Introduction
This blog's focus will be mainly discussing on film noir. Film noir is a type of American films which emerged during a period of political instability, which was from 1941 to 1958, the time of World War II and the Cold War in United States. It then 'invaded' French cinemas after WWII, which emphasized on the women's changing social role - to be independent by entering the workforce. The theme of widespread evil, deviant as well as manipulative sexuality could be found in Maltese Falcon (Saporito, 2015, para.4). Also, there are no altruistic characters found in the film as all of them were motivated by greed, lust and benefits.
Theory Discussion
Similar to most of the genres, film noir can be discussed by analyzing its mise-en-scene and themes. The film Maltese Falcon (1941) that will be discussed today consists many traits which can best suited a film noir, and it could be known as one of the top film noirs in the century. From visual perspective, many scenes from the film is dark with lots of shadows. High-contrast lighting is used in many settings. Besides, the film is German-expressionistic with angles which can create sense of distortion. On the other hand, from thematic perspective, the film is pessimism and dark. Corrupted characters, blurred morals and criminal motives are everywhere in the film. The most distinctive trait is the hard-boiled antihero and femme fatale in the film.
Synopsis
Private eye Sam Spade and Miles Archer are approached by a knockout, Miss Wonderly, to tail a guy named Floyd Thursby. Unfortunately, Archer was shot during the action and followed by Thursby being killed. Then the knockout reveal herself as Brigid O'Shaughnessy. She is surrounded by dangerous men dangerous men - Casper Gutman and Joel Cairo who together lusting for the statuette black bird - Maltese Falcon. Therefore, her only hope for protection comes from Sam Spade, who is suspected by the policemen of one or the other's murderer (Surplin, n.d.). By gathering information piece by piece, Spade - the greedy guy joins the hunt for the precious gold statuette.
Analysis
Firstly, Maltese Falcon is a film with a lot of shadows. The low key lighting is utilized very much in the shooting of the film. It creates a high-contrast of the black and white of casts in the framing. For example, there is a scene where Wilmer Cook was tailing Sam Spade. As Sam Spade walked down the stairs, a vivid shadow of him was shown on the wall. The use of harsh shadow in the film very much emphasize feeling of the character on the spot. For this particular scene, Sam Spade's fastened his pace to avoid from the tailing.
Besides, much of German-Expressionistic elements are applied in the film. The use of this artistic genre shows the distortion for the emotional effect in the film (Darsa, 2013). However, in Maltese Falcon (1941), as this genre could not be brought up as much as The Cabinet of Dr.Caligari, only the distorted angle of filming and the use of lines were applied. For instance, there is one scene where Joel Cairo was slapped by Brigid O'Shaughnessy and he wanted to revenge. Sam Spade came in and stopped Cairo who pulled out his gun. The low angle and use of ceiling created sense of distortion in the mise-en-scene. Low angle implicitly reflects the real evil personality of the two characters. Also, the use of the lines of ceiling counters the sense of balance visually.
On the other hand, the theme for this film is dark, where it is overwhelmed with corrupted characters and blurred morals. In film noir, characters are motivated to do things which can best suit their interests. Nobody is having a pure heart or being altruistic to the others. This trait can be observed in almost every casts in Maltese Falcon. For example, there is a scene where Sam Spade told Brigid, Gutman and Joel that he needed one people to be passed to the policemen for him to be suspected to be the murderer of Miles Archer's and Floyd Thursby's death. Four of them lastly decided to give out Wilmer Cook as he seemed to be of less important among all of them. Four of them are only blinded with the money they can get once they got the blackbird.
Lastly, Sam Spade, the hard-boiled antihero, and Brigid O'Shaughnessy, the femme fatale, are the most crucial parts on making Maltese Falcon (1941) a film noir. Sam Spade had many tricks to safeguard himself from troubles, even it is to hurt the other. For example, Sam Spade was greedy and always went after unreasonable amount of money to carry his mission. Also, he was being arrogant towards the bad guys as he pretty understand his importance. He remained prideful even he was forced at gunpoint. Besides, though he loves Brigid, he gave out her to the policemen so that he could remain his good image as a private detective.
For O'Shaughnessy, she is addressed as the femme fatale because she utilized her feminine side to gain caring and sympathy from the men. For instance, she pretended to be needy in front of Sam Spade and sought for his protection from Gutman and Wilmer. Even before she was sent to the policemen, she shed crocodile tears in front of Sam Spade to plead him for not telling the truth to the policemen. She was being manipulative to all the men around her so that she could gain what she long for - the Maltese Falcon.Conclusion
Maltese Falcon (1941) is a film which reflects the real world - greediness and self-centered are the core motivations which drive people further. It educates the audience to be aware of people and not to be swayed by the veil they are putting on. Craving for something which does not belong to you would let you pay for it. As Ralph Waldo Emerson once mentioned, "Money often costs too much".
Reference
Darsa, A. (2013). Art House: An Introduction to German Expressionist Film. Retrieved from
https://news.artnet.com/market/art-house-an-introduction-to-german-expressionist-films-32845
Saporito, J. (2015). Q: How did "The Maltese Falcon" help craft the noir film genre? Retrieved from
http://screenprism.com/insights/article/how-did-the-maltese-falcon-help-craft-the-noir-film-genre
Surplin, J. (n.d.). The Maltese Falcon (1941). Retrieved from
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0033870/?ref_=adv_li_tt
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