MovieChat Forums > House of Bamboo (1955) Discussion > Film Noir in Color?

Film Noir in Color?

posted 16 years ago by thrillhousejhs11
8 replies | jump to latest

This film was released as part of 20th Cent. Fox's "film noir" collection as well as being referenced in the comprehensive "Film Noir Guide" by Michael F. Keaney; furthermore IMDb has it genre listed as a "film noir."

Anyhow, I've viewed the film and it's in color (the pictures on the back of which were in black and white, a tad misleading)--which leads me to this question: can a true film noir be in color?

I know to be categorized as a "film noir" there are both aesthetic and thematic criteria, and I would say the latter is apparent in the story, man goes undercover in the seedy underworld not unlike say "Kiss of Death," but the color doesn't really lend itself to the dark moods required for the noir. It certainly falls within the classical era of the noir (as partially delineated by Paul Schrader) c. 1941-1959. The end date is significant because the 60s was the advent of full color studio film production--but film noir quite literally translates to "black film" and this closer resembles Jerry Lewis' vibrant technicolor usage.

The Keaney book, while not exactly authoritative--being that he labels a few films as noirs that I'm sure most film scholars wouldn't call "film noir" (like a number of Val Lewton horror films) also in that it's less of analytical book like Alain Silver and James Ursini's "Film Noir Reader."

What do you think? Personally I'm inclined to just call it a color drama, or just a plain crime film, but not a noir.
_____
Yeah, I'm so bad I kick my own ass twice a day.
-Creeper, the Hamburger Pimp from "Dolemite"

[–] vpilutis 13 years ago

"film noir"? I have to laugh sometimes, make no mistake film noir" is fine.
Only thing is sometimes even if they wanted to use color they didn't since it was too costly at the time and so they did what they could with B&W

See some stars here
http://www.vbphoto.biz/

[–] The_Dying_Flutchman 13 years ago

Any film of a dark character can be Noir; the French word itself means "black". Some people get so hung up on verbiage they miss the whole and the hole.

Let it be unsaid: insignificance is the locus of true increpation.

[–] 13 years ago

[deleted]

[–] FelixtheCat 13 years ago

Stylistically, it wasn't very noirish, not so much because of its being shot in color, but more so because of the lack of contrast between lights and darks. Also, much of the film seems to take place in the daytime, unlike many of the classic noirs. Film Noir can be in color, with light and shadow still used effectively, as was the case with Roman Polanski's Chinatown (1974).

Thematically, it fits film noir a bit better. Stack's character is one that, at least at the beginning of the film, seems to be an anti-hero, a man who is only a little better than the antagonists, a man with serious character flaws who has just been released from prison. However, we soon learn that he actually is just a military man, on the case, and is clearly a good guy. The focus on crime and the underworld however, does hold true in terms of holding true to noir themes.

I would argue that this is definitely not a classic stage film noir, but the argument can be made that this is either a revisionist noir, or perhaps that it is not a film noir at all.

[–] Jason_Radley 13 years ago

The scene in which Stack takes a bath could never appear in a true noir film.

A better question might be: which of Robert Ryan's films could be called noir?

[–] ohmemercylard-58-17610 8 years ago

Best answer. Many of them. I was gonna list em, but the list is just too long. Check him out on IMDB or Google "Robert Ryan film noir." Crossfire. The Set-up. Clash by Night. Caught. Beware my Lovely. The list goes on and on. Noir constitutes the bulk of his career.

[–] ohmemercylard-58-17610 8 years ago

http://wheredangerlives.blogspot.com/2015/10/film-noir-movie-posters-robert-ryan.html

[–] HarlemEagle42 (16170) 9 months ago

Yes, there is just a thing as 'color noir' and there were a few of them made in the classic Hollywood period. They use bright colors to establish mood and atmosphere in the same manner as your traditional 'b&w' film noir.