MovieChat Forums > Cape Fear (1962) Discussion > film noir

film noir

posted 17 years ago by pjglynndoora
4 replies | jump to latest

Anyone here feel that cape fear suits this genre?

[–] pjglynndoora 16 years ago

bump

[–] rstory-3 16 years ago

"Yes." I was looking through IMdB's Film Noir listings and it is not there. I was surprised by this. It is dark and twisted film. And it is an excellent film. I never thought I could hate Robert Mitchum. But he made a believer out of me. He did a great performance. It may not have all the aspects of this genre, but most don't. The ending is definitely dark and full of shadows. This is classic Noir.

Waffles Anyone
rstory-3
http://www.imdb.com/mymovies/list?l=28764731

[–] billymac72 15 years ago

Noir is such a broadly defined genre that's really just a style more than anythhing. All it means is "dark." It's a direct decendant of the German Expressionist aesthetic that was brought to America by such great filmmakers as Billy Wilder, who epitomized the approach with Double Indemnity.

I would say that a good noir example should deal much with shadow and light stylistically and metaphorically. They are usually, but not exclusively, crime dramas/thrillers/mysteries. They also typically feature an anti-hero or at least conflicted protagonist. Can't think of much more that would be needed to qualify.

I think Cape Fear meets that standard, even if not in the most servere way.

[–] bassplace88 12 years ago

I also noticed that this movie is not listed at film noir. I would have to agree that it is not. Even though the use of light and shadow toward the end was brilliant(no pun intended), I feel Thriller/Suspense and even Horror would be the correct descriptions. If the movie had one or more noir trait it would qualify. Ie. Female villan, crooked cops, double crosses/distrust, forboding ending with death of some/all lead characters, to name a few. Good observation and question.