Like Frames of Powerful Women of Noir

Film Noir. Many of the major directors of film noir, such as Huston, Dmytryk, Cromwell, Orson Welles, and others were American. However, other Hollywood directors renowned for a film noir style hailed from Europe, including Billy Wilder, Alfred Hitchcock, Jacques Tourneur, and Fritz Lang. Unlike other stylistic categories, film noir was not created by directors of the theatrical era. In truth, movies in the so-called film noir genre had been prominent for six years before the word was created by French film critic Nino Frank in 1946. This style of filmmaking was characterized by a painful time in history. Cynicism and pessimism from the Great Depression were ingrained in the American psyche. Then came WWII, which sent many men to the frontlines while many women took up the jobs in their absence. After the war, there was a period uncertainty. Men returned from the battlefield with trauma, and the world lost quite a bit of innocence. Upon their return, the theory goes, men found women had shifted their role substantially. Housewives had become workers themselves so there was a perceived disruption to the gender roles that had been in place for decades, wives no longer dependent on their husbands. In response to this insecurity, film noir gives us tales of men being taken advantage of by powerful and sometimes sinister women. Again, this merely the theory about how and why film noir became such a prominent style/genre in the post-war period. The truth is that many of the iconic film noir movies that Hollywood produced in the ‘40s were based on novels written in the ‘30s.

The female roles in film noir are stylistic transformations of the default patriarchy. It was a period where women were no longer forced into roles society had shaped them into and the representation of women in film noir is a reflection of this freedom. The archetype of female roles in film noir can be divided into three categories: the girl-next-door, the femme fatale and the good-bad girl. The girl-next-door is characterised as being ordinary, approachable and innocent. She is honest and pure, and known to be naturally sweet. The femme fatale, considered by many critics the central figure of film noir, is mysterious and seductive, known for using her charms to ensnare men and get them into dangerous, and most often, deadly situations. Her main characteristic is using her feminine sexual traits as a way to achieve hidden purposes. The figure of the ‘good-bad girl’ combines the sexual stimulation of the femme fatale with the fundamental decency of the girl-next-door. In general, we can say that female roles in Film Noir are women who have generated a change in society, the way in which they are seen and they are highly inspiring and intriguing.

This editorial does not intend to follow the exact patterns of the aesthetics of this genre, but it has been highly influenced by the women who have played highly recognized roles in the history of cinema and for what I personally consider one of the best and most striking treatments of black and white films by lights, shadows and contrasts.

Photography, Post Production & Concept: Jaqueline Vanek. Fashion Designer: Israel Castro. Blonde Model: Luba Shapkina. Brunette Model: Carolina Brguez. Makeup Artists: Dhay Ricci & Rocío García.