Film Noir, Neo-Noir, and Hollywood Movies of the 1980s
In the 1980s movie theaters burst with bright feel-good movies filled with big hair, shoulder pads, VCRs, torn sweatshirts, and brick-sized cell phones. At the same time there was a counter-cinema just below the surface. Film noir was born in 1946. Presenting a foreboding worldview relatable to the traumatized WWII vets. The 1980s saw similar conditions. Returning Vietnam vets. Cold War terrors. Economic uncertainties. Fear. Distrust. A second wave of noir-styled films started in the mid 1970s. Labeled Film Soleil, this trend peaked in the 1980s. This new area of study will give us lots to talk about as we watch these bright, bouncy, mysterious, noir-like films.
Here is a tentative list of some films being considered for this class:
- After Dark, My Sweet - James Foley (1990)
- Atlantic City - Louis Malle (1980)
- Body Double - Brian De Palma (1984)
- Body Heat - Lawrence Kasdan (1981)
- Dead Again - Kenneth Branagh (1991)
- Dressed to Kill - Brian De Palma (1980)
- Farewell, My Lovely - Dick Richards (1975)
- Frantic - Roman Polanski (1988)
- Hammett - Wim Wenders (1982)
- Heathers - Michael Lehmann (1989)
- Narrow Margin - Peter Hyams (1990)
- Night Moves - Arthur Penn (1975)
- River's Edge - Tim Hunter (1986)
- The Big Sleep - Michael Winner (1978)
- The Drowning Pool - Stuart Rosenberg (1975)
- The Grifters - Stephen Frears (1990)
- The Hit - Stephen Frears (1984)
- The Hot Spot - Dennis Hopper (1990)
- The Late Show - Robert Benton (1977)
- Wild at Heart - David Lynch (1990)