The Film Noir Essence

From the “The Gold Coast Section,” I have chosen the story number one as an example of noir, the title of the story is “The Girl who Kissed Barnaby Jones.” We can relate this story to one of the best seller film noir novel, Double Indemnity. In this novel the main character is seduced to commit a passionate crime by the femme fatale Mrs. Nirdlinger. The male protagonist Tate seems like a loner and loser, he pretty much looks like he has no life or that he does not have anything to do, once this beautiful woman Cherie calls him he is ready to go, and he actually makes it more clear that will do anything for her” If she asked me to shovel shit I’d asked her she needed shoveled” (287). In this passage it is noticeable how easy he let Cherie controls him to do what ever she wants. Also he allow her to control him for his own convenience, just to get what he wants that in this case is sex” I have a great big boner with Cherie’s name on it”(287). After they sleep together (sex) Cherie as the femme fatale shows Tate the corpse of her husband, she puts an act to excuse the fact that she kills him. But Tate doesn’t really believes her, and this is what make this story different from the character of film noir it has this little twist, Tate decides no to help and instead he fights against her, he ran away from the house and in a desperate he calls the cop.”” He did what Walter from double indemnity was not able to do, he did not trapped as rat in maze in Cherie’s seductive devices, and instead he decided to stay in the good side. Besides this entire plot I did not like the end he gets kill and evil won. Still we get this image of darkness and seduction from film Noir but we get this little twist from Neo Noir that send the message that Now a days crime does pay.

The story that does not classify as film Noir is "Kinship, " in most of the story he author is just narrating the life of the main character. this character is half Filipino man that struggle during his teenage years, he becomes in a gang member and goes back to the Philippines where he finds out about his family roots. at the end of thsi story they just stabbed a  man. i was not able to see much of Noir elements in this story.

Death and gambling in Cali

when i started to read the first story "The kidnapper Bell" i got i little confuse because i could not understand what really those cats were or meant... another important point that i have notice about the stories in this collection is that sex have been exploited to its maximum, many of the characters give a lot of importance to this than the one in Film Noir. 

besides that, the author in the story "The kidnnaper Bell" give us a great description of the place where the "accidental" murders happened. In this story what is mainly mention is the LA river, as we all know this river is very shallow and one of the dirty ones, we might think that would be hard for somebody to get drown or get accidentally kill, but in this case is the contrary. we actually get a very bleak image, first this girl kills a man "accidentally" and then in a desperate action to get the bell back she kill herself also. when he got in the death gril's room  and he sees those cats the author gives a description that let  the readers know desperation and hallucination of this character. Moreover the description of the tunnel gives a suspense where you do not know what is goign to happened as the character goes inside and also claustrophobic.
On the second story, the description is good also, the author tries to make the reader feel like if we are the ones driving in those pack freeways. the illustration of the situation in the hotel is very deatil i as reader could imaging everything in great detail like if i was right there.

Crazy psycho Chick

 the beginning of this story was somewhat boring, but as I read the story of "the method" the story intrigued me more and more until I wanted to reach the end as soon as possible. But once I go there it disappointed me , I was expecting to know what was next after the killing. For example I was hopping that the cops or other authorities were going to discover that she was the killer but no it just emended.  However, I really like this story out of the four we have read.  This one is just different, the story about this hardworking girl named "Holly,"? this is the whole irony of this story, that we see this short and innocent looking girl name “Holly” being promiscuous and describing her sexual relations just as F***ing… also wee see her committing the most evil, sadistic, obsessive ways to kill a man. Moreover, we can notice her ambiguity, she seems like a respectable woman, but once this guy Richard gives her the little push to commit a crime, she deliberated all those evil and murderous thoughts. So, due to the high grade of moral corruption, ambiguity in main character that a girl in this case, the greed , the seduction imply by man on woman to obtain what he wants made this piece of literature more fascinating and interesting, than “Morocco Junction.” This story the narrator that is also a girl is pretty much just reveling the secretes of society and the way that the people from Beverly Hills stereotype others.

That's man, Cholos in Da Hood

When I started to read these stories I could not find any sense to it, because the author just throw the plot to story to the reader(me). Also notice that the language used in one of the stories (Dangerous Days) was very vague or from the hood, but there is a reason it reflected the society (people) that usually lives in those areas low class crime, drug society. In “Midnight in Silicon Alley, the language is more sophisticated due to fact that in that area lives people that has a better social and economic position. This genre has updated in terms of times, the crimes are disastrous and cold blooded, bloody, crimes for drugs and others. More over I was ale to notice that women had a big power, in “Dangerous Days” Athena Powers was a very independent that tries to fulfill her desires by and seducing and controlling not just a man. Powerful woman that gives the order to kill and also do the dirty work herself is she has to, at the end she pretty much end up loving the protagonist. Here we can see how she fits the qualities of femme fatale, but instead of having a man doing the entire dirty job she is capable to use her hands.  In the other story “Midnight in Silicon Alley” we see this organize crime, that is destroying the taboos that film noir could present such as talking about young prostitutes and how this manages to have many women and kids. But also this man downfall is mark by the main wife that could be femme fatale as well that end up pretty much winning with a new man that now has more power.

I will give you one of the card of get out the jail for this blog Mr. Toth

Throughout the process in class, we have been learning about the elements of Classic Noir and Neo- noir, and how to distinguish between both of those types of films. Classic noir were filmed in black and white, the reason that noir films could not provide good lighting wile filming in dark alleys was due to low budgets. The noir films were based from the past, these films were made in the 1940’s witch meant that most of these films were associated to world war 11. But at the years have passed people developed a ne noir witch is now called neo-noir. Neo noir still contains elements of classic noir but their has been much better improvements. Neo noir was developed in the 20th century the neo noir has better budget,which allows them to film in color and provide better lighting for their audience. They are also able to film in a wide range of places. Neo noir films are set of cultural factors of particular moments not from the past. Even though these films were developed in different time they still contain a connection between both of these types of films, they both provide a femme fatale, protagonist, murder, manipulation….. Neo-noir takes the formula of classic noir and integrates new ideas and influences from contemporary film styles to provide new spin on the loneliness and uncertainly that is felt by many of the young and disenfranchised of today" ( Robson). The difference between these films is that the femme fatale is not that strong of a person anymore, language changes, and they show more detailed graphics of the murders and of the sex. But even all in general thir has only been vivid changes between both of these types of noir films. 

Double Indemnity transformed in Cinema

"No, I never loved you Walter -- not you or anybody else. I'm rotten to the heart. I used you, just as you said. That's all you ever meant to me. Until a minute ago, when I couldn't fire that second shot." .....""Is she kidding? Walter thinks so: "Sorry, baby. I'm not buying.'"


"Walter (Fred MacMurray) is Walter Neff ("two f's--like in Philadelphia''). He's an insurance salesman, successful but bored. The woman is Phyllis Dietrichson (Barbara Stanwyck), a lazy blond who met her current husband by nursing his wife--to death, according to her stepdaughter. Neff pays a call one day to renew her husband's automobile insurance. He's not at home, but she is, wrapped in a towel and standing at the top of a staircase. "I wanted to see her again,'' Neff said


AS we all know the story is about a salesman that goes to visit his client, but he was not there instead he find his client's wife   Phyllis Dietrichson. both engage themselves in a relationship. this relationship leads him to commit a passionate  crime that is to kill Mr. Dietrichson  this action would destroy and take away his his life.
This article also talks about why he decided to team up with Phyllis and what drives him to commits this murder.  here he was driven by greed and lust, moreover in the movie he is also as  a cold man that sees Phyllis more like an object than a women. when he calls her "baby." Phyllis is the women that controls the the insecure loner (walter), by faking that  shecare more about their relationship than  the money . after the Neff murders Mr. Dietrichson, their relationship faded away. Their relationship, was based in the behavior, not impassion. the director of the movie made them bad joke, they form by crime magazine and radio and tv images, that of course are out of reality. 

Unexpected Corruption.

The most engaging  plot, events and scenarios in this book are in the chapters 9-13 that keeps reader hooked up reading and desiring to know the exciting conclusion of the story. Contrary to chapter 14 which has a very disappointing and not satisfying ending. 

In these chapter we can mainly appreciate, the anxiety, suffering and repenting thought that Walter Huff carries on , when he is covering the murder to his co worker in the insurance company, authorities, and to the woman that he fell in love with, in this case Lola.

while reading  this engaging plot, the readers also starts to feel excitement when Walter star to put the pieces of the puzzle together, he discovered that if he wee to kill Phyllis, the would be nobody who knew about the murder, and he would be able to marry Lola. while all this is happening we can see how betrayal forms a very important plan. once he decides to kill Phyllis he tries to execute a plan, he wanted to throw her from a cliff, but once he gets there he get shot. he was betrayed by the woman, the made him commit a passional crime, not just for love but for money also. later on he wakes up on hospital filling pain on chest near his heart where the bullet hurt him, but that pain could also mean pain that he is being carrying on due to the murder that just made lose everything and inclusively that woman he love (Lola). by his side was the detective figure Mr. Keyes that was communicating him that they had the information that the people they needed to discover who was killer.(Lola, Nino, Phyllis). He said that Lola was one those people they had, he suddenly start to think that the authorities were going to hurt her, so, quietly and serious he surrender and confess Keyes that he kill the oil master Mr. Nirdlinger. 

Fianlly we get to the unexpected final that instead of exalting the plot by putting  a final scene  full of punishment and confinement in prison, we have this  Simple opaque ending where we see the moral Corruption, not just commig from walter or Phyllis, but from the cops and the Mr. Keyes that is the one that decides to let the free, change their identity and send them to another place. Here we can see the corruption of all the character and weird and dull ending that film noir present, but this liberty could also mean a new begging for them in which they can start a new life.