A Brief History of Film Noir

Film Noir is French for 'black film' and first originated in France. Nino Frank, a French film critic, is best known for being the first to use the term 'Film Noir'.

Film Noir first came about in the 1940's and became most prominent in the years shortly after the war. I think this was because of how suspicious and anxious people were after the war. I think film makers took advantage of this when making Film Noir.

Some of the most popular directors associated with Film Noir are Orson Welles, Billy Wilder, Edgar Ulmer, Douglas Sirk and Henry Hathaway. European directors are mostly associated with Film Noir because of it's origin (Europe).

Film Noir is not considered a genre but more of an atmosphere, mood or point of view. Personally, Film Noir would fit in mostly as a Crime or Detective-Mystery genre.

Film Noir was generally made because it was cheap. Film makers could make low-budget films that people watched because Film Noirs were generally minimalistic and didn't require anything too expensive.

Film Noir films were generally low-budget. Terence Fisher, for example, directed several low-budget Film Noirs. All of which were still popular.

I think Film Noir directors managed to create such atypical studio films because Film Noir wasn't around too long and there wasn't much of an example. There was also a lot to Film Noir with a lot of different possible stories and ideas.

Neo Noir is a film which uses aspects and elements of Film Noir but brings them up to date with updated content, style and visual effects. It usually has updated themes that were not seen in Film Noir during the 1940s and 1950s.