Tech noir
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| - | '''Sci-Fi noir''' is a term coined in the [[2000s]] to denote a category of science-fiction films. Milestone films generally cited in this category are Jean-Luc Godard's ''[[Alphaville (film)|Alphaville]]'' (1965), [[Ridley Scott]]'s ''[[Blade Runner]]'' (1982) and ''[[Ghost in the Shell (film)|Ghost in the Shell]]'' (1995). | ||
| - | == Future noir == | + | '''Tech-noir''' (also known as '''future noir''' and '''science fiction noir''') is a hybrid genre of fiction, particularly film, combining [[film noir]] and [[science fiction]], as seen in ''[[Alien (film)|Alien]]'' (1979), ''[[Blade Runner]]'' (1982), and ''[[The Terminator]]'' (1984). |
| - | [[Lancaster University]] professor [[Jamaluddin Bin Aziz]] argues that as science fiction has evolved and expanded, it has fused with other film genres such as [[Gothic fiction|gothic]] [[thrillers]] and [[film noir]]. When science fiction integrates film noir elements, Bin Aziz calls the resulting hybrid form “future noir,” a form which “... encapsulates a [[postmodern]] encounter with generic persistence, creating a mixture of irony, pessimism, prediction, extrapolation, bleakness and nostalgia.” Future noir films such as ''[[Blade Runner]], [[Twelve Monkeys]], [[Dark City (1998 film)|Dark City]]'', and ''[[Children of Men]]'' use a [[protagonist]] who is “...increasingly dubious, alienated and fragmented”, at once “dark and playful like the characters in Gibson’s'' [[Neuromancer]]”,'' yet still with the “...shadow of [[Philip Marlowe]]...” | + | Director [[James Cameron]] coined the term in ''The Terminator'', using it as the name of a [[nightclub]], but also to invoke associations with both the film noir genre and with futuristic sci-fi. |
| - | Future noir films that are set in a [[post-apocalyptic]] world “...restructure and re-represent society in a parody of the atmospheric world usually found in noir’s construction of a city - dark, bleak and beguiled.” Future noir films often intermingle elements of the gothic thriller genre, such as ''[[Minority Report (film)|Minority Report]]'', which makes references to [[occult]] practices, and ''[[Alien (film)|Alien]],'' with its tag line ‘In space, no one can hear you scream’, and a space vessel, Nostromo, “that hark[s] back to images of the haunted house in the gothic horror tradition.” Bin Aziz states that films such as [[James Cameron]]’s ''[[The Terminator]]'' are a sub-genre of ‘techno noir’ that create “...an atmospheric feast of noir darkness and a double-edged world that is not what it seems.” --Jamaluddin Bin Aziz | + | Milestone films generally cited in this category are Jean-Luc Godard's ''[[Alphaville (film)|Alphaville]]'' (1965), [[Ridley Scott]]'s ''[[Blade Runner]]'' (1982) and ''[[Ghost in the Shell (film)|Ghost in the Shell]]'' (1995). As an aesthetic category, it is very near to [[cyberpunk]] and [[neo-noir]]. The work of [[Tanino Liberatore]]'s ''[[RanXerox]]'' deserves mention here. |
| + | == Precursors == | ||
| + | === Neo-noir === | ||
| + | While it is hard to draw a line between some of the noir films of the early 1960s such as ''Blast of Silence'' (1961) and ''[[Cape Fear (1962 film)|Cape Fear]]'' (1962) and the noirs of the late 1950s, new trends emerged in the post-classic era. ''[[The Manchurian Candidate (1962 film)|The Manchurian Candidate]]'' (1962), directed by [[John Frankenheimer]], ''[[Shock Corridor]]'' (1962), directed by [[Samuel Fuller|Sam Fuller]], and ''[[Brainstorm (1965 film)|Brainstorm]]'' (1965), directed by experienced noir character actor [[William Conrad]], all treat the theme of mental dispossession within stylistic and tonal frameworks derived from classic film noir. | ||
| - | == From Alphaville to Ghost in the Shell == | + | The first major film to work a new angle on noir was French director [[Jean-Luc Godard]]'s ''[[Breathless (1960 film)|Breathless]]'' (1960), which pays its literal respects to [[Humphrey Bogart|Bogart]] and his crime films while brandishing a bold new style for a new day. In 1973, director [[Robert Altman]], who had worked on ''Peter Gunn'', flipped off noir piety with ''[[The Long Goodbye (film)|The Long Goodbye]]''. Based on the novel by Raymond Chandler, it features one of Bogart's most famous characters, but in [[iconoclasm|iconoclastic]] fashion: Philip Marlowe, the prototypical hardboiled detective, is replayed as a hapless misfit, almost laughably out of touch with contemporary [[mores]] and morality. Where Altman's subversion of the film noir mythos was so irreverent as to anger many contemporary critics, around the same time [[Woody Allen]] was paying affectionate, at points idolatrous homage to the classic mode with ''[[Play It Again, Sam (1972 film)|Play It Again, Sam]]'' (1972). The most acclaimed of the neo-noirs of the era was director [[Roman Polanski]]'s 1974 ''[[Chinatown (1974 film)|Chinatown]]'' (1974), which raised noir to a black apogee. |
| - | In the [[post-classic]] era, the most significant trend in noir crossovers has involved [[science fiction]]. In Jean-Luc Godard's ''[[Alphaville (film)|Alphaville]]'' (1965), Lemmy Caution is the name of the old-school private eye in the city of tomorrow. ''The Groundstar Conspiracy'' (1972) centers on another implacable investigator and an amnesiac named Welles. ''[[Soylent Green]]'' (1973), the first major American example, portrays a dystopian, near-future world via a self-evidently noir detection plot; starring [[Charlton Heston]] (the lead in ''Touch of Evil''), it also features classic noir standbys Joseph Cotten, Edward G. Robinson, and [[Whit Bissell]]. The movie was directed by [[Richard Fleischer]], who two decades before had directed several strong B noirs, including ''[[Armored Car Robbery]]'' (1950) and ''[[The Narrow Margin]]'' (1952). | + | From 1981, the popular ''[[Body Heat]]'', written and directed by [[Lawrence Kasdan]], invokes a different set of classic noir elements, this time in a humid, erotically charged Florida setting. Working generally with much smaller budgets, the [[Coen brothers]] have created one of the most substantial film oeuvres influenced by classic noir, with movies such as ''[[Blood Simple]]'' (1984) and ''[[Fargo (film)|Fargo]]'' (1996), considered by some a supreme work in the neo-noir mode. |
| - | The cynical and stylish perspective of classic film noir had a formative effect on the [[cyberpunk]] genre of science fiction that emerged in the early 1980s; the movie most directly influential on cyberpunk was ''[[Blade Runner]]'' (1982), directed by [[Ridley Scott]], which pays clear and evocative homage to the classic noir mode (Scott would subsequently direct the poignant noir crime melodrama ''Someone to Watch Over Me'' [1987]). Scholar Jamaluddin Bin Aziz has observed how "the shadow of Philip Marlowe lingers on" in such other "future noir" films as ''[[Twelve Monkeys]]'' (1995), ''[[Dark City (1998 film)|Dark City]]'' (1998), and ''[[Minority Report (film)|Minority Report]]'' (2002). The hero is the target of investigation in ''[[Gattaca]]'' (1997), which fuses film noir motifs with a scenario indebted to ''[[Brave New World]]''. ''[[The Thirteenth Floor]]'' (1999), like ''Blade Runner'', is an explicit homage to classic noir, in this case involving speculations about [[virtual reality]]. Science fiction, noir, and [[animation]] are brought together in the Japanese films ''[[Ghost in the Shell (film)|Ghost in the Shell]]'' (1995) and ''[[Ghost in the Shell 2: Innocence]]'' (2004), both directed by [[Mamoru Oshii]], and the short ''[[A Detective Story]]'' (2003), set in the [[The Animatrix|''Matrix'' universe]]. | + | === Psycho-noir === |
| + | Another reworking of the film noir style can be seen in 1980s and 1990s psycho-noir films. The work of [[David Lynch]]—particularly ''[[Blue Velvet (film)|Blue Velvet]]'' (1986), ''[[Lost Highway (film)|Lost Highway]]'' (1997), ''[[Mulholland Drive (film)|Mulholland Drive]]'' (2001), and the ''Twin Peaks'' cycle, both [[Twin Peaks|TV series]] (1990–91) and movie, ''[[Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me|Fire Walk with Me]]'' (1992)—shows the influence of film noir filtered through a uniquely individualistic vision. Director [[David Fincher]] followed the noir science fiction of ''[[Alien 3]]'' (1992) and the immensely successful neo-noir ''[[Se7en (film)|Se7en]]'' (1995) with a film that earns much greater regard today than it did on original release, the psycho-noir ''[[Fight Club (film)|Fight Club]]'' (1999). A film noir work which projects its protagonist's psychology on screen is ''[[Memento (film)|Memento]]'' (2000), directed by [[Christopher Nolan]]. | ||
| - | == "Total Recall 2" == | + | === Science fiction noir === |
| + | Beginning in the 1960s, the most significant trend in film noir crossovers or hybrids has involved science fiction. In [[Jean-Luc Godard]]'s ''[[Alphaville (film)|Alphaville]]'' (1965), Lemmy Caution is the name of the old-school private eye in the city of tomorrow. ''[[The Groundstar Conspiracy]]'' (1972) centers on another implacable investigator and an amnesiac named Welles. ''[[Soylent Green]]'' (1973), the first major American example, portrays a dystopian, near-future world via a self-evidently noir detection plot; starring [[Charlton Heston]] (the lead in ''[[Touch of Evil]]''), it also features classic noir standbys [[Joseph Cotten]], Edward G. Robinson, and [[Whit Bissell]]. The movie was directed by [[Richard Fleischer]], who two decades before had directed several strong B noirs, including ''[[Armored Car Robbery]]'' (1950) and ''[[The Narrow Margin]]'' (1952). | ||
| - | "Total Recall 2" was based on another [[Philip K. Dick]] short story, ''[[The Minority Report]]'' which postulates about a future where a crime can be solved before it's committed - in the movie, the clairvoyants would be martian mutants. The sequel was not filmed, but the script survived and it was changed drastically and contained greater elements from the original short story. The film was eventually directed as a [[sci-fi noir]] thriller as ''[[Minority Report (film)|Minority Report]]'' by [[Steven Spielberg]] and opened in 2002 to box-office success and [[critical acclaim.]] | + | == Development of tech-noir == |
| - | == See also == | + | The cynical and stylish perspective of classic film noir had a formative effect on the [[cyberpunk]] genre of science fiction that emerged in the early 1980s; the movie most directly influential on cyberpunk was ''[[Blade Runner]]'' (1982), directed by [[Ridley Scott]], which pays clear and evocative homage to the classic noir mode (Scott would subsequently direct the noir crime melodrama ''[[Someone to Watch Over Me (film)|Someone to Watch Over Me]]'' [1987]). Strong elements of tech-noir also feature in [[Terry Gilliam]]'s "dystopian satire" [[Brazil (film)|''Brazil'']] (1985) and ''[[The City of Lost Children]]'' (1995), one of two "Gilliamesque" films by [[Jean-Pierre Jeunet]] and [[Marc Caro]] that were influenced by Gilliam's work in general and by ''Brazil'' in particular (the other one being ''[[Delicatessen (film)|Delicatessen]]''). Scholar Jamaluddin Bin Aziz has observed how "the shadow of Philip Marlowe lingers on" in such other "future noir" films as ''[[Twelve Monkeys]]'' (Gilliam, 1995), ''[[Dark City (1998 film)|Dark City]]'' (1998), and ''[[Minority Report (film)|Minority Report]]'' (2002). The hero is the target of investigation in ''[[Gattaca]]'' (1997), which fuses film noir motifs with a scenario indebted to ''[[Brave New World]]''. ''[[The Thirteenth Floor]]'' (1999), like ''Blade Runner'', is an explicit homage to classic noir, in this case involving speculations about [[virtual reality]]. Science fiction, noir, and [[animation]] are brought together in the Japanese films ''[[Ghost in the Shell (film)|Ghost in the Shell]]'' (1995) and ''[[Ghost in the Shell 2: Innocence]]'' (2004), both directed by [[Mamoru Oshii]], and the short ''[[A Detective Story]]'' (2003), set in the [[The Animatrix|''Matrix'' universe]]. |
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| + | ==See also== | ||
| + | *[[Art film]] | ||
| + | *[[Arthouse action film]] | ||
| + | *[[Dystopian fiction]] | ||
| + | *[[Minimalist film|Minimalist]] and [[maximalist film|maximalist cinema]] | ||
| *[[Noir]] | *[[Noir]] | ||
| *[[Neo-noir]] | *[[Neo-noir]] | ||
| - | + | *[[New Hollywood]] | |
| - | == References == | + | *[[Synthwave]] |
| - | *[http://www.brokenprojector.com/wordpress/ http://www.brokenprojector.com/wordpress/ The Rise of Sci-Fi Noir by Broken Projector] | + | *[[Postmodernist film]] |
| - | *Aziz (2005), section "Future Noir and Postmodernism : The Irony Begins." | + | |
| - | *[http://www.crimeculture.com/Contents/Articles-Summer05/JemAziz3.html “Future Noir” by Jamaluddin Bin Aziz, Lancaster University, and School of Humanities, University Science of Malaysia. From Science Fiction To Future Noir: The Voyage Begins] | + | |
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Tech-noir (also known as future noir and science fiction noir) is a hybrid genre of fiction, particularly film, combining film noir and science fiction, as seen in Alien (1979), Blade Runner (1982), and The Terminator (1984).
Director James Cameron coined the term in The Terminator, using it as the name of a nightclub, but also to invoke associations with both the film noir genre and with futuristic sci-fi.
Milestone films generally cited in this category are Jean-Luc Godard's Alphaville (1965), Ridley Scott's Blade Runner (1982) and Ghost in the Shell (1995). As an aesthetic category, it is very near to cyberpunk and neo-noir. The work of Tanino Liberatore's RanXerox deserves mention here.
Contents |
Precursors
Neo-noir
While it is hard to draw a line between some of the noir films of the early 1960s such as Blast of Silence (1961) and Cape Fear (1962) and the noirs of the late 1950s, new trends emerged in the post-classic era. The Manchurian Candidate (1962), directed by John Frankenheimer, Shock Corridor (1962), directed by Sam Fuller, and Brainstorm (1965), directed by experienced noir character actor William Conrad, all treat the theme of mental dispossession within stylistic and tonal frameworks derived from classic film noir.
The first major film to work a new angle on noir was French director Jean-Luc Godard's Breathless (1960), which pays its literal respects to Bogart and his crime films while brandishing a bold new style for a new day. In 1973, director Robert Altman, who had worked on Peter Gunn, flipped off noir piety with The Long Goodbye. Based on the novel by Raymond Chandler, it features one of Bogart's most famous characters, but in iconoclastic fashion: Philip Marlowe, the prototypical hardboiled detective, is replayed as a hapless misfit, almost laughably out of touch with contemporary mores and morality. Where Altman's subversion of the film noir mythos was so irreverent as to anger many contemporary critics, around the same time Woody Allen was paying affectionate, at points idolatrous homage to the classic mode with Play It Again, Sam (1972). The most acclaimed of the neo-noirs of the era was director Roman Polanski's 1974 Chinatown (1974), which raised noir to a black apogee.
From 1981, the popular Body Heat, written and directed by Lawrence Kasdan, invokes a different set of classic noir elements, this time in a humid, erotically charged Florida setting. Working generally with much smaller budgets, the Coen brothers have created one of the most substantial film oeuvres influenced by classic noir, with movies such as Blood Simple (1984) and Fargo (1996), considered by some a supreme work in the neo-noir mode.
Psycho-noir
Another reworking of the film noir style can be seen in 1980s and 1990s psycho-noir films. The work of David Lynch—particularly Blue Velvet (1986), Lost Highway (1997), Mulholland Drive (2001), and the Twin Peaks cycle, both TV series (1990–91) and movie, Fire Walk with Me (1992)—shows the influence of film noir filtered through a uniquely individualistic vision. Director David Fincher followed the noir science fiction of Alien 3 (1992) and the immensely successful neo-noir Se7en (1995) with a film that earns much greater regard today than it did on original release, the psycho-noir Fight Club (1999). A film noir work which projects its protagonist's psychology on screen is Memento (2000), directed by Christopher Nolan.
Science fiction noir
Beginning in the 1960s, the most significant trend in film noir crossovers or hybrids has involved science fiction. In Jean-Luc Godard's Alphaville (1965), Lemmy Caution is the name of the old-school private eye in the city of tomorrow. The Groundstar Conspiracy (1972) centers on another implacable investigator and an amnesiac named Welles. Soylent Green (1973), the first major American example, portrays a dystopian, near-future world via a self-evidently noir detection plot; starring Charlton Heston (the lead in Touch of Evil), it also features classic noir standbys Joseph Cotten, Edward G. Robinson, and Whit Bissell. The movie was directed by Richard Fleischer, who two decades before had directed several strong B noirs, including Armored Car Robbery (1950) and The Narrow Margin (1952).
Development of tech-noir
The cynical and stylish perspective of classic film noir had a formative effect on the cyberpunk genre of science fiction that emerged in the early 1980s; the movie most directly influential on cyberpunk was Blade Runner (1982), directed by Ridley Scott, which pays clear and evocative homage to the classic noir mode (Scott would subsequently direct the noir crime melodrama Someone to Watch Over Me [1987]). Strong elements of tech-noir also feature in Terry Gilliam's "dystopian satire" Brazil (1985) and The City of Lost Children (1995), one of two "Gilliamesque" films by Jean-Pierre Jeunet and Marc Caro that were influenced by Gilliam's work in general and by Brazil in particular (the other one being Delicatessen). Scholar Jamaluddin Bin Aziz has observed how "the shadow of Philip Marlowe lingers on" in such other "future noir" films as Twelve Monkeys (Gilliam, 1995), Dark City (1998), and Minority Report (2002). The hero is the target of investigation in Gattaca (1997), which fuses film noir motifs with a scenario indebted to Brave New World. The Thirteenth Floor (1999), like Blade Runner, is an explicit homage to classic noir, in this case involving speculations about virtual reality. Science fiction, noir, and animation are brought together in the Japanese films Ghost in the Shell (1995) and Ghost in the Shell 2: Innocence (2004), both directed by Mamoru Oshii, and the short A Detective Story (2003), set in the Matrix universe.
See also
- Art film
- Arthouse action film
- Dystopian fiction
- Minimalist and maximalist cinema
- Noir
- Neo-noir
- New Hollywood
- Synthwave
- Postmodernist film
