Suits. The underground universal characteristic of film noir? If Out of the Past, Kiss Me Deadly, and Chinatown are any indication, men’s formal wear may just be one of the most telling characteristics that make a film noir.
In all three of the film noir’s we watched in class, probably around 80% of the men were in suits. Now given that most of the stories are about detectives, this makes sense that the protagonist would sport a trench coat and the villains would be outfitted just as classy. But when you give some thought to it, what other film genre can make the claim that most of its characters wear suits? Perhaps spy movies, but really aren’t these just a modernized extension of the detective story line?
Chinatown was no exception to the suit rule; in fact, Jack Nicholson’s character’s attire inspired me to restart my search for a white suit. A few people in class mentioned that since Chinatown was in color it made it less of a film noir. But one of the bonuses of color highlights a different feature of film noir: Jack Nicholson’s suits. I counted at least four different colors throughout the course of the movie. Coupled with the fact that Jack Nicholson is a sexy beast, this movie certainly would have lost a lot if it wasn’t in color. Nicholson and the supporting cast are decked out in suits for nearly the entire movie.
So, in honor of Jeff Foxworthy, “If the movie yer watchin gots dudes in suits in it, it might just be a film noir.”
In all three of the film noir’s we watched in class, probably around 80% of the men were in suits. Now given that most of the stories are about detectives, this makes sense that the protagonist would sport a trench coat and the villains would be outfitted just as classy. But when you give some thought to it, what other film genre can make the claim that most of its characters wear suits? Perhaps spy movies, but really aren’t these just a modernized extension of the detective story line?
Chinatown was no exception to the suit rule; in fact, Jack Nicholson’s character’s attire inspired me to restart my search for a white suit. A few people in class mentioned that since Chinatown was in color it made it less of a film noir. But one of the bonuses of color highlights a different feature of film noir: Jack Nicholson’s suits. I counted at least four different colors throughout the course of the movie. Coupled with the fact that Jack Nicholson is a sexy beast, this movie certainly would have lost a lot if it wasn’t in color. Nicholson and the supporting cast are decked out in suits for nearly the entire movie.
So, in honor of Jeff Foxworthy, “If the movie yer watchin gots dudes in suits in it, it might just be a film noir.”
No comments:
Post a Comment