir, pp. 30-32.

Week 3: Toward A Definition...

Screening                  The Maltese Falcon (Huston, 1941)

Reading

Raymond Borde & Etienne Chaumeton,  "Toward the Definition of Film Noir," in Panorama du Film Noir Americain, 1955, rpt. in Perspectives on Film Noir, trans. & ed. R. Barton Palmer (New York:  G. K. Hall & Co., 1996), pp. 59-65.

Raymond Durgnat, "Paint It Black:  The Family Tree of Film Noir," 1970, rpt. in Perspectives on Film Noir, pp. 83-98.

Paul Schrader, "Notes on Film Noir," Film Comment 8, 1 (Spring 1972), pp. 8-13. 

Recommended: Marc Vernet, "Film Noir on the Edge of Doom," Shades of Noir, ed. Joan Copjec (London:  Verso, 1993), pp. 1-31.

Week 4: Noir Style  / Noir As Genre

Screening                   The Big Combo (Lewis, 1955)

Reading

Naremore, MTN, 167-190

Foster Hirsch, "The Crazy Mirror:  Noir Stylistics," Film Noir: The Dark Side of the Screen (New York:  A.S. Barnes & Co., Ltd., 1981), pp. 71-111.

James Damico, "Film Noir:  A Modest Proposal," Film Reader 3 (1978), pp. 48-57.

Week 5: Narrative and Narration

Screening                  The Killers (Siodmak, 1946)

Reading

Ernest Hemingway, "The Killers", in The Complete Short Stories of Ernest Hemingway (New York: Macmillan Publishing Company, 1987), pp. 215-222.

Marc Vernet, "The Filmic Transaction: On the Openings of Film Noirs," Velvet Light Trap, 20 (1983), pp. 2-9.

Recommended: J.P. Telotte, "Noir Narration" Voices in the Dark: The Narrative Patterns of Film Noir (Urbana, Il.:  University of Illinois Press, 1989), pp. 1-39. 

Unit Two: Anticipations & Influences

Week 6: Noir's Literary Roots

Screening                  The Postman Always Rings Twice (Garnett, 1946)

Reading

Naremore, MTN, pp. 40-95.

James M. Cain, The Postman Always Rings Twice. Vintage Crime/Black Lizard Edition (New York: Random House Incorporated. 1989).

Raymond Chandler, "The Simple Art of Murder," 1944, rpt. in Later Novels and Other Writings (New York:  Library of America, 1995), pp. 977-992.

Recommended: Frank Krutnik, "Desire, Transgression and James M. Cain," Screen, 23, 1 (May-June 1982), pp. 31-44.

Week 7: Transnational Influence: Germany and France                                        

Screening                  M (Lang, 1931)

Reading

Foster Hirsch, "The Cinematic Background: From Expressionism to Neo-Realism," Film Noir:  The Dark Side of the Screen, pp. 53-69.

Ginette Vincendeau, "Noir is Also A French Word:  The French Antecedents of Film Noir," in The Book of Film Noir, ed. Ian Cameron (New York:  Continuum Publishing Co., 1993), pp. 49-58.

Recommended: Charles O'Brien,  "Film Noir in France:  Before the Liberation," Iris, 21, pp. 7-20.

Unit Three: Contexts & Ideologies

Week 8: ‘Deadly is the Female'

Screening                  The Big Heat (Lang, 1953)

Reading

Janey Place, "Women in Film Noir," 1978, rpt. in Women in Film Noir, New Edition, ed. E. Ann Kaplan (London:  BFI Publishing, 1998), pp. 47-68.  Note: this reading is incomplete; additional pages will be made available on Blackboard.

Tom Gunning, "The Big Heat", in Fritz Lang: Allegories of Vision and Modernity (London: BFI Publishing, 2000), pp. 408-433.

Recommended:

Laura Mulvey, "Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema", 1975, rpt in Film Theory & Criticism, 4^th edition. Edited by Gerald mast, Marshall Cohen and Leo Braudy (New York: oxford U.P., 1992) pp. 746-757.

Angela Martin, "'Gilda Didn't Do Any of Those Things You've Been Losing Sleep Over!':  The Central Women of 40s Films Noirs," in Women in Film Noir, pp. 202-228.

Week 9: Noir and the Postwar Context: ‘Masculinity and its Discontents'

Screening                  Out of the Past (Tourneur, 1947)

Reading

Frank Krutnik, In a Lonely Street: Film Noir, Genre, Masculinity, (Routledge: London & New York, 1991) pp. 92-124.

 

Dana B. Polan, "Blind Insights and Dark Passages:  The Problem of Placement in Forties Film," Velvet Light Trap, 20, pp. 27-33.

Recommended:

Chapters 6&8 from Krutnik's text.

Week 10: Cold War Noir

Screening                  Pick Up on South Street (Fuller, 1950)     

Note: the film will be screened at the beginning of Wednesday's class, due to reading days.

Reading

Naremore, MTN, 96-135

Paul Arthur, Shadows on the Mirror: Film Noir and Cold War America, 1945-1957. PhD dissertation (excerpt), pp. 105- 173. Note: this reading will be made available via Blackboard.

Week 11: Identity & Contingency         

Screening                  D.O.A. (Maté, 1950)

                                     Detour (Ulmer, 1945)

Reading

Paul Arthur, Shadows on the Mirror: Film Noir and Cold War America, 1945-1957. PhD dissertation (excerpt), pp. 41-97. Note: this reading will be made available via Blackboard.

Eric Lott, "The Whiteness of Film Noir", American Literary History, Volume 9, Number 3 (Autumn, 1997), PP. 542-566. Note: this reading will be made available via Blackboard.

 Week 12: Neo-noir: Revisitation & Revisionism

Screening                  The Killers (Siegal, 1964)

Reading

Naremore, MTN, 190-219

Recommended: Alain Silver et al, "Neo-noir", Film Noir:  An Encyclopedic Reference to the American Style, Third Ed. (Woodstock, N.Y.:  The Overlook Press, 1992), pp. 398-423.

Week 13: Old as New: Parody & Pastiche     

Screening                  The Long Goodbye (Altman, 1973)

Reading

Richard T. Jameson, "Son of Noir," Film Comment, 10, 6 (Nov-Dec. 1974), pp. 30-33.

Raymond Borde and Etienne Chaumeton, "Twenty Years Later:  Film Noir in the 1970s," 1975, rpt. in Perspectives on Film Noir, pp. 76-80.

Recommended: Noel Carroll, "The Future of the Allusion: Hollywood in the Seventies (and Beyond)".  October Volume 20 (Spring 1982) pp.52-81.