MovieChat Forums > Niagara Discussion > Definatley Film Noire!

Definatley Film Noire!

posted 19 years ago by Translucid2k4
7 replies | jump to latest

This movie is definatley a Film Noire. I've read several articles and there seems to be alot of debate about if ''Niagara'' can be considered a Film Noire or not. I have to assume that anyone saying it's not is trying thier hardest to ignore all the blatant noire elements the picture contains. To illustrate my point, here are just a few things off the top of my head that suggest this is a film noire.

1) Use of Mirrors. When Rose Loomis is talking on the telephone to tell her lover that the time is right to kill George, the mirror is very obviously used to show her duplicity.

2) Rose's Manipulation. The scene in which she plays the record - ''Kiss'' - in order to provoke George's outburt is pure Noire. In particular, the facial expression Monroe pulls at the point of his outburst is VERY noire.

3) Intense Lighting. You'd have to be a fool not to pick up on this. The lighting is used extensively to promote the Film Noire look. Window Blinds (typical Noire) are used all the way through the movie. The shadow that Rose casts on Polly - reinforcing her status as a femme fatale - is another example but shadow is used throughout.

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4) The climactic scene in the belltower - in which Geroge tracks down Rose and kills her absoloutley SCREAMS Noire. Look at the lighting at the end of this scene - especially the high angle looking down on the action. The tension-filled soundtrack and the strong feeling of Rose getting ''closed in'' and of ''entrapment'' are other sincere nods towards Noire.

Puritans are going to say it's not in Black and White, and so ''Niagara'' is simply not a true Noire but I simply can't agree. Furthemore, I believe very sincerely that it was even an influencial movie to ''Vertigo'' by Hitchcock - you can see the simmilarities very clearly. I know the plot is a bit thin and perhaps any Film Noire elements within it are often superficial but I still class ''Niagara'' as a true Film Noire - and a bloody good one at that.

[–] dgz78 18 years ago

Translucid2k4

I don't think noir has to be black and white - I consider Chinatown film noir though I've gotten into some heated discussions with people that think color is heresy.

MM is definitely the femme fatale of film noir and she pays for her crime as does her husband. The scene in the bell tower is classic and the twist with the boyfriend getting killed instead of the husband is noir worthy.

But the problem with Niagra is that the other characters are - the Cutlers and the Ketterings seem out of place for film noir except for the scene where Joseph Cotten confronts Polly in the motel room.

And while I think film noir can be in color, it usually helps if a lot of the movie is at least shot at night. In Chinatown there are a lot of important scenes shot at night. The scene at the fence when Jake gets too "nosy"; the scene at the nursing home; and of course the climatic scene at the end.

The best noir has an atmosphere from the beginning - think of Fred MacMurray when he first sees Barbara Stanwyck in Double Indemnity. But I think Niagra holds up well as a movie whether or not anyone sees it as noir.

[–] rsgre 18 years ago

I noticed that too...technicolor "film noir" it is...! I have a feeling I will be watching this often...love it...!!
Regards,

RSGRE

[–] Hatton_Mann 17 years ago

I would be in agreement, especially with lighting, there are several scenes that have a noir feel:
-when she's putting on her stockings and her face comes into the light
-the morgue scene
-the blinds
-the reflections
It holds it own, it was well shot.

[–] Noirdame79 17 years ago

I consider Niagara a film noir too, and while it's true that noirs were predominately shot in black and white, there are some filmed in color (originally, not ones that were colorized).

Leave Her To Heaven
House Of Bamboo
Vertigo
Chinatown
Midnight Lace

The only ones I can think of at the moment, but certainly they are "noirish" if not totally noir.

[–] Ripshin 16 years ago

"Definitely", you mean? I think it's a stretch. Everybody's calling everything a "noir" these days. It's a catch-all phrase for any drama shot between 45 and 55.

[–] Noir-It-All 8 years ago

There is such a sense of doom throughout the picture. The plot that backfires. Also, Loomis represents the damaged veteran. His friendly relationship with Polly is pretty interesting. In addition the MM's screen impact, their relationship involved the viewer.

"Two more swords and I'll be Queen of the Monkey People." Roseanne

[–] Crispin-3 8 years ago

I too wondered while watching whether this film could be considered noir. I think not, although some lists of film noir do include it.

True noir (IMHO) requires that the principals (usually a man & woman) descend into a nightmare world where nothing is certain, nobody is who they seem, plot twists abound, and the ending is ambiguous or bittersweet. This movie is just too realistic.

That being said, the cinematography is definitely "noir-ish", Hitchcokian, with much chiaroscuro, threatening expressionistic backgrounds and symbolism, and odd camera angles. I wondered if the film was originially planned to be in B&W (the trailer is); the use of shadows & silhouettes is unusual in colour films of the period.

Melodrama? Yes. Hitchcokian? Yes. But not quite noir.
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Tony
Why, oh why, didn't I take the blue pill?