Cinematic crime fiction has undergone a sweeping change since the popular gangster films of the 1930's and the subsequent 'Film Noir' era. Visual imagery associated with entrenched corruption, violence and social degradation remain but with social and historical contextual change, storylines and characterisation have become more complex. Classics such as 'The Maltese Falcon' and 'The Big Sleep' established the cynical and alienated detective who struggled amidst seedy city streets. Noirish lighting and cinematography created the sinister atmospheric settings and worldspace that gave audiences a glimpse into a criminal underworld. Crime and criminality is also a topic that allows teachers to tap into documentary study for students can compare fiction and non-fiction depictions of events and individuals.
Genre film study can simultaneously achieve a number of goals. It...
- enables a study of genre conventions and how they can be both formulaic and flexible; familiar to audiences but easy to manipulate and re-imagined for enduring popularity. Genre study has become a major academic focus in recent decades and many resources can be found online for most mainstream genres. Students enjoy studying genre in general but film genre in particular as it establishes benchmarks for recurring themes, motifs and stylistic elements. Film Noir is particularly effective with students in Years 10 and 11.
- demonstrates changing social attitudes and values over time and reflects how film can be such a powerful medium for reflecting 'zeitgeist' or the spirit of the times. Cinematic texts can be topical but the best examples outlast their era of composition, retaining relevance for the deeper issues that are explored. 'Citizen Kane' for example remains on the top 100 best films of all times list because it still 'speaks' to contemporary audiences due to the timeless themes, cinematography and 'auteur' vision of Orson Welles.
- challenges viewers to compare and contrast films over time that deal with similar subject matter but in differing ways. Genre films are marked both by their similarity and inherent diversity. Conventions are not fixed or static but loose and fluid. The decayed landscapes of Film Noir are equally suitable for a dystopic view of a post apocalyptic world such as that found in films such as 'Children of Men'.
- can demonstrate the nature of hybridization whereby films cross genre boundaries to communicate ideas and engage their audiences. Films such as 'Blade Runner' or 'Witness' show a mix of several genres that enable directors to address multiple ideas and issues in visually innovative ways.
- highlights how film techniques have changed over time, reflecting technological development and social expectations. The special effects of yesteryear compared to what is now possible is in itself an interesting topic to explore. The fact that films from earlier periods retain significance should be incorporated into such a study to ensure that students appreciate that distinctive films do not need to rely on whizz bang technology.
- can also be interesting to use film stills from genre films such as crime fiction showing characters, settings or objects and have the students try and detect ideas from them about who, what, where, when, why and how. They can be excellent stimulus material for creative writing. I have found the following shot particularly effective in class discussion about what possible storyline could go with it.
