The Decline of Film Noir

       A few weeks ago, we were asked to watch Double Indemnity, a film noir that I thoroughly enjoyed. It made me wonder why we don't seem to see as many film noir movies coming out of Hollywood today. Everything the genre is famous for are things that I love in movies: a distinct mood, flawed characters, action, mystery, and a complicated, well thought out plot. So why has the film noir lost popularity? I would argue that Hollywood doesn't think audiences are interested in it anymore.

     There was a movie made in 2005 that I would consider a film noir in every aspect. When I saw it a few years ago, it instantly became one of my favorite films. It's a film called Brick that is based around a high school student who goes missing and winds up dead. Her friend Brendan goes on the hunt for the killer, and ends up being entrenched in a plot filled with drugs, scandal, and plenty of action. The entire time he keeps calm and collected and always seems to be one step ahead of the competition. The whole feel of the film is what sold it for me. Since I saw it, I have shown it to nearly all of my friends (since most had never heard of it) and they all loved it. It was generally well reviewed by critics and customer reviews on websites like imdb are relatively high as well. So why doesn't Hollywood come out with more films in this genre? 

     It's true, these films don't have the fasted moving plot when compared to action films or even chick flicks. They take time to introduce the characters and build a distinctive mood that will last for the duration of the movie. But once that action gets going, it doesn't tend to stop. Hollywood might believe that audiences don't want to put as much thought into watching a movie nowadays. There's no question that you need to pay attention when you watch a film like this. There are twists and clues and if you miss one little detail, you could find yourself confused and lost amid the convoluted plot. But films like Inception that ask the audiences to learn about an entirely new and not very easily explained concept in only a couple of scenes should have shown Hollywood that people are okay with thinking during a movie. They can handle complex ideas and the film doesn't feel bogged down by them. If anything, I find that a film that you have to really pay attention to, draws me in far more than one where you can check your brain at the door and just let it happen to you. Many of my favorite movies like Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind and Memento require constant attention if you want to catch all the little nuances they have sprinkled throughout.

     I personally would like to see more film noirs coming out of Hollywood. I think audiences can handle and would very much enjoy seeing movies based in that all-but- forgotten genre but at this point, the film noir appears to be a quickly dying concept, and in my opinion, that's a true shame.