EGL 290 - Studies in Film Genre/Style: Film Noir

Course Units: 1.0

Over the course of the term, we will analyze the history and aesthetics of genre categories and their revisions with respect to specific codes and characteristics, audience expectations, technological developments, and publicity practices. In our investigation of the question of genre, we will engage such key concepts in film theory as authorship, narrative, mise-en-scène, suture, spectatorship, and the gaze. As we seek to understand why genres gain popularity in certain historical moments and the ways in which genres are revised, we will employ a variety of critical tools, drawn from genre theory, critical race studies, environmental studies, and theories of gender and sexuality. Finally, we will ask whether genre studies as a critical approach is keeping pace with the many new developments shaping cinematic form.

Film Noir

This term, our investigation of genre will focus specifically on film noir. We will study the genre’s emergence from German Expressionism, pre-code gangster movies, screwball comedy, and hard-boiled detective fiction and consider the historical factors that led to the burgeoning of film noir in the 1940s and 50s. In addition to the standard characters (detective, femme fatal, gangsters, “deviants”), we will analyze filmic styles (low-key lighting, voice-over narration, etc.) and themes of alienation, corruption and existential drift that characterize the genre. From its origins in post-World War II America, we will explore film noir’s radical revisions and geographic relocations as it is taken up in such places as France, Hong Kong, Korea, and Mexico. Prerequisite(s): One 100-level English course or a score of 5 on the AP English Language or Literature and Composition test, or permission of the instructor. CC: HUM, WAC, JLIT, JSPE ISP: AMS, FLM