Like extreme cinema? What do you think when I say extreme cinema and film noir? If David Lynch, Dark City and Batman Begins are the only things that spring to mind you may want to reach back a bit further. Film Noir helped make extreme cinema what it is today not by pushing the envelope on extreme content but by pushing through stories about extreme characters living in extreme times. These three films show off the twonky side of Noir. Cold war tensions, greasy haired hypnotists and amnesiac detectives abound but the atmosphere of mystery and danger is so thick you can cut it with a switchblade. Purists need not apply unless they want a serious lesson on the basic techniques that grabbed many of the filmmakers who've built the extreme cinema we all love so much.
WHIRLPOOL, SOMEWHERE IN THE NIGHT,
THE HOUSE ON 92ND STREET
Fox Home Entertainment
Anyone else like Film Noir? It's a genre I've dipped into often due mainly to other friends interests. But of late I have found myself going back. Everything from the poster art, to the dialogue seems steeped in a special poetry that so much of the cinema I watch seems influenced by. Fox has made a quality decision to release their Noir titles as part of Fox Film Noir and nine releases into their schedule they've really done a fine job of not only making good transfers of these films available but of adding extras and taking care with their packaging. The three most recent titles are good examples.
Whirlpool, as it's title and poster art suggests offers Noir of a mystical variety. Gene Tierney plays Ann Sutton the wife of a psycho-analyst who comes under the control of devious quack hypnotist David Korvo (Jose Ferrer when he finds out she's a shoplifter. When a former patient of her husband is found murdered, with her at the scene, she comes under suspicion.
Somewhere In the Night offers a man with no memory of who he is upon awakening in a hospital. His only clues are his wallet, a letter from an old flame and a mysterious note from Larry Cravat someone he appears to have done business with. Soon he discovers a shocking secret about himself with the help of a ragtag bunch of inner city dwellers.
The House on 92nd Street takes place during World War II following FBI Counter Terrorist Agent George Briggs as he becomes a double agent and infiltrates a ring of German spies. Insecurities about atomic power abound in the spy thriller.
All three of these titles could have been presented barebones and even fans might not have complained. In many ways they interest me primarily because they are such interesting riffs on a type of film that defies simple labeling their situations as sharp edged and strange as the lighting, camera angles and dialogue make Noir what it is. But Whirlpool offers a commentary by Richard Schickel, and the other two have commentaries by film historian Eddie Muller. Anybody who loves intense cinema could do far worse than backtrack to Hollywood's golden age.
Film noir is one of my favorite genre's.Years ago I couldnt get enough of it and its nice to see alot of the hidden gems being released on dvd.It's the writing that made me a fan.Guys like Hammet,Chandler,Cain,Thompson,Willeford have written some of the best dialogue.There's also a sub genre known as vintage sleaze that came out when the old pulp novels were written.A couple films were made I hope those get released too.
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